Giving Back While Driving Holiday Sales

The season of giving descends upon the last two months of the year as retailers gear up for holiday promotions.

With cooler weather and celebrations aplenty, the generous side of shoppers can help your business do good, while also driving major sales. Partnerships between charities and retailers, known as Cause Marketing, can be an excellent mix for consumers looking to do more with their dollars this holiday season.

Retailers should spend time trying to find the right cause, but once a non-profit partner is chosen, the real work begins. Care should be taken while planning an event, publicizing the partnership and sharing the results. First, start with shared goals. Cause Marketing works well for retailers wanting to drive in-store traffic, sell a specific product or line and increasing social media awareness. For charities, raising funds, awareness of their cause and gaining publicity are a few common goals.

Choosing the Right Partner

Retailers looking to engage new shoppers with cause marketing should select a charitable partner that shares the mission and passion of their brand. Beyond looking for a non-profit partner that is dependable, professional and responsive, retailers should look for a charity providing measurable benefits which demonstrate the partnership is delivering a return on investment.

Retailers will also want to partner on a project which is vital and interesting to consumers, helping participants feel their contribution is making an important difference.

Ultimately a genuine passion, and goal to benefit the charitable partner will need to shine first. Retailers should be aware, while Cause Marketing is a wonderful boost to sales, consumers will see through a half-hearted attempt at promotion.

Planning an Event

Small Business Saturday, Giving Tuesday, Make a Difference Day and other nationally known retail and charity holidays are the perfect time to capitalize on event publicity, capture that energy and host an event. Retailers and their charitable partner must work closely to choose an event type that reflects their common goals and objectives. Events such as pop-up shops, after-hour parties, meet-and-greets with celebrities and even parking lot activities, are popular options.

Publicizing your Partnership

Pre-event excitement is key to having a successful launch and sustainable foot traffic throughout the event. One of the most effective ways to create this is through an engaged social audience. Elements of a successful pre-event publicity push on social media include:

• An original, easy-to-remember and relevant hashtag and Facebook event page.
• Catalog of photos of exclusive or limited time products offered during the event, shared using the event hashtag.
• Pinterest boards for the event and for the Cause Marketing partnership, to show a visual connection.
• Interesting event-planning details or sneak peeks shared as the event draws near.
• Posts with reminders, countdowns, and entertaining content throughout.

Retailers can also build excitement and urgency with a few tips for key social media activity during an event:

• Host an exclusive promotion or contest encouraging customers to share photos of the event with the hashtag for a chance to win a prize.
• Craft pre-planned and scheduled posts with the charitable partner, creating a level of intrigue for those customers not attending.
• Share memorable photo moments with customers, press and influencers.

Sustain event momentum and nurture valuable connections made during the event with the goal of turning consumers into brand evangelists and loyal customers with these post-event social media tips:

• Individually thank customers who shared photos on their social accounts.
• Share a coupon code for those who missed the event, or those who wanted something out of stock.

Sharing the Results

Retailers should plan for sharing results at the onset of the partnership with a non-profit. Establishing key milestones and monitoring progress ensures event goals will be met, and creates a combined responsibility to making the partnership a success. With the combined brand power of a retailer with the advocates of a charitable partner, social media presence for a retailer can be amplified and earn new fans with a solid event publicity plan. Share the results of an event wrap, close lose ends, and provide one more opportunity to drive sales and earn new customers.

Cause Marketing can be a boom for any retailer looking to add another element to their product offerings and boost visibility to a new audience. A strong, mutually benefiting partnership with a non-profit combined with a fun event, solid publicity plans and transparent results can increase donations to a well-deserving charity while also driving real sales and traffic ROI for a retailer.

Learn more about how you can increase your social visibility during the holidays with our research study, The Social Side of Holiday Shopping.

(This article originally appeared on the G/O Digital Blog.)_