Your community is your audience. It’s your clients and potential clients as well as your employees and potential employees. Therefore, being in the spotlight of the community goes beyond how your company can earn more clients or attract new talent—it’s about what your company can do for the community.
As a result, corporations and small businesses alike choose to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) out of a sense of duty to the communities they call home. In fact, CSR actually helps companies to stay in the community spotlight, for a smart brand strategy goes hand in hand with CSR: Here’s why.
Before they seek you out, your brand is what bridges the gap between clients and your company, and an awareness that your company practices CSR is an incentive for potential clients to cross that bridge. Showing concerns for employees, environmental sustainability, human rights, and the community make up a great portion of your company’s brand. It shows what your company believes in and is willing to stand up for.
Just like individuals have passions and interests, a successful brand implements CSR. If your company doesn’t show an interest or get involved in social concerns, it gives the public no reason to support your organization. People want to work with companies with an eye toward the greater good.
Consumers are always looking for companies that give back in some way, and one of the leading companies in CSR is Google. This carbon-neutral company extends its brand beyond environmental sustainability by engaging in employee welfare, vowing to increase its overall diversity.
Another incredible example of CSR and branding is TOMS. Their tagline “one for one” exemplifies perfect transparency to consumers: Every time a customer purchases a pair of shoes from TOMS, the company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. TOMS’ CSR is an example of how well-strategized brands can help a company stand out.
Your brand—the public face of your company—will shape how clients and community members view you and influence how quick they are to embrace your business; this brand can also set you apart from your competitors by demonstrating your values. Make sure that your brand highlights your organization’s compassion, values, and commitment by making CSR a key component of your philosophy.