{"id":5020,"date":"2013-08-26T16:45:40","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T16:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=5020"},"modified":"2014-12-20T18:17:56","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T18:17:56","slug":"cause-marketing-its-all-about-planning-relationships-via-champions4kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/cause-marketing-its-all-about-planning-relationships-via-champions4kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Cause Marketing: It\u2019s All About Planning & Relationships ~via @Champions4Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted at Champions for Kids Blog:\u00a0August 22nd, 2013\u00a0<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n

Last week when we called out for\u00a0guest posters on our blog<\/a>\u00a0Ted Rubin quickly stood up.\u00a0 He is one of the great Champions for Kids that works at Collective Bias.\u00a0 I was delighted to scheduled his post. He believes in cause marketing and was eager to share his thoughts on the topic.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ADMA<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cause marketing in the digital age has never been easier (or harder). In one sense, there are a plethora of social platforms that offer a seemingly endless audience. On the other hand, managing campaigns across social can seem like herding cats; there\u2019s so much to do, and so much noise that the process can seem overwhelming.<\/p>\n

However, just like any other marketing (digital or otherwise), success always boils down to relationships. Developing relationships with partner businesses\u2026 developing relationships with donors\u2026 and keeping those relationships going beyond the campaign.<\/p>\n

While there are a number of examples of charities that have raised millions for their causes using social, such as the American Heart Association, American Red Cross and Save the Children, many cause organizations shrink from it because it just seems too complicated. It doesn\u2019t have to be\u2014but you do need a plan. Kathryn Rose, my friend and co-author of my book\u00a0Return on Relationship<\/i><\/a>\u00a0has a saying she\u2019s fond of using when she speaks to organizations about using social media:Planless = Penniless<\/b>. And I totally agree. Before you jump in with guns blazing, get your ducks in a row first.<\/p>\n

Mashable published an article back in 2010 entitled\u00a08 Tips for a Successful Social Media Cause Campaign<\/a>, and these tips make a great outline for your plan:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Create a Strong Theme with Clear Goals<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Seek a Non-Profit Partner that\u2019s Active in Social Media<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Connect the Theme, Sponsor and Non-Profit<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Identify and Utilize Your Best Social Assets<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Target a Well-Defined Audience<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Energize and Motivate Your Supporters<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Pay Attention to Timing<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Follow Up<\/b><\/p>\n

Read the article and you\u2019ll see that the underlying thread to building a successful plan is the relationships you build along the way. Using social tools to connect with people who share your concerns, sharing relevant information and content, showing people the specific impact of contributions with socially-compelling visual content (videos and photos), maintaining transparency\u2014all these things help you build and nurture the relationships that further the cause.<\/p>\n

And it doesn\u2019t matter which part of the plan you\u2019re developing. The main thing to keep in mind is how to use the platforms and tools at your disposal to reach out, connect and communicate. Whether you\u2019re chatting with people in Twitter or Facebook, sharing compelling photos and videos using Instagram, or reaching out to potential business partners on LinkedIn, always drive your efforts from your audience\u2019s perspective. That means you\u2019ll have to listen on those channels to see what kinds of information your audience wants (and what they don\u2019t want), but that\u2019s OK. Every platform has tools you can use to for listening and researching as well. Use them.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter if your cause is a children\u2019s charity, animal welfare or disaster response, either. Humans are innately generous and love to get behind efforts where they feel they can make a difference\u2014you just need to get in front of them. The beauty of social as a communication medium is that it allows anyone to make connections at scale\u2014something that evens the playing field for small and large organizations alike. You don\u2019t need a billion dollar budget to raise money anymore. Just Google \u201cSocial Media for Cause Marketing,\u201d and you\u2019ll see hundreds of case studies of organizations that have been successful on a shoestring.<\/p>\n

Just remember to plan your campaign wisely, and \u201cthink relationships\u201d at every stage. That\u2019s how you develop the kind of\u00a0\u201cReturn on Relationship\u201d<\/a>\u00a0that builds a solid return for your cause and enables you to give it legs for the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted at Champions for Kids Blog:\u00a0August 22nd, 2013\u00a0 Last week when we called out for\u00a0guest posters on our blog\u00a0Ted Rubin quickly stood up.\u00a0 He is one of the great Champions for Kids that works at Collective Bias.\u00a0 I was delighted to scheduled his post. He believes in cause marketing and was eager to share … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7],"tags":[1370,526,32,1900,1899],"class_list":["post-5020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-tedrubin","tag-ronr","tag-blogging","tag-marketing","tag-socialmedia","tag-tedrubin-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5021,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5020\/revisions\/5021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}