How CSR Campaigns Can Increase Your Customer Engagement

Thanks to American economist Howard Bowen - and his leading publication, Social Responsibilities of the Businessman - we now know that there’s a lot more that a business can do than just increasing its income.

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And, with the advent of the internet and readily available information, consumers are now always more aware of the impact that industries have on the environment and communities.

In turn, businesses have found themselves reconsidering their ultimate mission, opening the way to the new, triple bottom line:

• People
• Planet
• Profit

Over the past years, consumers have been demanding that businesses align with their values and do their part for their community and environment and step up their social entrepreneurship game.

From focusing on social responsibilities to championing the environment, animal rights, women's rights or fighting hunger and poverty, each business has a lot more to give than when it’s already offering to the community.

Today's consumers are not only after affordable and efficient products; they’re also actively looking for products and companies that understand their social responsibility and use their CSR campaigns to align their actions to their values.

While this can seem an unnecessary effort for small businesses, having a CSR manifesto to live by can improve the company's reputation and image, help the brand remain current and appealing and keep employees and stakeholders motivated and happy.

Here's all you need to know about the advantages of launching a CSR campaign.

What you will learn

CSR is a wide umbrella concept that can be approached from many viewpoints. In the article below, we will look into what CSR is and how it can increase your customer engagement. Some of the important takeaways to keep in mind include:

• Corporate Social Responsibility is a set of initiatives, guidelines, and goals that encourage a business to be accountable for the wellbeing of the environment, community, and stakeholders.
• Socially responsible companies have been seen to have a better public image and reputation
• CSR policies can help a company build an attractive and relevant brand
• CSR policies make each employee accountable for their actions and empower them to use its resources and guidelines to do good.
• Studies have shown that a company-wide CSR manifesto and objectives can boost employee morale and increase workplace productivity.

1. What is a CSR campaign?

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A CSR campaign is a company's effort to align its initiatives with the ones of non-profit organizations, internal social programs or philanthropic initiatives.

CSR ad campaigns - or "cause marketing" - are a way to communicate these efforts to the consumer, helping them make a better choice for the environment, community, and the company itself.

Corporate social responsibility comprises formal goals, internal initiatives, and the sustainability of philanthropic projects.

Thanks to CSR campaigns, the business's objectives and any activist message supported are communicated to the consumer.

This strategy allows the company to connect with the consumers and encourage them to make more conscious choices.

In the long-term, these initiatives can have many benefits on the business's ability to remain current and uphold a positive reputation.

2. Customers care about social responsibility

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In today's world, consumers have much more power than they ever had before.

Thanks to search engines and continuous access to the internet, they know exactly what’s going on globally and what issues they are facing.

From climate change to minorities' rights, women's equality and animal welfare, consumers are becoming more aware that their choices - and the brands they shop from - can also be responsible for some of these issues.

For example, the environmental impact of fast fashion and today's livestock farming technique is unsustainable and bound to worsen over time.

In turn, this has powered new consumer trends.

Indeed, it’s not difficult to see the repercussions that certain industries and business models had on the communities and environment.

This has opened the eyes of the consumers - and over 88% of them are looking for brands that can help them make better choices and make a difference in the world.

An increasing number of buyers also report being willing to spend more on products and services that align with their own values and don't harm the community or the environment.

When a brand commits to creating fairer products and services, it’s more likely to spark interest in today's socially and environmentally conscious consumers.

Transparent CSR

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After the importance of CSR became widespread in the 1960s, consumers started to see the link between the waste, emissions and social repercussions of certain industries on the environment and the local community.

At the same time, many businesses caught up because a good CSR campaign could be used to lure in new customers, improve their lead nurturing techniques and win over a more significant share of the market.

So, many businesses started to publish their sustainability manifesto, convincing the consumers of some good intentions that were not always there.

Phenomena such as greenwashing became one of today's main marketing and customer relationships departments in most businesses.

Consumers have become more informed, smarter and able to see through the marketing colors or punchy taglines. For example, the way a customer handoff happens from sales to customer success is a good enough dipstick on whether a brand really wants to stand by its promise.

Today's consumers aren’t afraid to look further into how a certain product is made, produced, shipped, or packaged. In addition, they’re aware that some businesses use their CSR page on their website or CSR ad campaigns for marketing.

This has made it crucial for businesses to invest in transparent and authentic CSR campaigns.

So whether you have a formal set of policies on your website or informal internal projects for your employees to follow, your CSR campaign must be transparent and truthful.

It should also align with your business's internal values, which means that you’ll be able to follow through with the promises you have made to your audience.

3. Socially responsible businesses are rewarded with loyalty

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Gaining new customers is much more expensive for a business than welcoming returning buyers.

Since new customers cost up to five times more than targeting returning consumers, increasing your business's customer retention rate by 5% can increase profits by a whopping 30%.

