{"id":2812,"date":"2017-10-23T16:17:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T16:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=2812"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:47","slug":"smbs-purpose-driven-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/smbs-purpose-driven-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"How SMBs Can Move Towards Purpose-Driven Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Selling great products at a reasonable price with exceptional customer service may be good enough to make any business financially successful, but it won\u2019t necessarily make customers feel emotionally connected to the brand. For that, you need to go beyond asking them to open their wallets and instead appeal to their hearts and minds. In other words, you need purpose-driven marketing.<\/p>\n

Think of the local 10k road race in your community. It\u2019s probably sponsored — perhaps even named — after a major corporate entity. The same goes with many other non-profit organizations, charitable foundations and emergency fundraising efforts. For these companies, backing a worthy cause is a way of expressing their values and demonstrating they are (literally) invested in the things their customers care about.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth pointing out that purpose-driven marketing isn\u2019t just a nice-to-have but an increasing necessity. Earlier this year, for instance, consulting firm Deloitte released a study that showed 91% of Millennials would actually switch brands to one associated with a cause.<\/p>\n

You might assume, at first, that purpose-driven marketing is best suited to large enterprises with the resources to make hefty financial contributions and the scale to make a lot of noise about it. The rise of cloud and mobile computing, and other technologies has changed all that, however, Today, even small and medium-sized businesses can use purpose-driven marketing to help define who they are in their customers\u2019 minds, and establish a more meaningful relationship than one based solely on purchasing transactions.<\/p>\n

Use Data To Link Your \u2018Why\u2019 With Your Target Market<\/h3>\n

Many companies already use Marketing Cloud<\/a> to get a better sense of their customer\u2019s pain points or challenges and develop the right content to nurture demand. They may discover, for instance, that many customers and prospects are struggling to complete certain tasks over the course of their work day. Their company, meanwhile, may offer products and services to help make them more productive. In fact, making people productive might be the organization\u2019s main mission. Marketing to such people is fairly straightforward, but it becomes far more powerful when you infuse it with a greater purpose. <\/p>\n

Go a bit deeper and ask yourself why your customers and prospects need to get more time in their day. Are they under greater amounts of stress? Do they want to invest more time in their families, their health or their own passion projects? What are they saying on social media, at events or in other channels that offer them clues? Marketing Cloud will help get at many of these answers.<\/p>\n

Based on what you learn, certain causes might emerge as candidates to support, like a charity that focuses on boosting physical fitness or an arts program to inspire creativity among busy executives. In some cases, sponsoring or financially supporting such organizations may be the right approach, but it\u2019s not the only one. Even an SMB with limited resources for sponsorship could speak to the purpose that it shares with customers through content. This could include:<\/p>\n