What's positive impact marketing and why should you use it?

Most of us want to do more good, for our communities and the planet. Buying from a company that fits with those principles is a start. As a business, how do you harness that need for positive impact, to improve your marketing effectiveness? You tell the story. It’s called positive impact marketing. 

Want to know more?

• What is positive impact marketing?
• Why should you do positive impact marketing?
• Buyer psychology
• What are the principles of positive impact marketing?
• How do these apply to your marketing activities?

What is positive impact marketing?

Before you get worried, it’s not a new set of tactics to learn. It’s more of an attitude and approach to how you undertake marketing, using the same methods.

It’s marketing that has a positive impact. Not on your bottom line (but hopefully, it will anyway) but on people and the planet.

It’s also known as purpose-driven marketing.

Why should you do positive impact marketing?

There’s plenty of research out there to back that claim up.

This is where brand marketing i.e. story-telling comes in. Consumers are looking for evidence of how you care, beyond your bank balance. They want to have a positive impact on their community and environment and buying from ‘good’ companies helps them to fulfil that. In turn, they’re more likely to buy your products and services.

Buyer psychology

This is where buyer psychology comes in. When we’re talking about showcasing all the great things you’re doing that have a positive impact on people and the planet, what we’re employing is buyer psychology. We need to understand why people buy to be able to market to them effectively. And having a positive impact is a huge driver in popular culture.

What are the principles of positive impact marketing?

You can split it into the two ‘p’s (for positive):

1. People 

• The way you treat others - being inclusive, respectful and empowering others.

• Participation in your local community - building connections, providing a service and being part of the solution for social good.

2. Planet

• Being responsible and sustainable.

• Contributing to a circular economy.

How do these apply to your marketing activities?

This all sounds wonderful, who wouldn’t be on board? But how do you make this a reality in a marketing strategy that’s pushing for sales?

You’re probably doing a lot of this anyway, as we all move towards caring more for our planet and being more mindful in our interactions with those around us. The problem is, we’re not talking about it.

Ultimately you need to use your marketing activity to tell the story online and here are some examples:

1. People

• Is your culture inclusive? Showcase your culture on your social channels using video content.

• Are you respectful? - Demonstrate this with the interactions you have with your customers at every touchpoint. Social proof will back this up.

• Do you give back to your community? - Attend career fairs and offer work experience placements.

• Volunteering - Get your team to volunteer in the community. They benefit from this just as much in terms of motivation and reward.

• Social impact - What are you offering in terms of learning? A blog with all that free advice is arguably having a positive impact. Do you have a charity of the year?

2. Planet

• Sustainability - Make sure giveaways are made from sustainable materials.

• Contributing to the circular economy - This should go beyond recycling, for example, repurposing equipment. Your office is an energy-sapping machine. Off-set this and reduce wastage.

• Less commuting - Offering work-from-home options.

• Suppliers - Being mindful of the suppliers and materials you use.

In summary

You’re probably doing a lot of these positive things anyway. Sure, there’s always more you can do but the key is to start sharing these positive stories and influence buyer behaviour.

Back to insights