These statistics make it clear that improving customer loyalty and encouraging your consumers to come back is vital.

But how can you do this?

With so much choice for them on the market, the competition is fierce.

However, CSR campaigns can be the tool to help your business stand out from the noise and increase your customer retention rate.

Firstly, your CSR campaign will give you a chance to partner with a governmental body, association, or initiative. This means that anyone already interested in that cause might recognize your brand as a positive identity committed to doing good.

But also, your partnership with such organizations and programs can encourage your audience to do good by choosing your company.

Knowing that their purchase creates something good can improve customer loyalty 

Recent studies have shown that over 66% of consumers only commit to purchases that align with their own set of beliefs. In turn, today's brands can no longer remain neutral, and they have to communicate and uphold their value.

4. CSR initiatives connect and build relationships

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No business is an island!

It’s vital for companies to build long-lasting relationships with businesses and organizations around them.

Any organization needs to cultivate a special network from the relationships with customers to the deep connection with suppliers, stakeholders and the surrounding community.

CSR campaigns are vital to connect with the customers and communicate what the business's goal is all about.

When appropriately crafted and communicated through social media channels and through stories, CSR campaigns can also help businesses engage with the audience.

From donation forms to surveys, questionnaires, opinion polls and contests, CSR initiatives allow the business to learn a lot more about their consumers.

Timur Koklu from Vectornator says:

“Surveys are a key tool that allows us to know our users. Not just that, but they are a great way to connect with ambassadors who help us in our journey to better our brand and what we stand for. It’s really important to involve them in the way that our company grows.”

At the same time, the consumers will know that the business cares about their opinion and is ready to help them do something good.

Connect over something bigger

Partnerships and co-operations between your business and a non-profit organization can help your customers connect over something bigger than just the brand.

For example, your consumers might come together to build a community focused on doing good in the world.

CSR campaigns delivered through email and social media marketing and even viral videos can encourage your audience to come together and dedicate time to something more important than the product they are about to purchase.

From helping minorities, the environment or other important causes, these projects are vital to building your brand identity beyond the products or services you sell.

Additionally, for your campaigns to be authentic and transparent, you will likely set goals and milestones to be shared with your audience. And if you’re doing so, you should also involve your audience in your projects,

From encouraging them to join in initiatives to setting their own goals, a CSR campaign doesn’t have to be static and unidirectional.

Instead, you can encourage your audience to take part in the efforts and create long-lasting relationships.

After all, what's better than joining forces for something greater?

5. An opportunity for memorable campaigns

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Marketing is among the biggest challenges for most businesses.

But of course, the funds necessary for the marketing campaign you have in mind can be challenging to access.

But an even more critical challenge is selecting the right message to send out to your audience! Indeed, with so much choice, it can be difficult for consumers to identify a brand that they can trust and become loyal to.

Marketing is the means you have to ensure that they make the right choice in their decision-making process.

If you’re struggling to find the right marketing message and means, CSR can help you.

As far as your efforts and values are genuine - and you follow through with your promises and set expectations - you can use CSR to create a unique and different CSR campaign.

Thanks to socially responsible alternatives, you can tap into the creative genius of your production or marketing team and create something that’s not only good but also eye-catching.

There are several initiatives that you could consider. Donating part of the price to organizations could be a great starting point. Alternatively, you might consider organizing beach clean-ups and awareness events.

Or, you might encourage your audience to take up a challenge (such as running, walking or cycling a certain amount of miles in a month) and contribute to a donation to a non-profit organization.

But there’s no limit to the possibilities of the right CSR campaign!

For example, let's not forget the Lacoste campaign in 2018.

The designer brand launched the 'Save our Species' campaign and brought CSR campaign standards to the next level.

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Lacoste swapped its iconic crocodile logo during the campaign and swapped for the icons of 10 threatened species.

What’s even smarter is that Lacoste produced only a limited number of polos with the endangered species' logos on them. The number corresponded to one of the animals of that species still living in the wild.

The campaign happened in partnership with IUCN and led to donations and ongoing help to protect the wildlife.

As a result, the number of polos sky-rocketed and Lacoste is still more involved than ever in helping endangered animals: an absolute win-win.

When crafting the right CSR campaign for your business, it’s vital to consider what your core values are.

While swapping the logo of their polos worked for Lacoste, there’s a lot more you can think about to take CSR to the next level. 

Bottom line

As the world continues to change and face new issues, consumers are becoming increasingly aware. CSR policies represent a great way for businesses to connect with consumers and build meaningful relationships truly.

Since consumers are always more interested in selecting companies that align with their own values and ethics, it has become vital for companies to strive towards more important goals - and CSR campaigns can be the tool to engage with the audience and build long-lasting relationships.