Committing to using collateral or packaging made of recyclable materials, raising awareness of societal issues and charitable giving are all examples of how brands undertake socially responsible initiatives. Successfully combining this activity with your wider marketing strategy can prove particularly effective at showing what your brand truly stands for – as long as the initiatives you undertake come across as authentic and sincere.
And if you’re thinking… ‘Do my customers actually care that much about how green or charitable we are?’ Well, the answer is probably yes.
In recent years, brands have been more vocal and more obvious in showing their support for important social issues such as diversity, inclusion, and the environment in response to shifting consumer trends – especially among younger generations. The pandemic has also led many of us to evaluate what’s important in life, and that includes how, why and where we spend our money.
Millennials (people born between 1981 – 1996) and Generation Z (born 1997 – 2012) are particularly influential in demanding more than simply good products and services for a brand to win their loyalty. They want the companies they buy from to practice business sustainably and ethically; they expect bands and businesses to ‘give something back’, they want to buy things that feel ‘new’ or ‘unique’ (experiences, not just products or services), and they are also well educated about the brands and the realities behind them.
So how do you ensure the motives and intentions of socially responsible marketing activity or strategy are truly reflective of how your business operates? We have a few key areas to think about:
Demonstrate real and meaningful action
When deploying social responsibility initiatives or campaigns, make sure you clearly demonstrate the actions you are taking to back up your message. Take environmental initiatives for example, customers will quickly see-through companies putting on appearances or ‘greenwashing’, therefore failing to back up your initiatives with real, meaningful action will likely do more reputational harm than good in the longer term.
If you have corporate and social responsibility (CSR) goals as a business, they must work hand-in-hand with any socially responsible marketing activity. If you can get employees actively engaged in your CSR plan in the first instance, then follow up your external message with real examples of the action your business is taking on a particular issue, you can start to form a clear narrative of what your business stands for and show those more cynical that you’re not just paying ‘lip-service’ to a particular cause or campaign.
Align initiatives with your business values
As we’ve already established, authenticity is key. Don’t get us wrong, supporting many different causes is never a bad thing. However, how much of an impact can you truly make if you spread yourself too thin? Also, is a scatter-gun approach really the most dedicated?
Connecting your initiatives to your business values or your business purpose will not only help you prioritise where to focus your activity, but it will also help you and your customers to build a true connection to what, as a business, you really stand for.
A note of caution though, avoid pairing your activities with your products. Your customers will see through this for what it becomes – a marketing ploy.
Think carefully about what long term commitments you can make
There’s nothing wrong with one-time acts of generosity and kindness, but just be careful about how you communicate them. If they’re not likely to become a long-term commitment, you don’t always need to shout about them.
Instead, stick to a series of values-based commitments that are sustainable for the long term and over time you build a compelling picture of results that demonstrate real impact which you can truly be proud to promote.
Helping you become more environmentally friendly with your marketing
We’ve supported a number of businesses who have committed to significantly reducing, or even phasing out completely, single-use plastics from their marketing activities and packaging. When it comes to printing, mailing and promotional products there are many different options we can talk you through, just get in touch.
