Understanding Social Marketing

If you ever leave your house, watch TV or go on the internet, then you will have seen an example of social marketing. While social marketing might employ popular techniques of digital and traditional media marketing, these techniques are employed for a very specific purpose, to create positive social change.

Suppose you are running a company that is involved in socially conscious initiatives or are simply looking to learn more about successful marketing. In that case, this guide is here for you to help you learn more about social marketing.

What Is Social Marketing?

As Eleven Marketing explains, social marketing is the use of marketing to influence or change behavior for social or environmental benefits. Whatever you are doing for the betterment of society and the environment is counting as social marketing. Social marketing is always the best way to announce awareness programs and messages among ordinary people.

There are many examples of social marketing, such as:

• Anti-tobacco campaigns
• Advertising to reduce drink driving
• Healthy eating campaigns
• Anti-bullying campaigns
• Efforts to fight inequality
• Anti-deforestation
• Anti-littering

Many different types of organizations use social marketing, such as

• Governments
• Charities
• Cooperatives
• Non-governmental organizations

In recent years, social marketing has also been adopted by an increasing number of public companies. Companies can use social marketing to showcase the sustainability of the products or services that they offer.

What Is Social Marketing Not?

It is very easy to get social marketing confused with other forms of marketing. When understanding what social marketing is, it is useful to clarify what social marketing is not:

Social marketing is not social media marketing. Social media marketing is the use of social networks like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to spread brand awareness and attract new customers.

It is also important to clarify that social marketing is also different from green marketing. Green marketing is the use of marketing techniques to promote a line of environmentally friendly products or business operations. 

Green marketing does not promote social or environmental causes. But it is an attempt to increase revenue, which means that it does not fulfill the criteria of social marketing.

The Four Ps Of Social Marketing

There are four essential elements that are used in a social marketing campaign. These are known as the four Ps. The four Ps, otherwise known as the marketing mix, are product, price, place, and promotion.

1. Product

The “product” of social marketing is the social action that benefits positive change. Therefore, marketing is used to demonstrate this beneficial social change as clearly and in as much of a positive light as possible. 

You always have to remember the point that your products should not have any adverse effects on the environment and humankind.

2. Price

Price does not necessarily refer to a monetary value. It could instead be the effort that one has to take in order to achieve the intended social benefit. Your social marketing should be used to minimize the impression of difficulty that one needs to take to achieve the desired social change.

3. Place

Place involves a focus on targeting your marketing in the most appropriate location possible. Marketers should aim to showcase the efforts in a relevant space to ensure they receive the highest impact. More impact means more success in social marketing. Based on the products types, you have to finalize your places for marketing and promotion.

4. Promotion

The last step of the “P” process is promotion, and this step tires the previous steps together and is focused on drawing attention to the social marketing campaign. The social marketing campaign is significant because, from this stage, the impacts are starting to show up. For promotion, always choose the correct marketing statements and messages for your products and then begin your promotional work.

Conclusion:

Your product prices ranges should not be high or low because you are trying to convey a message among the people. And when the prices of your products ranges are not going to be high, more people will like to buy your product. Social marketing always has a broader aspect in society and the environment. First, you have to find what your target is and why you want to do social marketing.

Read Also:

• Success-Driven Digital Marketing Trends You Must Know in 2021
• What Is Influencer Marketing and How Can It Benefit Your Business?
• 6 Types of Marketing You’ve Likely Never Heard of