I have been in many classes, meeting rooms, webinars and workshops explaining the principles of social marketing. Then, about 3 years ago, an editor approached me about writing a book about it. And it turned into a love-hate endeavor. I loved the idea about writing it all down in one place, and hated that there was still more to say. One result of the process of writing the book was to help me focus on what I consider the most important things for someone to know about the field. It runs 504 pages before the references start.
Since the book was published I have been invited to talk about social marketing in several diferent venues. A recent one was in Brunei where we had a week-long workshop on social marketing and I was invited to lecture at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam. The challenge: how do I distill social marketing into 45 minutes for people who are new to the topic - and aren't expecting to hear about social media marketing?
The slides and talking points I used in this presentation are available at Slideshare and are free for you to download for your own use in classes, lunch and learns, workshops or in any other way you find fits your needs. It begins with re-conceptualizing social problems as being wicked puzzles that require searches for solutions with the people they are intended to serve. The international consensus definition of social marketing is presented, followed by 10 principles:
1. A marketing orientation
2. Theory and evidence-based
3. Segmentation
4. Research to inform program development
5. Designing products, services and behaviors that fit people's reality
6. Positioning behavior change relative to competing behaviors or choices
7. Realigning incentives and costs for products, services and behavior change
8. Creating equitable opportunities and access
9. Communicating change in linguistically, culturally relevant and ubiquitous ways
10. Program monitoring
You will notice that some of the pictures have a very local, or Brunei, character to them. I find some of them work well with other groups because they portray things that are not their usual perceptions of life - they capture people's attention and can start other conversations. However, you can also swap them out for your own pictures of the realities of the people you are talking with about social marketing (isn't that the whole idea?).
And now for the shameless plug: It's a great time of year to catch up with what is tested and new in social marketing. The reviews say it all. Buy a book, or give one to your favorite social marketer or social entrepreneur, to start the new year with a different perspective and new insights for your work.
Try it out with some excerpts from the book.
Comments