Cause Marketing Partners Launch Event TONIGHT at Landmark Grill on Halsted

If you are in Chicago tonight, please stop by the launch party for Cause Marketing Partners and 3 Degrees Nonprofit Networking. The link to official event information is below.

Note this event expects a turnout of no less than 125 young professionals committed to networking, business development and collaboration, and to charitable endeavors. Proceeds from tonight's event will benefit Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

Also note that this event was publicized SOLELY by "Marketing 2.0" strategies and tactics - including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, participating organization web sites (and the associated optimization of all of these blogs and sites), e-mail and text message correspondence, live (event-based) networking, and so forth. It shows the power of Web 2.0/interactive marketing as a fundamental solution for driving traffic, revenue and leads.

Hope to see you there.

Marc Portugal

3 Degrees Networking Launch Party
Location: Landmark Grill, Chicago
Time: 5:30PM
Tuesday, August 11th

Authenticity vs. Practicality: Chicken or the egg?

So...your company is considering a new cause marketing program (good idea...) Some initial questions that might come up could include the following:

• How do I start a cause marketing partnership?
• How do I choose which cause(s) to support?
• How do I contact them and what do I say?
• How do I start working with the cause?
• How do I decide which online resources to utilize?
• How do I start planning a kick-off event for the campaign?
• How do I measure the progress of the marketing campaign?
• How do I repeat these processes with other causes or for additional campaigns?

All valid questions, and all areas in which CMP helps businesses increase traffic and drive revenues by way of relationships with causes of interest to them and their customers.

Having said that, the questions to focus on today are the last two (in bold), as they address fundamental questions about cause marketing:

1. Does it work and how do I know it's working?
2. Does my business and my BRAND look bad if we only use cause marketing for one campaign?

The answer to Question 1 is YES, IT WORKS, and to know how it is working - just like any other marketing - you need to measure it. Ways in which to measure a cause marketing campaing include but are not limited to:

• Growth of Facebook "Friend" Base during a given campaign
• Growth of Twitter "Follower" Base during a given campaign
• Growth of LinkedIn "Connection" Base during a given campaign
• Foot Traffic during a given campaign
• Web Site Traffic during a given campaign
• Microsite Traffic during a given campaign
• Event Specific Traffic during a campaign
• Premiums redeemed (free/paid merchandise promotiong the campaign)
• Sales by day (kick-off event day vs. "average" day)
• Sales by type (gift cards, products, services, etc.)
• Number of cause-related surveys completed (online)
• Number of cause-related surveys completed (offline)
• Total donations to cause-related partners during a given campaign
• Total media mentions during a given campaign
• Other metrics TBD

Question 2 speaks to the title of this entry, and the one of the core philosophies of cause marketing: how committed does a brand have to be to a given cause (how much, how long, etc.) for the engagement to be "genuine" in the eyes of their consumers - and for the engagement to actually affect a measurable change in regards to the cause itself?

The alternate argument is that the "good will" and any associated exposure and donations generated for a given cause is merely a "bi-product" of what is a less-than-symbiotic relationship exploited by the business partner as a creative (yet) practical marketing solution.

The ANSWER to Question 2 is that there is more than one answer:

1. Time is on your side. Countless studies (performed recently by reputable universities and agencies) show the overwhelming majority of consumers defer to brands with cause marketing commitments. Having said that - if the commitment is so finite in duration that the consumer isn't allowed time to discover, engage, approve and commit - don't expect favorable results.
   
   
2. Something is better than nothing - especially during a recession. Brands and causes may be served well to recalibrate their priorities in regards to how much exposure, traffic and revenue constitute a "victory" these days. Many cause marketing programs cost LITTLE to NOTHING to implement and generate more immediate, impactful ROI than more costly, more TRADITIONAL strategies and tactics. Learn it. Live it. PROFit.
   Get it???
   
   
3. The only constant is change - and sometimes that's a good thing. Maybe a campaign just doesn't work. Not the end of the world. Maybe customers are partial to more than one cause. Maybe it rains on the day of your event. The ability to switch-up relationships, course-correct campaigns and (ultimately) create additional relationships and ensuing programs is a GOOD thing and a likely means to a more favorable end.
   
