Making the Connection with Employee Volunteerism Programs - Achieving Marketing Goals (Part 3)

How to Leverage Employee Volunteerism Programs in a Down Economy (Part 3)

Marketing Goals

Beyond human resource and basic corporate social responsibility goals, employee volunteering is a powerful tactic for achieving marketing goals. Whether your company is entering new markets, delivering customer focused innovations or finding new ways to make your brand more relevant in your customers’ lives, volunteering can provide a new way for your employees to get close to your customers.  If volunteering with or for your customers is not possible, volunteering will provide your marketing or R&D employees with a constructive break that will lead to more creative and inventive thinking.

If your business’s marketing goals are	Your EVP adds value in this way	EVP Strategy
Entering new markets, affinity-based line extensions, diversity marketing Example: “As the demographics of our communities change, we need to focus on entering these new growing markets.”	Volunteering in the community you wish to enter will help expose employees to the needs, desires and culture of the target customers in a very authentic way.  Working side by side with your target customers will give your marketing team insights that they could never learn in a focus group.	“In Our Customers’ Shoes” Volunteering
Being more customer focused Example: “In this environment more than ever, we need to listen to our customers and design products for them.”	When marketing teams become isolated from their customers, they are less productive in speaking to their customers.  Volunteering with and for your customers can help lead to breakthroughs in product design, promotion development and other marketing mix components.	“In Our Customers’ Shoes” Volunteering
Make your brand more relevant in consumers’ lives Example: “To thrive in this economy, we need to become a lifestyle brand for our customers.”	No matter if your brand means trust, like Allstate or value and good design like Target, marketing teams want to find new ways to make your brand relevant in your consumers’ lives.  By aligning with brand-right volunteer opportunities, you can strengthen your brand in more authentic ways while engaging your employees and helping the community.	“In Our Customers’ Shoes” Volunteering

Next up - Definitions of the Employee Volunteerism Strategies