Making Your Community Impact Visible!

Fall months are a time traditionally associated with gratitude. For this month, I’m focusing on how your business’s involvement in the community can strengthen local ties and serve as a powerful marketing tool. Supporting charities and community initiatives is an opportunity to highlight your commitment to social responsibility while enhancing customer loyalty. Here are a few ways to ensure your community involvement gets noticed.

Make it Visible – Online

Visibility is key in promoting your community involvement, especially on your website and social media platforms. Adding a ‘Community’ page (that features local involvement) to your website is a terrific way to showcase your social responsibility to existing and prospective customers. A community page is also the perfect place to include a link or email address for customers to request donations or silent auction prizes. We’ve added a donation form to our website at Gibson’s, which has helped to streamline donations and keep track of past initiatives.

Whether you’re supporting a local cause through an in-kind or financial donation, make sure to ask for photos from the groups and organizations you support; these can create engaging content for your social media platforms and website page. LinkedIn is an ideal space for sharing these types of special experiences – simply tag the organization(s) with which you collaborate, and any key members involved by using the ‘@’ symbol followed by their name. This boosts your visibility and encourages others to join in the conversation.

Make it Visible In-Store

You can also bring your community initiatives to life within your stores. Consider implementing a donation campaign, where customers can contribute to a cause of your organization’s choice or an existing charity partner.

One way to do this could be setting up a visual display with cut-outs – if you’re supporting a clothing drive for example, you could use hanger-shaped cut-outs for every dollar donated. Get your customers involved by having them write their names on the cut-out and then attach it to a larger structure representing your goal, like a closet! The donation amount could be as low as $1. Cut-outs can be designed online and printed in your office, which keeps costs low.

Alternatively, consider setting up a holiday or community display marketing your efforts to your walk-in customers. A lot of businesses in our industry organize annual coat or clothing drives. Instead of simply hanging up a poster, get a mannequin or two on Amazon and have them dress up in warm coats. Enroll some of your CSRs to help design the display – they’ll love supporting the cause.

Switch Up Your Gifting This Holiday Season

As the holiday season approaches, consider an innovative twist on your traditional Christmas gifts for top customers. Instead of a physical gift, let your customers know that you’ve donated on their behalf to a local organization you support. This thoughtful gesture enhances your brand image and aligns with the spirit of giving.

Include this initiative in your marketing email campaigns and social media posts to ensure your customers feel valued and involved. If the feedback is positive (which it will be), you can make it an annual tradition and announce the total amount raised year over year on Christmas Day, or as a way to kick off the incoming new year.

Introduce a ‘Give or Get’ Campaign

A ‘give or get’ campaign is cause-marketing that is a wonderful way to incentivize customer participation while supporting a cause of your choice. For a chosen period, offer your customers the option to receive a 15% discount on their order or to pay full price, with 15% of their payment going directly to charity. If asked in person, most customers will tell you to donate 15% to charity (yes, there is some guilt involved).

Promote this campaign through in-store signage, social media and your email newsletters to maximize its reach. Announce the total raised at the end of the campaign. Customers who donated their 15% will feel involved and engaged in the cause and final outcome.

As you embrace the spirit of thanksgiving this fall, remember that giving back to your community is not only a noble pursuit but also a savvy marketing strategy. By intertwining your business with local causes and recognizing your team, you can create lasting relationships and a positive brand image that resonates with customers and employees alike.

‘Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more.’

— Melody Beattie