Marketing for good? Capitalize on these tactics exclusive to socially good brands

Marketing is a crowded space. There are so many brands competing for attention that it can be overwhelming for consumers and frustrating for marketers.

Fortunately, socially good brands have an advantage. There are several key marketing tactics that allow our marketing campaigns to really STAND OUT from the crowd.

Take a look, and put them into practice. They can offer you a valuable edge.

There are an array of messages you can use in your marketing, from ‘directional’ (the best way to…) to ‘possibility’ (imagine if…) to ‘necessity’ (you need….). Socially good brands aren’t limited to regular messaging angles for their products or services, though. They’re in a unique position to tap into the most powerful message of them all: passion for a cause. Promoting a cause generates unity, hope, and positivity. Aligning your brand (and product or service) with such inspirational emotions is a huge opportunity for socially good brands that profit-only brands simply cannot access.

Look at the homepages of TOMS, for example. The priority message isn’t the benefits of features of their products, but an insight into the social cause they support:

When you’re part of a socially good brand, the truth is that there are many, many people who care about your mission just as much as (if not more than) you. Leverage this by including your community as much as possible. They can act as your megaphone, driving 10x, 20x, 100x the impact on your behalf. Take the BatKid campaign in San Francisco as an example. Make-A-Wish are a fantastic organization, no doubt, but it was the involvement of the community that turned this into a global phenomenon.

A focused marketing strategy leveraged key community influencers, prioritized a personal message that resonated worldwide, and heavily engaged a local community, resulting in 1,840,577,475 social impressions.

The takeaway? If you have a cause people care about, prioritize their involvement every step of the way.

If you’re changing the world, show it! Be an example. Show that prioritizing social good isn’t just the right thing for businesses to do socially and ethically, but it’s the right thing to do financially, too. Make it clear to your customers and community that you’re following through on your philanthropic mission.

This could be showcasing the impact the brand itself is making, the impact your customers are making through their involvement, or the impact your community members are making on their own.

Consider charity: water, who dedicate an entire section of their website to “stories from the field”. Stories that highlight the impact their efforts are making in the local community, and the inspirational stories of the heroes in these communities that are driving the progress.

In a crowded space, we need brands that change the world to rise above the noise. And we can make that happen, simply by taking advantage of the tools available to us. The three tactics mentioned here are critical characteristics that differentiate socially good brands from those that prioritize profit over people.

Make the most of these advantages. Ultimately, it’s not just your brand that will benefit, but the cause you support, too.