URL Shorteners, new revenue-sharing models and the latest in real time search are a few alternative online paths for cause marketing - a space that has come to rely heavily on the internet to get its message out.
Consumers who have supported cause marketing efforts are most likely to respond to communications via email, websites and social media networks, according to a study from Cone Research.
Another study late last year, by Convio, found that charities with an online presence were expected to reap more than $4 billion during this holiday season, writes MarketingCharts. Many of the online initiatives are straightforward partnerships with retailers or social media campaigns on Facebook.
New Models
However companies that wish to apply more elaborate online marketing techniques - or even entirely new models - have a growing menu of offerings from which to choose.
- Admance.com is a new site that sells advertising - but the public decides how much of the advertising dollars the site keeps and how much goes to charity. Entrepreneur Landon Fears, who set up the site, designated the Salvation Army as the first charity to benefit from the revenue-sharing model.
The site shows a running tally of advertising revenues and charitable donations on the home page throughout the day, allowing visitors to choose to send money earned through advertising in one-cent increments to either Fears or a featured charity. Advertisers pay one cent every time their ad is displayed.
- Last month 3BL Media launched 3bl.me, a cause-based URL shortener. For each URL shortened via 3bl.me, 3BL Media will make a donation to such organizations as Volunteermatch, Sweatfree Communities, and World Wildlife Fund UK. Other charities and causes will be selected by users visiting Twitter, or emailing twitizen.
- According to David Levy, co-founder of the online brand and consumer connector SocialVibe, advances in real-time search will lead to better cause marketing, turning entire operations into better global citizens. (via Mashable).
"Now that everyone is going to see what others are saying about companies, its critical for brands to be talked about in a positive way," says Levy. Indirectly, it will help causes as well as promote greater corporate promotion of them, he says.
