Using Cause Marketing to Gain Business Exposure

RCS Influencer Anna Anderson says that cause marketing is one of the strongest ways you can get new leads and contract signings for your business.

Editor’s note: The following consists of a conversation between RCS Multimedia Manager Megan Ellsworth, and Art Unlimited CEO Anna Anderson. 

Megan Ellsworth: Hello, my name is Megan Ellsworth, here at RoofersCoffeeShop.com, and today I am chatting with Anna Anderson of Art Unlimited. Hi Anna.

Anna Anderson: Hey Megan. So excited to be here because we are talking about one of my favorite topics.

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. One of my favorites too. And it's the last one of the year, so this is for December. And this month's question is how can cause marketing transform your business?

Anna Anderson: Well, I think when we look at cause marketing, so many people say, "Oh, it's a lot of work. Am I going to see the return?" We run businesses, I totally get why those questions should be asked. But cause marketing is just, at the end of the day, it's one of the reasons that puts a smile on my face. And transforming lives is one of my kind of a personal core values. But cause marketing, when you track a campaign and you go all the way through to what is the return on investment, it is one of the strongest forms of leads and contract signings and repeat and referral business that many of our customers experience. So when you say, "Hey, should I do cause marketing or not?" The answer is always going to be 110% for me.

Megan Ellsworth: I love that. What are some things that Art Unlimited is currently doing with cause marketing? What are some initiatives, maybe some non-profits or what are the programs you have in place?

Anna Anderson: Yeah, so I'm going to more specifically talk about some of the campaigns we've run because I always like to leave some of very practical examples. So when you're doing cause marketing and trying to gain exposure for your business, it's kind of in many of business owner's nature to say, "Hey, I don't want to promote it." But in reality, when you're doing good, others want to do good with you. So bring your team around that cause, empower them to be part of doing good. Then also, well, reach out to some of your partners. Do they want to be part of doing good in the community? It's the Christmas season and when you're talking about doing good in the Christmas season, there's so many opportunities. And I think the key is when you do good, you will see the fruit over time. So with that, pick a charity that you and your team are passionate about because, in a prior month, we talked about how to make sure that you have a great culture and you have a retention of your team.

When you bring cause marketing and charity campaigns into your culture as a company, you're going to see the retention increase. So that might be a free roof giveaway. That might be that you find there's a lot of kids that don't have bikes. It might be that you have a local hospital that have children that don't have Christmases because of a hardship. And the list goes on of the opportunities where you as a company can come together. Maybe it's giving coats out, maybe it's doing a soup kitchen, whatever that might be. It doesn't have to be huge. So many companies say, "Well, I don't know if I can give a free roof away." You don't have to just go out there and share smiles sometimes. And you would be surprised at the impact that that type of campaign can have on your business. So boil it down, find out what are the types of charities or non-profit causes that your team is really passionate about.

So at our company, we haven't done this recently, but a couple of years ago, we said, "Here's a couple of different non-profit or charities that we feel align with our core values." We sent out a survey to our team and we said, "What do you like? What are you interested in?" And it was really interesting to hear back what they were really passionate about. And once we understood, it aligned with our core value, it also aligned with the core values of our team. We had a winner and they were really passionate about this one non-profit. Not only did we have buy-in from our customers, our partners, but our team, our greatest champions were them. And we were able to gain immense traction. So in that case, we said we're going to match everything that our team brings into this campaign for the holiday season. So it's a great way to bring in and really cement your partnerships, your team and prospective customers around a great cause.

Megan Ellsworth: That is wonderful to hear. And I think that is just so cool that it's communal, you bringing the team together and it's for a great cause. And it doesn't hurt your company either. It's just a win-win all around. And I think everyone should be considering it for this winter holiday season.

Anna Anderson: Yeah. So find a non-profit or a charity in need and reach out. You probably will be surprised how many team members, partners, existing or past customers who rise up and say, "I want to stand with you and help change lives."

Megan Ellsworth: I love it. Well, thank you so much Anna, and I hope you have a great holiday season.

Anna Anderson: Yes, thanks so much, Megan. Happy holidays.

Anna Anderson is the CEO of Art Unlimited. See her full bio here.