An Overview of Social Marketing

Social Marketing is community-based. Social Marketing is creating positive behavioral changes and wellness in individuals. It is a process that uses marketing principles and techniques to influence customers to change their behaviors. These behavioral changes in turn are used to benefit our society or benefit.

The changes the individual make will benefit the individual in the long-term. This strategically oriented discipline relies on creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have positive value for individuals, clients, partners, and society at large.

Social marketing: What is good for the individual?
Traditional: How can we make a profit?

Social marketing is a careful, long-term approach to changing consumer behavior; and you cannot change individual’s behavior, unless they trust you or what you have to offer. They will measure the cost, not in terms of money, but what does a person need to do before committing to a service; particularly, a service where they benefit as an individual.

What is Social Marketing?

Social marketing is an approach used to achieve and sustain behavior goals on a range of social issues. While definitions vary, three key elements commonly of social marketing remain the same. Its primary aim is to achieve ‘social good’ (rather than commercial benefit), with clearly defined behavioral goals.

It is a systematic process phased to address short, medium and long-term issues.
It uses a range of marketing techniques and approaches (a marketing mix).
In the case of health-related social marketing, the ‘social good’ can be articulated in terms of achieving specific, achievable and manageable behavior goals for improving health and reducing health inequalities.

The effectiveness of social marketing rests on whether it is possible to demonstrate direct impact on behavior. It is this feature that sets it apart from other communication or awareness-raising approaches, where the main focus is on highlighting information and helping people to understand it.

To learn more visit:

Social Marketing Institute

Interchangeable Term

The term social marketing started in the 1970s in Australia; and became popular in the United States in the 1990s. Social Networking or Social Media Marketing became a very familiar term used on the internet around 2005.

However, social has adopted the term social marketing around 2009 and this possibly cause confusion to real Social Marketing (aka Social Marketers). Furthermore, social media marketing is about building networks of communication using technology.

The most popular social media tools are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blog, Flickr, and Yammer.

Social Marketing Examples

Here are three good examples of how social marketing have impacted various social campaigns over the last 20 years.

In Australia:

1988: The Victoria Cancer Council developed its anti-tobacco campaign“Quit”. They also developed the “SunSmart” campaign against skin cancer which had the slogan Slip! Slop! Slap!

2006: The “Homecomings” campaign used social marketing as a driver to reduce the social and human impact of workplace safety failings. It was adopted by New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, and named the 2007 Australian Marketing Institute Marketing Program of the Year.

In the United States:

2009: In the U.S. the Washington D.C. based organization “Men Can Stop Rape” Anti-Rape Movement have successfully used social marketing in anti-rape posters and other media targeting a rape-prevention message at boys and young men.

Sites using Social Marketing:

Center for Disease Control & Prevention