How to Take Your Cause Marketing Program Online

The Internet, social media, and mobile devices are changing every aspect of society. It’s also changing the nature of how cause marketing programs are developed and executed. Online cause marketing programs tap a whole new set of tools for raising money and building awareness for cause and company brands.

Here are strategies to move your cause marketing from offline campaigns to digital ones:

• Group-buying sites: While group buying sites like Groupon and Living Social are most commonly linked with selling products and services, they’ve also been shown to work for causes. The challenge with working with the key players is access. Most small nonprofits simply don’t have it. That’s why new group buying sites like GoodTwo give you a platform to combine cause with commerce and contacts.

  
  



• Facebook Likes: Using Facebook Likes to raise money and awareness is a digital version of the action-triggered donation programs. The company agrees to make a donation for every Like it receives on either its or the nonprofit’s Facebook page.

  
  



• Twitter hashtags: Hashtags (#) are kind of like bookmarks that allow people to easily find tweets around a particular issue or topic. You can use hashtags for cause marketing just like Facebook Likes. The company agrees to make a donation to the cause for every time the chosen hashtag is used on Twitter. One of the most successful hashtag fundraisers is #beatcancer, a partnership between PayPal and SWAGG to raise money for cancer charities, such as Stand Up to Cancer and Lance Armstrong Foundation. Since 2009, #beatcancer has raised nearly $100,000.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-take-your-cause-marketing-program-online.html