More than 64% of consumers nowadays are described as "belief-driven buyers," meaning that they choose where to shop and who to do business with based on shared beliefs, concerns, and causes. Customers are looking to put their money to good use, with more than 82% saying that brands should take a stand on social issues. [1]

An extension of social responsibility efforts, cause marketing and cause-related marketing do an even better job of generating brand awareness and creating a valuable public image for your small business. Cause marketing also provides other boosts to businesses, ranging from increased customer loyalty to improved employee engagement and faster recovery from negative incidents (product issues, customer service problems, etc.).

Here we'll take a deeper dive into cause marketing, looking at what it is, how to develop a cause marketing campaign for your small business, some of the benefits of cause-related advertising, and some good cause-marketing examples that will provide inspiration for your efforts.