Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a hugely important part of a company’s branding and business practices. CSR refers to a company’s internal and external efforts to positively contribute to environmental initiatives and the well-being of society.
If done correctly, CSR can enhance a company’s image and reputation, increase loyalty and trust among consumers, and see improved employee retention. It can give companies competitive advantage as it differentiates them from others, and with CSR rising in importance for consumers, consumers are more likely to seek out brands that align with their values and beliefs. It will also give brands a financial advantage, as environmentally friendly initiatives save money, and stakeholders and investors are becoming increasingly interested in supporting companies with strong CSR.
So, how do companies ensure that they demonstrate a strong commitment to CSR, and how does it apply to marketing?
CSR Initiatives
The most important part of CSR is making sure that companies are practicing it internally. If a company is pledging to support diversity, then they should have hiring practices that give diverse talent equal opportunities. This also extends to their employees, who should then be diverse as well.
If they are pledging to be fully environmentally friendly, their distributors and manufacturers should be committed to being sustainable in addition to the company themselves.
Companies should be committed to ethical labour practices, putting the health and wellbeing of their employees at the forefront of the organization. Making sure that their organization is fully accessible to everyone, regardless of ability, and can accommodate all employees and their unique needs. They also need to be committed to ensuring their employees are being paid fair and competitive wages on top of regulating the number of hours they work per week.
Partnering with or donating to charities are also an integral part of CSR, it shows to consumers that companies care about more than just making money. Companies also need to commit themselves to continuous research into their CSR initiatives to ensure that their contributions continue to have a positive impact.
Now, for startups, doing all of this may seem like a lot of very expensive work. And it is. However, keeping all of the above points in mind is important for success. Startups can pick one CSR initiative and slowly work towards achieving it. Incorporating CSR into business practices right away is an important way to establish a brand as authentic and having values that are important to the everyday consumer. Plus, as a startup grows, they can start incorporating other initiatives as well in addition to the initiative they started with.
Marketing
CSR marketing is tricky, as it needs to be genuine and can’t come across as holier-than-thou. It also can’t come across as marketing. Consumers hold brands accountable, and so any claim a brand makes needs to be backed up with evidence of action, no matter how small. Luckily for startups, CSR is somewhat already included in their business model.
Most startups are created due to an identified gap in the market. They are already aware that consumers are looking for something specific and are here to fix that gap. Identify how the gap fits in with CSR initiatives and how it reflects the brand’s values and beliefs. Startups can then ensure that they have been socially and environmentally aware right from the start, thus making themselves more trustworthy and reliable.
Brands also need to make sure to include their CSR initiatives in their mission statement and their list of values. While this may not seem like marketing, a brand’s mission statement and values are available right on their website, a place that all consumers will go when researching a company.
The important part here is to ensure that CSR marketing materials are kept separate from regular marketing materials. Consumers are looking for authenticity and it’s very hard to convince people of said authenticity if all of a company’s good deeds are linked to them trying to sell things. Instead, CSR initiatives should be highlighted as separate posts, and CSR accomplishments should only be marketed when socially appropriate.
In addition, CSR can also improve a company’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) score as materials will be using the same keywords that a specific target market is searching for. Plus, this will also enhance a company’s image and help them have a broader outreach to new customers and markets.
In Conclusion
Overall, in order for CSR to work, the initiatives need to reflect a company’s brand and values. CSR should not be something that is added later but is an integral part of the company and informs decisions and business practices both internally and externally. In other words, companies can’t just talk-the-talk, they need to walk-the-walk too.
Lauren Schwartz | Staff Writer
