Social marketing -

Social marketing

Social marketing is marketing designed not to specifically help a brand but to generate social change. It raises awareness of a given issue or cause using conventional marketing strategies and seeks to convince an audience to change their behavior.

So, instead of selling a product, in order to create the desired change, social marketing "sells" a behavior or lifestyle which benefits society. The gain to the public good is often the object of attention. And instead of demonstrating how a product is better than rival goods, "competent" social marketing toward negative feelings, attitudes or acts.

The Concept of Social Marketing

Why does social marketing matter so much? Well think of "ordinary" goods or services commercials. You are not persuaded by an ad alone to try out a product or service (in fact you are tuning out the vast majority of advertisements that you see).

But how does your focus get from a well-designed ad? Whether it takes a crazy imaginative turn that you haven't planned, or it makes you laugh, cry or think. Not all ad convinces you to try out the product or service it promotes, but the best ads appeal to imagination or empathy to get people inspired to do so.

And with social media it is the same way. People really don't want to be told what to do. You may not be persuaded about a certain social problem by reporting, and usually viewed PSAs. Or, maybe they're not aware of the problem or its scale.

Yet well-executed social media catches attention through ingenuity and passion, and spreads information about a social problem. Most importantly, it offers a persuasive, easy way of making the world better, making it more attractive than any "economic" actions. Social marketing is able to "offer" a beneficial activity with success through these components.

Social marketing is especially effective when it includes an aspect of charitable giving, as people want to make a difference to the planet. They are really happy to give — it's just a question of when.

 

Examples:

Plastic Bags Kills

            Product: Reduce wasteful use of plastic bags for recycled use of the bags.

Promotion: Striking photos and branding right on plastic bags: the "Destroy plastic bags" sign and the image of a combat turtle.

Price-cutting: Have people think of how an lifelong practice affects marine life, so they are less likely to consider bags made of plastic. When customers hold the containers, they look as though they strangle the tortoise with their hand. They're likely to think twice about this troubling scenario the next time they're given a plastic bag (and would be more willing to carry a reusable bag with them)!

 Place: Retail stores, most of which offer disposable plastic bags

The campaign calls for intense feelings by putting the emphasis on the unhealthy habit — equating the act of using the bag to hurt the tortoises.

 

Save Paper, Save Planet

Product: Reducing paper use, especially paper towel use

Promotion: A paper towel dispenser that shows an picture of the Amazon Rainforest's birthplace, South America. As more paper towels are used, South America's picture is becoming less and less green, reflecting the direct connection between overuse of paper and deforestation

Price-Cutting: Here is another habit which is especially difficult to break: the overuse of paper towels. But unlike the plastic bag campaign, the message appears when somebody makes a small choice which affects the environment, not afterwards. When people read the message "Save paper, save the world," and see that the paper reflects Earth's safety, they'll be more likely to limit their use of towels, or then go to the air dryer.

Place: Public restrooms

It is a perfect example of reaching the audience right where they are — the audience will actually take a small action to support the Planet!

4’Ps of Social Marketing:

Product: The "good" is the desired social action through social media, and the benefits that this action provides. Be sure this transition is portrayed as enticingly as possible ... which may involve presenting the opposite action as negative.

Price: : Reduce the "price" the audience feels they have to "pay" for the social intervention they want to take place. This price is not just monetary. It's also about mitigating the complexity, time, and psychological / emotional costs borne by people. And when you plan a social media strategy, you'll need to think about (and research) the obstacles that prevent your audience from executing the behaviour.

Place: Where do you want your audience to act as desired? How do you approach them in ways that make the activity at that place easier to execute (and make it more attractive than competing behaviours)? Need to hire your audience's peers as "ambassadors," to make the advertisement more available to your audience?

Promotion: That one ties the four "Ps" together.

• Which platforms and sources would better help you reach your audience and attract their attention to your social marketing campaign?

O Social Networks? Fernseh? Radius? A sign, a billboard or a setup? Things, like festivals, shows, and community days? Campaigns for the guerrilla?

 • How do you draw attention to the substance (behavior), the reduced price and the location in which you want the action to take place?

 Example:

Organization: 

Feed SA, a charity that works to feed needy individuals in South Africa

Product: 

Encourage food donations to Feed SA; secondarily, encourage people to visit the Feed SA website

Promotion:

 Place photos of hungry children in shopping carts holding out their hands, begging for food, so it looks like any food put in the shopping cart is offered to the boy. Carts Seats showed the slogan "See how easy it can be to feed the hungry? "And the website of Feed SA.

Price-Cutting:

 All the stores where this campaign was put had food donation bins at the exits of the store, so that customers could easily donate to Feed SA. Needless to go really far!

Place: Grocery stores.

Why we love it: 

Such a clever advertisement that really tugs the emotions—it certainly looks like the child in need gets food. And it reaches the viewer where they can take action against hunger, by putting themselves where they can buy food. Yet this initiative is also linked together by the feature of readily accessible donation bins, as it offers the viewer an easy way to respond once they are relocated.

As World Ads reports in the above picture, the campaign was fairly inexpensive, but quite successful. "A marked rise in donations and a major improvement in website traffic for the cost of a few decals," Feed SA witnessed.