Why Your Cause Marketing Program Needs Case Studies
"Even consumer facing and non-profit companies need to share whatever success story they have regarding their happy customers."
Source: Neil Patel
One mistake nonprofits make when it comes to recruiting cause marketing partners is not having a corporate partners page on their website. The second mistake is not having case studies on that corporate partners page.
The latter is especially important. Here's why.
ZMOT is real. The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) refers to the fact that prospects are researching your site before they ever pick up the phone or email you. Nonprofits need to proactively support this research process with case studies that pull prospects further down the funnel and toward a partnership.
Case studies work. Don't believe me. Just look at this graph (you can find plenty of others online that confirm that case studies are the top way to generate leads). And don't think that nonprofits are "special" and don't need case studies. We need case studies just as much as businesses do!
Companies want experienced partners. Companies want to work with nonprofits that know what they're doing. Companies are busy and want a partner they don't have to "teach" cause marketing to. That's why so many companies end up working with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or Children's Miracle Network. These two organizations know how to execute cause marketing programs. Case studies are the proof companies need to see before they choose to work with you.
Being new to cause marketing is one reason you might not have case studies. That's a pretty good reason (although there are ways around this). But if you've done cause marketing before and had a successful program, please tell me: why haven't you created a case study to share your success?