We’ve all been part of the rush to figure out gifts for family and friends as the holiday season approaches.
Many companies even recommend starting holiday shopping (plus social media and email marketing campaigns) months early to avoid shipping delays or out-of-stock notifications. The holiday season often means a busy time for brands — and that’s what events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday intend to capitalize on.
But sentiments are changing. People are questioning and expecting more of the brands they shop from and 89 percent of shoppers say they would be loyal customers of a brand associated with a good cause, given similar price and quality. Brands are also saying no to the flash flood of demand and the rush to supply that Black Friday offers incite.
In this article, we want to highlight marketing ideas showing how businesses can use a Black Friday campaign to do good instead of encouraging the same old consumer habits while maintaining a strong brand purpose.
Highlighting other businesses to support on social media
Instead of sharing Black Friday deals, some businesses choose to highlight small businesses to support in a bid to give back to the community and discourage excess consumerism. It also helps spotlight these small brands to potential customers.
Ocean Bottle, a reusable bottle brand, highlighted other businesses to support and why on Twitter and Instagram. The reason, they shared, was to “…show how consumers can be a force for good by highlighting a few small brands that could use [your] support that 'do good' too."
The businesses Ocean Bottle highlighted also fit with the mission to ‘do good.’ One was From Babies with Love, a “purpose-led sustainable gifting brand” that donates 100% of its profits to orphaned and abandoned children worldwide.
DAME, a sustainable period products company, took its spotlight a step further, creating gift guides highlighting small businesses in one post and educating consumers in another.
Along with Black Friday encouraging people to buy more than they need, one of the key statistics highlighted by DAME’s educative post was illuminating the push for more sustainable practices during the shopping season: eighty percent of clothes from Black Friday sales end up in a landfill.
Sproos Home, in collaboration with several other small businesses selling home goods, shared social media posts that could make great holiday gifts and the brands reciprocated.
Donate a percentage of your profits instead
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