Template

 

Social Marketing Strategy Document

 

Any social marketing project should be guided by a carefully developed and thought-through strategy. This template aims to help you put such a strategy together. It is of necessity generic in nature so will not suit every project. We have tried to keep this guide simple so it may not suit you if your social marketing issue is very complex.

 

 

 

Before you get underway it is helpful to set up a project management system. The nature and make-up of this will vary according to your circumstances. You may have a management or governance group of some sort which determines the strategic directions and makes any major decisions about the project. There may also be a range of people involved in the management of the project such as the project sponsor, the project manager, expert advisers etc. It is helpful to identify these people and clarify their roles and responsibilities.

 

 

 

Whatís the problem?

This section should outline the health, environmental or social problem the strategy will address and why it is a problem. For example if the problem is second hand smoke you would include the health effects on people exposed to second-hand smoke, the number affected, demographic issues (age, ethnicity, rural/urban, gender, etc). It should include as much background information on the problem as you can get. To do this you will probably have to trawl through a fair bit of research not just about the problem but also what has been tried elsewhere, what worked and didnít work.

 

The context

Social marketing strategies do not usually spring out of nowhere. There may be a history to the issue with other strategies having been tried previously. Often there is a political imperative or there may be other activity that is going on.

 

It may be helpful to do a SWOT analysis.

 

 

 

Primary

Deciding on the primary target group

In social marketing you usually start with a wide target group and then narrow it down through segmentation. In the passive smoking example your wider group might be all people who are exposing others to their cigarette smoke.

Your social marketing effort is more likely to be successful if you target a segment with similar characteristics rather than the whole group. There are different ways of doing this. You may decide to segment on the basis of those most likely to change their behaviour or perhaps those most at risk. Good research will help you to identify the segment or segments. In the passive smoking example the target group might be smoking parents with young children.

 

Information about the primary target group

Outline what you know about your target group. You will usually gain this information through market research. This will include motivators and barriers to behaviour change, the things that are important to them and any significant characteristics. You will also need to identify where in the process of change your target group sits as this will affect the approach you take. Your research should also identify the most appropriate methods and channels of communication.

 

Secondary

Secondary target groups/intermediaries

These are the groups of people that you enlist to help with your strategy. They often have a direct relationship with the target group. Some examples include: health care providers, family, sports clubs. You should specify the role you wish them to play.

 

Stakeholders

There are usually a number of people with a stake in what you are doing. These can include funders, partner organisations and management. It is important to identify these key stakeholders so that you can keep them informed and where appropriate involve them.

 

 

 

Objectives

Specify what you are trying to achieve with your strategy. When setting these it is helpful to use one of the following acronyms:

 

ABCD: A - audience, B - behaviour, C - conditions, D ñ degree.

 

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound.

 

Remember that you will be measuring whether or not you achieved your objectives so keep them realistic.

 

Behaviour change required

This should specify what behaviour it is that you are trying to get your target groups to do/not do/do differently. For example the behaviour change you may be seeking in terms of passive smoking is to get smoking parents to smoke outside. Ensure that this change in behaviour will impact on the original problem that was identified at the beginning.

 

Competition

Identify here any influences that are working against the desired behaviour change.

 

Supportive factors

Identify anything that is happening in the environment that will act as a support to the desired behaviour change. In our smoking example there may be legislation that bans smoking in enclosed spaces.

 

 

 

Detail here product (desired behaviour), price (costs/barriers and benefits), place (where the target group will get the product or service, consider or perform the desired behaviour), promotion (how the idea will be communicated ñ and reinforced - to the target audience) and policy (the laws, regulations and policies that control the environment in which the behaviour occurs), publics/partners (those people who have influence over or direct access to the primary target group). You should do this for each target group i.e. including the secondary target groups.

 

Key message/s

It is best to have only one or two key messages per target group. They would usually be action oriented. You need to make it clear what it is you want your target group to do. How these messages are actually worded in any subsequent communications will not be finalised until they have been thoroughly pre-tested with the target group.

 

Other concurrent activities

You will have identified other activities that are going on in the context section above. Here you should explain how your strategy works synergistically with these. You may also wish to outline any partnership arrangements and processes for coordination that have been or will be set up. In many social and environmental issues it may be appropriate to establish a formal ìreference groupî or collaborative framework which engages key organisations and individuals.

 

 

 

Evaluation plan

There will be various elements to your evaluation plan. They will include formative evaluation (outlined earlier), pre-testing of material, identifying and then monitoring key indicators, process and outcome evaluation. Ensure that the information you collect will meet your reporting requirements as well as let you know whether or not you have achieved your objectives.

 

PR Plan

It is important to keep key stakeholders well-informed as you develop and implement your strategy. To do this it helps to have a communication plan especially for them. Identify who you need to keep informed and develop a detailed plan for achieving this.

 

Training Plan

Your strategy may require people to be trained; for example front-line staff. Outline your plan here if you have not covered this elsewhere.

 

Implementation Plan

This should outline what is going to be done, by whom and when. It should be very detailed and include a timeline.

 

Management/monitoring Plan

This outlines how you are going to ensure that everything goes according to plan (or as close to it as possible). It also allows you to intervene if things get off-track.

 

Budget

This should outline the resources you will need to develop, test, implement and evaluate your strategy. Include human resources as well as financial.