In today’s business landscape, building solid relationships with customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders is crucial for success. A social impact strategy can help your company achieve this by nurturing relationships with your community and other businesses. In this article, we discuss seven benefits of social impact strategy on your company’s public relations (PR) campaign.
What is a Social Impact Strategy?
Social impact is a focus in business that involves taking on socially responsible activities to serve communities and impact the world. Companies that prioritize social impact do so by contributing to solving a local or global challenge. This could be standing for a cause or addressing pressing needs like environmental issues, gender issues, educational gaps, refugee rights, social justice, etc.
While many brands understand the importance of social impact on business, it’s also critical to learn how to communicate their steps and efforts to improve the world. When perfectly executed, a social impact strategy can benefit your business in a number of ways.
7 Benefits of Social Impact Strategy in PR
PR is primarily about improving your appeal to the public, and demonstrating a positive social impact can help you do that. Here are seven ways your PR strategy can benefit from a robust social impact strategy.
1. Helps Customers Identify With Your Values
Business isn’t just about what you sell but also what you stand for. A 2019 survey showed that 77% of customers love brands that share their values and make efforts to champion them. Thus, a social impact strategy benefits PR because it helps customers identify with your company’s mission. One company that uses a social impact strategy effectively for its PR is Nike. The sports company is known for supporting social causes and showcasing athletes and cultures globally. The brand prioritizes consumers in its storytelling, utilizing Instagram for inspirational images and videos, Facebook for larger campaigns, and Twitter for addressing concerns. Nike’s campaigns encouraged social distancing during the pandemic, supported the BLM movement, and empowered girls to pursue their dreams. Their campaigns inspire people to have courage and strive for greatness.
2. Builds Customers’ Trust
Consumers are more skeptical than ever when it comes to marketing ploys from brands trying to earn their business. However, they do tend to be more likely to put their trust in companies that align with their own values. Your social impact strategy allows you to ‘put your money where your mouth is,’ so to speak, through PR published in the media showing the good your company has done. This is earned media, not paid advertising, and is much more credible to consumers, which makes it easier to earn their trust and loyalty.
3. Harnesses the Power of Your Positive Influence
Knowing how your company inspires change in the world can help you fine-tune your branding messages. PR is not only about knowing what to say to the public but also how and when to say it. Your social impact strategy is the means by which you determine this as it’s your plan to affect change—the who, what, when, where, how, and why. With these things identified, it’s much easier to craft effective PR.
4. Attracts Investment Opportunities
Showcasing your company’s efforts to improve the world will help get investors’ attention. The positive recognition will also encourage them to invest in your company and feel confident doing so.
5. Helps Retain the Best Talent
Employees are the backbone of every successful company, and just like consumers, they are more attracted to companies that share their values. A company that enacts change will likely attract top employees who share its values and vision. Having employees that support your social impact will improve their commitment and productivity within your organization.
6. Increases Revenue
While PR is more of a top-of-the-funnel activity than marketing, its ultimate goal is to attract potential customers. However, being able to publicize your social impact means customers who align with your values will be more willing to buy from you.
7. Brand Reputation
One of the primary advantages of being a socially conscious company is that it increases your brand awareness and improves your reputation. Social impact is about helping others and contributing to a better world, so this should be the core of your strategy. If your company cares about making a social impact, you can create a meaningful change that improves other people’s lives. Eventually, creating a visible change will enhance your media recognition and make people see you positively.
Hire a PR Expert
Brands need to cultivate a strong relationship between their social impact strategy and PR strategy, but you’ll require a unique skill set to do this well. It would help if you had PR professionals who could effectively communicate your social impact strategies in a newsworthy way rather than a sales pitch.
At RPR Firm, we have a team of PR professionals with the skills and experience to help you benefit from your social impact by communicating the work you’re doing. Our company has more than 11 years of experience helping brands further their mission to make a change. Schedule a free consultation with us today.