Wednesday 26 May 2010

Top Tips for Social Marketing


Why use a social marketing approach?

Social Marketing is a systematic process driven by a deep understanding of people and using this understanding to develop and implement effective programmes of social action. The Social Marketing has a bottom line focused on behaviour change. Social Marketing is not just social advertising or promotions but the total process or understanding people and why they act as they do and what can help them. Social Marketing can be defined as: “ The systematic application of marketing alongside other concepts and techniques to achieve behavioural goals for a social good” (French & Blair Stevens, 2010)

10 Key rules for developing and implementing a social marketing programme

1. Active engagement of individuals and communities: Engaging communities in the development delivery and evaluation of solutions.

2. Focus on behaviour: Set explicit objectives and tailored interventions to achieving measurable behavioural goals.

3. Segment and succeed: Use behavioural and psychological data as well as demographic and service data to segment target audiences

4. Use combined approaches: Use an array of interventions including information, service change, policy , education, enforcement and design to bring about change

5. Sustained and appropriately funded. Deliver programs that can be sustained over time at an cost effective level to bring about measurable improvement

6. Integrating action: Develop strong coordination between international, national and local efforts.

7. Harnessing all possible assets: Develop interventions and co-delivery through a coordinated coalitions and effort on the part of the public, for profit, and NGO sectors

8. Theory and science informed interventions: Have a clear and consistent model of practice that is informed by research based theory and best practice.

9. Learning culture: Develop a learning culture that invests in capturing what is learnt from interventions both positive and negative.

10. Coordination: Ensuring synergy between intervention strategies and broader policy aims and policy drivers.

10 things to include in your Social Marketing plan:

1. Explicitly define the problem. Set out the challenge (Challenge / Problem Statement) and context (e.g. SWOT STEP Gap and Competition analysis.

2. Mobilise all your assets Set out the human and financial resources and assets required / available, including contributions from stakeholders and partners.

3. Target and segment the audience. Select and set out the primary and secondary audience describing how you have segmented them.

4. Undertake behavioural Analysis Identify key influences, benefits, rewards, blocks and barriers to the desired behavior

5. Set out clear behavioural goals Set out aims and behavioural objectives for the work, and SMART objectives for the programme.

6. Define and describe the proposition Set out what you are offering (the core benefits) and how this will be delivered.

7. Develop and test. Set out how you will pre test or pilot your proposals and how they will be monitored and evaluated. Also, address any ethical issues, how to coordinate stakeholder and partner’s contributions to the programme.

8. Implement. Set out the final aims and objectives for the programme. Describe the elements of the action you will take and the period for this action. Spell out who will do what and when. Set out how you will monitor and review progress; manage you stakeholders and partners and finally what action you will take to capitalise on opportunities that arise or manage risks or threats that arise

9. Evaluate . Undertake process, (measuring the efficiency of the programme) , impact evaluation ( short term effects of the intervention) and outcome evaluation ( the change in behavior that you wish to measure)

10. Learn and improve. Set out a plan for how you will share your findings with others within your organization, area and more widely.

Things not to do

1. Let people think that Social Marketing is just about flashy promotional events, materials development, mass or new media promotions.

2. Develop material that is driven by what ‘experts ‘think people need.

3. Undertake actions that are not informed by market research or client insight.

4. Run programmes or projects that you don’t evaluate.

Final tip:

Remember the first duty of a Social Marketer is to market Social Marketing to non marketers. We need to ensure that a marketing mind set is embedded within all our organisations so that they can become more effective and efficient.

1st post

1st post, hopefully the first of many!