5 tips for running a successful campaign

Cause marketing continues to gain popularity with consumers who want to feel they are doing good when they spend their dollars. For health and nutrition brands, a cause marketing campaign is a great way to create a buzz around your product.

How can you make sure your campaign generates a return on your investment as well as a feeling of goodwill? Here are 5 ways to make your cause marketing campaign more effective:

Find the Right Cause
There are thousands of good causes, but they aren’t all a natural fit for your brand. As a health brand, you could easily align with non-profits that fight diabetes or cancer, but that’s a “me-too” solution. Look for smaller, more targeted causes that will make a big impact. For instance, support a non-profit that raises funds for kids who can’t afford school lunches. The money and awareness you help raise will garner more attention than if you donate a small amount to a national campaign.

Get Employees on Board
Allowing your employees to take time out of their work schedules to participate shows sincerity. You don’t have to make it mandatory. Most employees naturally want to volunteer their time and resources. Highlighting their efforts and successes will create ongoing, genuinely inspiring content for your blog or Facebook page.

Create Branded Products
The more energy you put into fundraising or awareness efforts, the better your brand will fare. Create t-shirts and other cause-branded paraphernalia and give it away or sell it on your own website or in your store. Be clear that any proceeds will be donated to your cause. It’s a great way to get your customers involved, while co-branding with your charity of choice.

Stay for the Long Haul
Unless you run into major roadblocks, try to make a long-term commitment to the cause you’ve chosen. By doing this you will build a solid reputation as a supporter of that cause, and you will create more opportunities for annual events, including festivals, concerts and even couponing events. Macy’s does this with their annual “Thanks for Sharing” event, in which customers make an up-front charitable donation to join, and then receive a holiday discount in return. Through this event, they have donated nearly 51 million dollars to charity over the last 6 years, and their customers look forward to the event every year.

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photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/da100fotos/490875588/”>Danny Perez Photography</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>

Jessica Clay

Jessica is a competitive athlete and the President of Energize HNM, a health and nutrition marketing agency. Jessica is committed to supporting health brands of every size by helping them define their missions and connect with their customers on a deeper, more meaningful level.