The Health Canada Policy Toolkit for Public Involvement in Decision Making

Level 1 Technique:
Advertising and Social Marketing

What Is It?

Social marketing is a planned process for influencing change. With its components of marketing, consumer research, advertising and promotion (including positioning, segmentation, creative strategy, message design and testing, media strategy, evaluation and tracking), social marketing can play a central role in promoting health and other important issues.

Social marketing combines the best elements of the traditional approaches to social change by utilizing advances in communication technology and marketing skills. It uses marketing techniques to generate discussion and promote information, attitudes values and behaviours. By doing so, it helps to create a climate conducive to social and behavioural change. In its truest form, social marketing is "the application of commercial marketing technologies to the analysis, planning, execution and evaluation of programs designed to influence the voluntary behaviour of target audiences in order to improve their personal welfare and that of their society." (Andreasen, 1995).

In recent times, social marketing campaigns have been launched on such diverse topics and issues as anti-smoking, drinking and driving, energy conservation, literacy, violence and racism.

How It Works

Anchored within a broad health promotion program, social marketing serves as a tool within an overall strategy. Ideally, it should work in synergy with other programs such as community intervention, legislation, etc. An overall Strategic Social Marketing Plan must be devised to drive decisions surrounding objectives, target groups, communication messages, budget requirements, promotional activities and timing. Audience analyses are essential to the success of all social marketing plans. Clearly stated marketing objectives that incorporate the overall goals of a health promotion program are key to ensuring a winning campaign.

When Is It Most Useful?

Social marketing is most useful for informing, persuading, influencing, motivating, promoting causes and communicating with specific and identifiable groups; in reinforcing behaviour; or changing it for social benefit. It provides the highest value when it is coordinated and integrated strategically within other programs, such as education and training, research and knowledge development, community support, legislative action and taxation.

Logistics and Limits

Social marketing requires resources: people, time, money and effort. Because it aims to reach specific target groups to initiate and effect changes in their ideas, attitudes and ultimately, behaviour, it is necessary to take steps to get to know the intended audience thoroughly through market research.Research efforts will be directed toward analysing the target audience's social and demographic makeup (e.g. economic status, education, age structure), its psycho-social features (e.g. attitudes, motivations, values, behavioural patterns), and its needs.

Once this research has been completed, efforts to effectively communicate key messages through appropriate vehicles can begin. Numerous vehicles can be used to communicate to any given target group: radio, television, print advertising in newspapers and magazines, posters, the Internet, outdoor billboards, etc. As a rule, the communication vehicles selected are ones that the target audience encounters regularly and perceive as being credible.

Cost Implications

The costs associated with social marketing vary widely, and are dependent upon many factors, such as the media chosen, the duration of the campaign, the difficulties associated with reaching intended audiences and the overall breadth and depth of the campaign. While traditional paid advertising continues to be a mainstay of many successful social marketing campaigns, their high costs can be prohibitive for many.

Several effective, low-cost marketing activities can be considered, particularly those that take advantage of new technologies, including the Internet. Forging partnerships, strategic alliances and sponsorship arrangements with other key players who share common objectives with you can also be cost-effective means to communicate your messages.

Expectations for Feedback or Follow-up Evaluating social marketing plans is important for a variety of reasons. A substantial evaluation will determine whether the plan is well implemented, is achieving the measurable objectives that have been set and is making a strong contribution to the overall health promotion program goals.

Engaging the intended target audiences in creating, assessing and evaluating communications products is an important element. Pre-testing your messages with the target group will help to ensure relevance. There exist a wide range of mechanisms for assessing the impact and evaluating the effectiveness of your social marketing effort, including polling, tracking and focus group testing.

Timelines

Timelines vary significantly in social marketing planning. Budgets, advertising schedules, deadlines for print and/or audio/video production, campaign duration and the time required to reasonably expect positive behavioural or social change all must be considered.

Potential Pitfalls

The following may act as barriers to the effectiveness of social marketing planning:

• Lack of available resources
• Lack of knowledge about key marketing principles
• Insufficient consideration of environmental factors that can impact social marketing efforts
• Poorly defined objectives, poorly defined target audiences, poorly crafted messages
• Inappropriate choice of media vehicles and timing.

Contact Information

Health Canada's Partnerships and Marketing Division is the Health Policy and Communications Branch centre of expertise in social marketing, electronic information dissemination, Web marketing and partnership development.

Jim Mintz
Director
Partnerships and Marketing Division Communications,
Marketing and Consultations Directorate
HPCB

or refer to the Social Marketing Network, the single point of access to social marketing resources, publications, tutorials and other material at ( www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/activit/marketsoc/index_e.html ).