July 1, 2022
Business in the 21st century works a tad differently. People want meaning and value behind a brand. They want to do more than just buy things.
Enter purpose-driven marketing.
Just as it sounds, it’s marketing with an aspect of altruism. People want to know your business has societal latitude and we’re all working toward the greater good. This is why more marketers are creating campaigns that establish an emotional connection that drives sales.
Simply put, if your brand openly places its core values at the forefront of sales and marketing, then you’re doing something “purpose-driven” and not just for the sake of doing it. It’s a means of engaging with a segmented audience based on shared needs and interests.
This includes the support of worthy causes which can involve everything from fighting world hunger to women’s rights and green initiatives.
The entire idea is to demonstrate you care through messaging, rather than trying to sell something. It’s about defining what a company does beyond making money and giving back to the community that helps you grow.
While social media has always driven social causes (duh) it’s doing so now more than ever. The pandemic has shined a spotlight on global needs and people are expecting brands to help out more than ever. That means, to gain a competitive edge, everything must be done with purpose.
Stats are showing time and again this is what consumers are expecting. A recent study on Twitter demonstrated that 74% of respondents expect brands to showcase acts of kindness.
Other purpose-driven stats include:
Authenticity and backing up your marketing is important to people. Knowing when the engage and when to back off from sensitive issues is critical. Audiences expect brands to demonstrate leadership and take meaningful action on social issues.
Companies that employ effective purpose-driven marketing strategies are successful when it comes to creating meaningful content. There is a multitude of advantages to this style of marketing, which include:
As businesses become increasingly under pressure to make more meaningful strides for inclusion in operations, purpose-driven marketing helps bring more audiences together.
When a company shows investment in an entire community and is passionate about issues that other value, it turns supporters into buyers.
Purpose-driven marketing helps set your brand apart from other companies who are just out to sell something. You’re telling people the business isn’t just in it to make money. There is a purpose behind what you are doing. Show people, the brand is out to make a difference.
Using purpose-driven marketing helps to establish brand purpose. This is important because it shows customers your entity is not just about products, services, or advertising campaigns.
Brands should embody an ethos and brings a strong point of view to the table. This shows people you want to make a positive impact on the world. Which, in turn, makes a positive impact on your revenue.
Having a purpose is an essential part of business, even if it’s simply to make people’s lives easier.
As more people want the values of the brands they engage with to align with their own, marketers are looking to purpose-driven campaigns to establish emotional connections with target audiences.
In the end, it’s all about defining what a company does (beyond making money) and how it can make a customer’s life better.
Stay tuned for our next article where we look at ideas on how to create these purpose-driven campaigns and put them into action!
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