• by Mark Dority , July 29, 2013

Meet Marie. 

She teaches science at an inner-city middle school. Like so many teachers in the United States, Marie’s pay was cut due to the economic downturn. On top of that, school budget cuts frequently force her to use her own money to replenish classroom supplies.

Despite this, Marie occasionally donates to a nonprofit that promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies among inner-city kids because she strongly believes these fields can provide at-risk children a way out of the generational poverty cycle. 

Her favorite supermarket recently announced that members of its loyalty program, like Marie, can now donate unused points to causes of their choice through its website and mobile app. Now she donates all her unredeemed rewards to the STEM nonprofit, and spends the money she otherwise would have donated on school supplies.

Ultimately, her goodwill toward the company that channels her donations increases exponentially, which means she returns to buy from the grocery chain again and again, promotes the supermarket’s program to friends and family on Facebook and encourages them to use their points toward the cause that is meaningful to them.

In this fictional example, it’s clear the supermarket really gets what it takes to engage customers like Marie and earn their repeat business during tough economic times. 

What isn’t fiction, however, is the need for cause marketers to get creative in their consumer engagement approach. A sluggish economic recovery has left most of their customers, still tight for cash: Giving USA reports that, overall, donations increased by a mere 1.5% in 2012 and predicts it could take up to five more years to return to pre-recession levels.

But this shouldn’t be considered a setback as cause marketers have plenty of ways to connect with customers who are watching their wallets – facilitated largely by the Internet-connected technology that pervades our lives. And that’s because of the confluence of two factors: today’s consumers are more cause-conscious than ever, a trend that is reinforced by the ubiquity of mobile devices and social media. These technologies help keep the 24-hour news cycle – and the social challenges it reports on – fresh in consumers’ minds.

Considering this, companies with loyalty programs, like our hypothetical supermarket, could make it very easy for cash-strapped customers to satisfy their charitable impulses by allowing them to convert unused points, miles or other reward currencies into cash donations to causes chosen by the customers themselves.

Or, for instance, a cause marketer could launch social media campaigns, offering customers rewards for acting as cause – and brand – advocates, sharing the marketer’s campaign messages with family and friends on social networks. In fact, recent research shows that 78% of consumers show their brand love by spreading the word.

Perhaps the brand could encourage customers to make small, easy-to-manage SMS donations with their mobile phones. After the recent disasters in Haiti, Japan, the Northeast and Oklahoma – all of which took place during the downturn – millions made $5 and $10 donations through text. Or it could organize a community service day wherein participating customers post photos and videos of their activities on social media through their smartphones, earning rewards for each post.

Regardless of which efforts cause marketers adopt, they’re likely to help that brand forge stronger emotional connections with their customers. And when companies act as conduits for their customers’ charitable tendencies, they’re also likely to earn those customers’ goodwill and repeat business.

So, if you’re a cause marketer looking to boost engagement, why not try touching your customers’ other parts instead of their wallet? You know they’re watching every dollar, so reach them through their heart first.