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Show your brand values: Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes

September 23, 2021

At Microsoft Advertising, we’ve been on a journey to understand the impacts of brand trust and the effects of inclusion on marketing, and we’ve externalized our commitment in various ways. Most recently, we released the Marketing with Purpose Course, which empowers all types of marketers to build brand trust with strategies, research and actionable insights from the Marketing with Purpose Playbook, and many more resources are available on the Marketing with Purpose content hub. Back in May, we also introduced a guide on how to select inclusive imagery with people filters, highlighting how much resonance in ad imagery matters. As we continue our Marketing with Purpose product journey, we’re excited to release another feature unique to Microsoft Advertising: Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes.

Why should you use Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes?

Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes allow you to differentiate your brand from your competitors by highlighting unique attributes that showcase the ways your brand demonstrates responsibility, how your brand values align with the values of your customers, and how your brand is being inclusive. These are the core building blocks to trust. Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes allow you to communicate quickly and easily how your brand is “for someone like me.” They allow you to be authentic, which is the key attribute to building trust with customers according to the research-based Marketing with Purpose course. Also, recognizing that these values drive value for both your brand and your customers builds trust and inclusivity. Understanding and addressing what your customers value is inclusive marketing. Overall, executing Marketing with Purpose in your advertising is an important way for marketers to overcome barriers in the moments that matter, and to connect with people. It’s an approach that brings us together and highlights great aspects of your business, authentically. It establishes trust, increases brand love, and nurtures loyalty. Great relationships start here.

Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes in advertisements

Below is an example of a brand text ad that highlights an Environmental business attribute and value, Carbon-neutral.

Image of a sample ad result, showing the Carbon-neutral Marketing with Purpose Business Attribute.

Available Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes

We offer four categories of business attributes based on our research that supports what is most important to people in building trust with brands: responsibility, values, and inclusion.

  • Some Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes allow you to demonstrate how your brand is being responsible, such as when you highlight your accessibility features in your business. Did you know that there are over 1 billion people on the planet with a disability and when you add their friends and family who care about them it increases to 2.3 billion who care about accessibility?1
  • Some Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes allow your brand to make a meaningful connection with people through shared values in environmental, social, and community-based business features. Did you know that on the Microsoft Advertising Network in the U.S., veterans are 225% more likely to pay more for sustainable and eco-friendly products than the average internet user? The same holds true for Black and African Americans at 93%, LatinX at 51% and LGBTQI+ at 41% more likely.2
  • Some Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes quickly help people feel included and this is very important. We found when someone experiences an inclusive ad, there was a 26% increase in purchase intent. Put simply, people will buy from brands that stand for something larger than just their product.3


In this release, we're offering four attribute categories with 32 total attributes:

InclusionEnvironmentalCommunity/social responsibilityAccessibility
• Vegan
• LGBTQI+-friendly
• Unisex
• Allergy-friendly
• Pet-friendly
• Family-friendly
• Kosher
• Halal
• Alcohol-free
• Gluten-free
• Vegetarian
• Eco-friendly
• Carbon-neutral
• Sustainable
• Carbon-negative
• Cruelty-free
• Non-profit
• Supports a cure
• Local business
• Small business
• Family-owned
• Minority-owned
• Black-owned
• Supports disease research
• LGBTQI+-owned
• Wheelchair accessible
• Visual assistance
• Hearing assistance
• Mobility assistance
• Touchless pickup
• No-contact delivery
• Web accessibility

How to add Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes to your advertising accounts

Adding this feature is quick and simple! These attributes can be set at the account level and used to decorate text ads and product ads. Advertisers can add attributes to their accounts in four easy steps:

Product view of the Ad campaigns section in the Microsoft Advertising interface, with the available checkboxes for Marketing with Purpose Business Attributes.
  1. Navigate to All campaigns.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Check all attributes that apply to your account.
  4. Click Save.

That’s it. In four easy steps you can build brand trust, love, loyalty, and purchase intent by showcasing how your brand values intersect with the values of your customers.

Stay connected

We’re eager to help you deliver your best results with Microsoft Advertising. For any questions or feedback, we encourage you to reach out to your Microsoft Advertising account manager or send us an email directly at advertising-feedback@microsoft.com. You can also ping us on Twitter or suggest a feature on the Microsoft Advertising Feature Suggestions Forum.

[1] Forbes, Richard Branson Supports People With Disabilities -- Here Are Six Ways You Can Do It, Too, 2016.
[2] Microsoft Advertising, Audience data for Microsoft Advertising network compared to the internet, GWI March 2020.
[3] Microsoft Advertising, The Psychology of Inclusion and the Effects in Advertising: Gen Z, July 2020.

Authors

  • Vi Nguyen

    SR PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER, MICROSOFT ADVERTISING

    Vi Nguyen
  • Crystal Zheng

    PRINCIPAL PROGRAM MANAGER, MICROSOFT ADVERTISING

    Crystal Zheng
  • MJ DePalma

    HEAD OF INCLUSIVE BUSINESS IMPACT, MICROSOFT ADVERTISING

    MJ DePalma

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