   
4. Variety is the spice of life - and an ingredient for a profitable recipe. Try a Facebook campaign. Try a bounce back campaign. Try a kickoff event or a finale event. If your commitment is genuine, customers will know. Work through tactics that fit your business and your cause-related partnership the best - perfect them - and then repeat them.

In closing, authenticity (commitment) and practicality (ROI) can and do coexist, and it is the process of facilitating their co-existence that makes a cause marketing program work. For more information on how to engage in cause marketing, please e-mail me at marc@causemp.com.

Marc Portugal

How Cause Marketing Can Drive Reliable Traffic and Revenue NOW

Hopefully the headline got your attention...long enough for me to tell you that I have in front of me a list of over twenty different ideas to use cause marketing to drive awareness, traffic, REVENUE, and publicity for your business or nonprofit organization.

I'll get back to the ideas in a moment...but first I have a couple of questions for the businesses out there:

• Is your business busy enough today?
• What about in 2-3 months?

The sooner you start generating "leads" – the easier it will be to drive more business amidst the ongoing recession and corporate scale-backs. This goes for nonprofits as well - who should reach out for more help at no charge - as that is how CMP works for nonprofits. We donate our time and resources.

CMP helps increase traffic, revenue, and publicity by activating event marketing partnerships. CMP matches businesses with nonprofits, affinity groups and other brand partners whose audiences correlate with one another. The result is a new, larger audience “inspired” by the event partnership.

Businesses: if you're ready to put your best foot forward as a brand and an event host - CMP can help drive event traffic, initial revenues, and memorable brand experiences – resulting in repeat traffic and long-term sales and loyalty.

Now back to the ideas. Roughly half of these cause marketing solutions can be accomplished exclusively online at virtually (no pun intended) zero program cost. Bear in mind this is CAUSE marketing - there is an intrinsic donation expense to businesses - but one that will pay itself back many times over while helping others NOW. These ideas manifest via web sites, microsites, e-mails, text messages and social media - and many of the ideas can be implemented simultaneously to attract different consumer/guest/donor profiles.

The other half of the solutions are designed to manifest as offline, live cause marketing events and promotions - all of which can be publicized in advance online at (again) virtually zero cost. Many of these programs can be COMBINED with online solutions to compliment one another and again reach multiple constituents and communities.

Now, having said this and truth be told, some of the more creative and/or innovative programs do have a slightly higher upfront cost due to customization processes - and/or due to the diligence necessary with some online marketing programs (SEO, SEM, etc.) At the same time - if you consider the (potentially) higher ROI of a more proprietary, pressworthy program - the slightly higher upfront investment becomes much more attractive.

If these assertions have inspired you to accelerate your search for leads, traffic, revenue, publicity, partnerships, donations, volunteers, and more - please e-mail me at marc@causemp.com. Let's talk about how CMP can help you right away.

Marc Portugal

PS: The list of 20+ ideas is still growing...but the sooner you engage in some of these solutions the more ownership and "publicity of ownership" you can garner along with increased traffic and revenues. Shoot me an e-mail and I will explain...

New Blog: USE the Recession: From Recalibration to Revenue

Check out my post from my other blog: USE the Recession: From Recalibration to Revenue --- http://marc-portugal.blogspot.com/

It addresses ways in which to recalibrate marketing & communication efforts during the recession for little to no cost - ways that might actually help with recruitment and development effors for non-profits!

Marc Portugal

From NPT Instant Fundraising: Revenue, Donors Continue Free Fall

Distressing news from today's NPT Instant Fundraising, a publication of The NonProfit Times (as reported by/credited to Mark Hrywna):

http://www.nptimes.com/instantfund/09Jun/IF-090625-1.html

If you would like to accelerate volunteer and donor recruitment, and maximize fundraising opportunities by establishing cause marketing event partnerships with local businesses, please contact Cause Marketing Partners: marc@causemp.com

Marc Portugal
Cause Marketing Partners