Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, you will agree that social marketing is a game changer for your business. There are a lot of opportunities to connect, engage and grow on these platforms. Social marketing aims at developing activities that aim towards changing or maintaining the behaviour of people for their benefit. Through social marketing you get to choose which people to work with, what behaviour to influence, how to go about it, and measure it.
Social Marketing VS Social-Media Marketing
Social Marketing is geared towards influencing behaviour. Social media may be part of the tools used in engaging with particular audiences, but social marketing involves more with regards to ethical issues. Other issues surrounding social marketing include integrity, and authority. Social Media is a powerful tool however in building brand awareness, conversion, and cultivating relationships.
Social marketing is not just about creating content to post on social media platforms; it is a strategic approach to have a positive behaviour and societal impact. For businesses to thrive there is a need to explore the principles, strategies, and ethical considerations which can enable them to leverage social marketing for their business success.
The Business of Social Marketing
You can use social marketing through applying commercial marketing techniques to social problems. While commercial marketing tries to change people’s behaviour to benefit the seller, social marketing tries to influence people’s behaviour for their own benefit or society as a whole. You can however use similar principles just like the ones used to sell goods.
One of the most common social marketing examples is promoting diet and exercise in the interest of public health for many national organisations. They offer stats on obesity, create awareness on healthy meals, or exercising, through this society can benefit by preventing common ailments, illnesses and diseases.
This kind of marketing is mostly used by non-profit organisations and charities, emergency services and agencies, like highway safety coalitions and police, fire and ambulance groups. Many businesses are now adapting social marketing for courses that are relatable to their brands or businesses.
Building Your strategy
Adopting social marketing requires a well thought out strategy for it to work for your business. Here are the steps you need to follow.
Identify Behaviour
First you need to identify what behavior you want to change, for instance your business may be an alcoholic brand and you would like to influence your audience to refrain from drunk driving.
Identify Audience
After which you need to identify your audience: Who are you looking to influence and impact their behaviour? If they are different groups you need to segment them. These can be in terms of age, gender, level of education.
Identify Barriers
Through interviews, surveys, focus groups or other methods you can identify barriers of change. What are the things that make it difficult for your target audience to embrace the behaviour change?
Work Against Barriers
Come up with means to eliminate barriers, make it easier, more accessible and more attractive.
Pretest with Small Groups
You can try out ideas on a small group of people and then redesign them or modify them from the results.
Publicise Benefits
It is also necessary to let the public know why they need to embrace the benefits of change. Let them be part of the journey by being in the know of what your business is doing. They get to know the benefits they stand to gain from behavioural change.
4 Ps of Social Marketing
Just like any other kind of marketing social marketing has its own definition of the 4PS, that is the Product, Place, Promotion and Price.
Product
In social marketing unlike traditional marketing the ‘product’ is the behaviour that you have the intention of influencing. For instance, if you are influencing against ‘drunk driving’ then that would be your product.
Price
This is what it will cost a person to stop a behaviour or be influenced to change. Price is not necessarily monetary; it can be time. It may also be in terms of the effort it will take.
Place
The place is in terms of barriers that may be preventing the behavioural change. What makes it difficult to access the item that will bring the change? Social marketing ensures it is easier to change behaviour, by making sure the support is available and accessible.
Promotion
This is the advertising done with regard to influencing behavioural perceptions. It is best to ensure the promotion is not costly. You can use TV commercials but, if possible, embrace affordable methods like word of mouth. This personal selling works wonders in changing people’s points of view. Promotion is more than just advertising.
Social Marketing is your New Super Power
Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a budding visionary, social marketing is the new strategy you need to embrace for your business. It goes beyond conventional social media marketing, delving into behavior influence and societal impact. By embracing social marketing, you’ll be empowering your brand to create positive change while achieving your business objectives. With the 4 Ps of social marketing – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion – as your compass, unleash the potential of your business. Empower your brand, inspire action, and make a meaningful difference while thriving in the age of social marketing.
