Matt Sharp is the co-founder and president of Causely, a tool that helps local brick-and-mortar businesses generate social media referrals while at the same time supporting some really great non-profit organizations. He recently was my guest on the Small Business Marketing Minute podcast to explain how the tool works and what benefits businesses get from using it.
The reason I asked Matt to come on the show is that I was impressed by the unique nature of his tool, in that it solves two very common and important problems that at first glance appear completely unrelated:
Causely solves both of those problems at once by allowing businesses to automatically donate money to a non-profit organization every time a customer checks in at their location on social media. This makes it possible for a business to support a good cause in a way that actually benefits them beyond simply creating good will among their customers.
When customers check in at the business on social media, they are essentially giving an implied referral to all of their friends on that social media platform. As Matt explains in our interview, customers will often add a nice quote or two about the business when they check in, which adds even more value. However, because the business’s donation is based on act of checking in and not on whether or not someone makes a positive statement about the business, there isn’t a conflict with FTC rules about incentivizing testimonials.
Use the player below to listen to my interview with Matt and learn all about how Causely works and the results that it is achieving for local businesses.