Thousands of marketing campaigns are launched across the world every year. From multi-billion-dollar companies enticing consumers with new products right down to grassroots movements founded on Facebook by Regular Joes with an axe to grind, a huge range of operations are vying for the attention of society.

Social marketing is at neither end of this spectrum; it’s certainly not commercially-focused – that is to say, profit-driven – but neither can its origins be found in social networking (the term ‘social’ often causes confusion). It is, in essence, the process by which an organisation seeks to promote a message and thereby influence the behaviour of its audience for the social good. Campaigns for smoking cessation, road safety and of course, recycling awareness, are all examples of social marketing.

Beyond this, however, its definition becomes blurry. As Steve Menzies, social marketing specialist at the National Social Marketing Centre, says: “There are lots of different approaches to social marketing, as it combines the best principles from commercial marketing with developments in social sciences and behaviour economics. It’s a strange discipline in a way, as there’s a bit of a magpie approach in deciding what works in different areas.”

Historically, the two social marketing veins often regarded as industry stalwarts – the ‘attitude-behaviour approach’ and the ‘economic self-interest approach’ – have demonstrated few substantial successes. The former assumes that simply by imparting knowledge to an audience their behaviour will evolve alongside their learning, while the latter assumes that individuals will simply make choices based on their own best interests, and that social campaigns should capitalise on this accordingly. Unfortunately, behaviour change is anything but straightforward.
For example, a study in the Netherlands showed that giving households information about energy conservation did not reduce energy consumption. Similarly, high school students in America taking part in a week-long environmental-awareness workshop were no more likely to undertake pro-environmental activity as a result of it. As Menzies says: “We have to be clever about the way we engage people. If we’re just talking at them then we’re simply doing public education, not social marketing.”

Of course, some areas lend themselves to engagement better than others. Animal welfare almost sells itself thanks to the inherent adorability of puppies and kittens, and messages about health are of direct concern to everyone, having a very tangible impact on the lives of individuals. Waste and recycling, however, is a trickier matter. Firstly, as New Zealand-born Menzies notes: “There exists in the UK a bewildering attitude of ‘It’s my right to do what I like with my rubbish’, which needs to be overcome.” Secondly, as Emma Marsh, head of WRAP’s Love Food, Hate Waste campaign, identifies: “Marketing waste prevention is difficult because not making waste is done in the privacy of our homes, and there’s nothing to see; there are no tangible benchmarks for peer pressure, or social norming.”

Indeed, social marketing in the environmental arena presents a host of challenges, which environmental psychologist Doug McKenzie-Mohr has spent years trying to overcome. In doing so, he has devised a model known as ‘community-based social marketing’ (CBSM). ‘In contrast to conventional approaches, CBSM has been shown to be very effective at bringing about behaviour change’, he writes in his book, Fostering Sustainable Behaviour: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing. ‘Its effectiveness is due to its pragmatic approach.’ McKenzie-Mohr’s website is full of case studies demonstrating the successes of his method, from increasing participation in kerbside paper recycling, to promoting waste awareness in large organisations such as McDonald’s. Each came about through five steps:

Step 1
Selecting behaviours
Regardless of the overall purpose of a social marketing campaign, there are likely to be a variety of behaviours within it that must be promoted or discouraged. A good campaign will start by identifying these (through research and evaluation) and subsequently focus on the ones that are likely to have the biggest impact. “Don’t try to tackle everything at once”, says Menzies. “It’s too difficult.”

Step 2
Identifying barriers and benefits
“If any form of sustainable behaviour is to be widely adopted, barriers that impede people from engaging in the activity must be identified”, says McKenzie-Mohr. This might include a lack of knowledge (not understanding how to compost, for example), or fear of social stigma. When Menzies first started his career with a recycling campaign in New Zealand, politicians were aghast at the thought of organics recycling. “They told us, ‘You can’t do that! People will think we’re dirty hippies!’ So if that’s the prevailing attitude from authority, how could we expect citizens to get on board? That was a major barrier that had to be addressed before continuing with the campaign.”

Step 3
Developing strategies
The nucleus of the social marketing campaign, this step is where the message is relayed to the audience, and can take a variety of forms. McKenzie-Mohr argues that “personal contact is emphasised because social science research indicates that we are most likely to change our behaviour in response to others”.

However, in these modern times, social media is playing an increasingly important role, too. As social media manager at Love Food, Hate Waste, Viki Coppin, says: “Relaying our message on social media works in a variety of ways. Firstly, we can encourage discussions among users, which helps to push the issue into their consciousness. Secondly, because it’s social media it’s something they choose to look at. It’s not being forced on them or taking up time they’re not already willing to spend. Thirdly, it’s a platform that means we can communicate in a fun, engaging way which really has a positive effect on behavioural change.”

Nonetheless, CBSM has demonstrated that a variety of methods – even more ‘traditional’ ones – can prove effective. The key is understanding your target audience, says Menzies. “Dig down to determine exactly where the issue lies”, he says. “In one particular area? Which street? Or in one general social demographic? How old are they? What kind of houses do they live in? Once you’ve ascertained this you can direct your efforts accordingly, and potentially save money by getting to the root of the issue quickly, rather than having to undertake more general, more laborious ‘blanket campaigns’.”

Step 4
Piloting
Before launching a full-scale CBSM strategy, it’s important that it’s piloted in a small portion of the community. This allows a scheme to be refined until it is effective, and also allows other possible strategies to be tested against one another to determine the most cost-effective method.

Step 5
Broad-scale implementation and evaluation
Ongoing evaluation of a CBSM strategy is crucial, says McKenzie-Mohr, noting that direct measurements of behaviour change are more important than less direct measures such as self reports or perceived awareness. As Menzies asks: “Are people still ‘behaving’ in a positive way two or three months down the line? Even if just some of them are, then great. If not, why not? You might have to redress the whole campaign. But that’s the job of the social marketer, really. You can’t be all things to all men all the time – if you try to be, you’ll fail.”

Marketing Principles in the 21st Century

You may have heard of the ‘four Ps’ (product, price, promotion and place), but since their inception in the 1960s they’ve been given a makeover to bring them up to date with considerations for modern marketing campaigns, and are now known as the ‘four Cs’:

Consumer:
How does this product or service satisfy consumer needs?

Cost:
What is the total cost of using this product or service, including the cost – of money and time – involved in implementation or switching?

Communication:
How do consumers find out and learn about this product or service?

Convenience:
Overall, how easy is it for consumers to use the product or service, including finding it, implementing it and continuing to use it?