by Kim Laramy, Social Marketing Strategist, Ethos Marketing and Design
klaramy@ethos-marketing.com Healthcare marketing is often about influencing purchase or destination decisions to increase volume for an organization. There are times, though, when the desired outcome is more about behavior change. In those cases, healthcare marketers can apply their traditional marketing knowledge in the relatively new paradigm of “social marketing.” Even marketing professionals often misunderstand social marketing. It is primarily a social or behavior change strategy that involves defining barriers to a behavior in order to effect change. It is a discipline that takes into account the simple fact that most people operate out of motivated self-interest – “what’s in it for me” – and so is successful when it activates or motivates people. Social marketing is finely targeted to reach those who have a reason to care and are ready for change. And social marketing works best when it is an integrated, comprehensive and strategic approach to behavior change. Social Marketing is NOT just marketing social causes; it is not social networking, or social sourcing. It is not communications alone, nor is it just health promotion. Many think it is just an ad campaign, which is also far from the truth. Effective social marketing sets measurable behavior goals based on consumer research and pre-testing. It relies on communication, marketing and behavior change theories to develop effective insights into the target audience. Segmenting the audience into definable targets is a key principle, as the messages and strategies are not meant for all – they are meant to reach that very specific audience. Effective social marketing thinks beyond communication and often involves program planning and interventions. The bottom line is that good social marketing involves remembering that desired behaviors have competition – and we must create an exchange that makes it worth it to the target audience to give up the negative behavior. Our exchange must be meaningful to the target audience. So how is this meaningful for healthcare marketers? Many of you are probably working on programs or services that would be an ideal fit for a social marketing approach. Here are a few examples to help you think through how you could use this approach in your own organizations. Target Audience Selection
The first step in social marketing campaign development, after identifying the issue, is to identify and understand the target audience. An effective campaign cannot be addressed to the “public,” because the public is not monolithic. In the case of a Parent Media Campaign with the Maine Office of Substance Abuse, research identified some surprising segmentation in the target audience selection. We found that the audience who would be most likely to listen to the messages about monitoring youth for alcohol use tended to be lower income moms in more rural communities. The reason? They were exposed to more of the ramifications of underage drinking and were more cognizant that their youth could be enticed. The hardest to reach segment included a majority of parents who believe that “I have a much better relationship with my teen than I did with my parents, my teen tells me everything and they would never engage in underage drinking – I would know it”. We worked to understand the barriers put up by both of these target audiences and then developed interventions and materials that were relevant and meaningful to each of them. The “4 Ps”
Just like traditional marketing, social marketers utilize the 4 P’s – although with some slight variation. Here are more examples that might help you to adapt social marketing principles to your own projects. Product
In healthcare or public health social marketing campaigns the product may be the sharing of information but it is more likely to be an actual physical product like a healthy cooking class or toothbrushes and toothpaste to encourage young people to brush their teeth. Product can be a screening or it can be an outreach program like a visiting nurse who must be invited to come into a new mom’s home. Price
Like traditional marketing, social marketing is based on exchange theory. “You give me a dollar, I give you a bottle of water” changes in the healthcare setting. In the case of wanting to get patients to access services, price is not about what your patient might pay in dollars – although for the uninsured it is certainly a factor. No, in healthcare scenarios Price is less tangible, but every bit as real. How long are you expected to wait for a doctor’s appointment – at some point the price of the wait is no longer something you are willing to pay. Where will you go for services? If the “best” hospital is an hour away is it worth it to you to pay that price? Maybe yes, maybe no. While the price can be hard to determine, it is vital that you consider it differently than just money. Place
Where is it that the intervention occurs? For MaineTeenTalk.org, we made a “place” online – an interactive website that is designed for teens with teen input on how to have a healthy relationship. The place is online because that is where teens spend time, it is a place they trust. Place can and should be where your target audience either naturally comes, or where they are willing to come for the exchange that is most meaningful to them. Promotion
What is the key message of relevance and importance to our target audience? Who do they want to hear it from and where? Promotion vehicles range from encouraging word of mouth through grass roots efforts all the way to full-fledged media campaigns. Sometimes the promotion is directed at those who can most directly influence the target audience – one case in point was an effort on which I worked to reach out to adult smokers through the voices of kids who had lost their parents to tobacco use. While the targets were youth, the target audience was not youth, but rather their parents. Promotion in a social marketing campaign is narrow, focused, and most effective when integrated with a community outreach or grassroots component. Final Important Considerations
Social marketing is “change on the installment plan,” because there are no quick fixes for human behavior. (Think how long it has taken to reduce smoking to its current level.) Each social marketing campaign is different, adapted to the specific barriers and motivations of each specific target audience. Some campaigns include more mass media, for instance. Some include policy changes or legislation; i.e., higher taxes on cigarettes. Some teach skills, some provide tools and equipment. Some are based on “fear appeals”, some focus on the benefits of the healthier behavior. As you think about when and how to incorporate social marketing in your organization, remember that in any place where you are up against human resistance to change it can be a powerful tool. It takes persistence, strategic focus, and a deep understanding of the target audience, the barriers they face, the exchanges they are willing to make and whether or not they see a direct, meaningful benefit to them. But when it is done right, the behavior changes can be visible and sustainable. Back to main newsletter |