Strategic Social Marketing
Planning
James H. Mintz
Health Canada
Purpose
 This
document is a checklist for the
development of a social marketing plan.
Situation Analysis

What is the social issue the campaign is
addressing? (FAS/FAE)

What is the campaign focus? (alcohol and
pregnancy)

What is the campaign purpose i.e intended
impact (benefit) (reduced cases of FAS/FAE)

What are internal strengths and weaknesses
resources, expertise, management support,
internal publics)
Situation Analysis
Secondary Analysis

What are the external opportunities and threats?
(extend networks, PEST, Legal)?

What are the findings from prior or similar efforts?

From secondary analysis, what is epidemiology of
the problem in population? (e.g. prevalence,
incidence rates)

Are there any high risk groups, also what is
consequence of the problem

What knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are
related to problem
Situational Analysis

What approaches have been used to address
the problem by other organizations?

Who are the experts in the area?

What are the geographic boundaries for the
initiative?

What trends (PEST) may affect the
environment for the initiative?

Which groups/organizations will
oppose/support your initiative?
Situational Analysis

What are policies, regulations, pending
legislation that may affect your initiative?

What other organizations in your geographic
area is presently addressing this issue?

What are the messages that will be
competing with your initiative for attention?
(e.g. messages from opponents/allies?)
Situation Analysis
Primary research
 What
gaps have been identified from
secondary research?
 What methodology do we plan to use?
Target Audience (TA)
the primary TA – rationale i.e.
high risk, easily changeable, (“low
hanging fruit”)
 Define
 Define
the secondary TA, e.g. those
who influence the TA
Segmentation

Describe TA in terms of size, problem, incidence,
severity etc., including demos, psychos, geos,
behaviours and/or stages of change

What attitudes/beliefs/behaviours, related to
problem, define separate segments?

Are there segments you won’t target, i.e not
feasible or someone already addressing segment.

Primary TA, rationale, i.e. high risk, easily
reachable/changeable (low hanging fruit).

Secondary TA, e.g. those who influence TA.
Segmentation

What about opinion makers, key stakeholders
(e.g. media)?.

How will you allocate resources for your
segments?

What methods will you use to conduct
research on your segments?
Qualitative: focus groups, in-depth interviews,
observation studies.
Quantitative: surveys, intercepts, existing databases.
Objectives and Goals

What does primary and secondary
(baseline/benchmark) research indicate would be
most strategic objectives?




Behaviour objective: What specifically do you want to
influence your TA to do as a result of the campaign?
Knowledge objective: Is there anything you need them
to know in order to act?
Belief objective: Is there anything you need them to
believe in order to act?
Goals:What are SMART goals? State them in
terms of behaviour change, and other measures
e.g. awareness, campaign recall/response,
changes in knowledge, belief/behavioural intent.
Analysis of TA & Competition

Analysis must be relative to your objective
(desired behaviour) and your TA

What is their current behaviour, knowledge
and beliefs?

What benefits/barriers do they perceive?

What is the behaviour you are asking the TA
to adopt?

What are key benefits the TA would receive
from adopting the behaviour?
Analysis of TA & Competition
 What
are the competing alternative
behaviours?
 What
benefits/costs does your TA
associate with these behaviours?
 What
is the competition for your product
in the TA eyes?
 How
is your product different from and
better than the competition?
Marketing Strategy Development
Product: Design the product offering

What is the product, benefits of the desired
behaviour?

What is the actual product, the desired
behaviour?

Are there any new tangible objects included in
the program/campaign

Are there any improvements that need to be
made to existing tangible objects or services?

Are there any new services that will be included
in program/campaign?
Marketing Strategy Development
Price
 Exit costs: What monetary and /or nonmonetary costs will TA associate with
abandoning their current behaviour?
 Entry costs: What monetary and/or nonmonetary costs will TA associate with
adopting new behaviour
Marketing Strategy Development
 What
are the barriers to entry to adopt
the new behaviour
 What is the TA cost threshold?
 How can you minimize the costs or
remove the barriers?
Marketing Strategy Development
Establishing pricing strategies:
 What
prices will be set for tangible
objects/services associated with the
campaign?
 Will
there be any monetary/nonmonetary incentives?
Marketing Strategy Development
Place
 Where/When will you encourage/support the
TA to perform the desired behaviour?

Where/When will the TA acquire any related
tangible objects/services?

Where are the places the TA make decisions
about engaging in the desired behaviour?

Are there any enhancements that would
increase the appeal of the location?
Marketing Strategy Development
 Where
does the TA spend much of their
time?
 What distribution systems will be most
efficient for reaching the TA?
 What type of community support is
available to help the TA behaviour
change?
Marketing Strategy Development
Promotion
 What
key messages do you want your
campaign to communicate to your TA
 What
are your specific communications
objectives?
 What
benefits will you promise and what
will be communicated to support the
promise?
Marketing Strategy Development

What do you want your TA to know or believe?

What specific actions do you want your TA to
take as a result of the campaign?

Which communications channels do TA pay
attention/trust the most?

What are important copy points/graphics/formats
etc. need to be considered?

What promotion techniques (i.e. promotion mix)
will work best to convey your message?

Who are the most credible spokespeople to
address your TA?
Marketing Strategy Development

Who are the people/groups (in addition to
your primary and secondary TA)
outside/inside your organization whose
support you need / that you need to address
for your program to be successful?
 Which are the most promising organizations
(private/public sector) to join
forces/collaborate with?
 How will the strategic communications tactics
be integrated into your campaign (including
media relations, launches, etc.)?
Budget

What costs will be associated with your
product/place/price/promotion related
strategies?

If costs exceed currently available funds what
additional funding sources can be explored?

What strategies will you use to appeal to
these potential funders?

Who/how will the work get done and what
outside/inside resources will you need?
Evaluation Tracking and
Monitoring
 What
goals will be measured?
 What techniques,mechanisms and
methodologies will be used ,when will
they be implemented, and how will they
be reported?
 How will you use the results of your
monitoring, tracking and evaluation?
Implementation
 Will
there be phases to the campaign?
How will they be organized? ( i.e. by
market, objectives, activities)?
 For
each phase,what will be done, who
will be responsible, when will it be done,
and for how much?
Bibliography
 Social
Marketing…. Improving the
Quality of life, Kotler, Roberto and Lee.
Sage publications 2002
 Hands
on Social Marketing: KlineWeinreich, Sage publications