Download A Guide to Health Promotion through Social Marketing

A Guide to
Health
Promotion
through Social
Marketing
1
A Guide to
Health
Promotion
through Social
Marketing
2
An initiative of the Australian Sports Commission
The views in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily the Australian Government.
3
Contents
Introduction7
What is social marketing?
8
Why is behaviour change important? 10
The basics of social marketing
12
14 steps to developing social
marketing strategies & materials
16
Step 1: Define the issue Step 2: Know your audience
Step 3: Understand the situation
Step 4: Work with others
Step 5: Choose who to target
Step 6: Outline your behavioural goals
Step 7: Choose your communication channels
Step 8: Develop strategies and communication messages
Step 9: Plan how to track progress and measure impact
Step 10: Prepare an action plan
Step 11: Create materials
Step 12: Seek feedback, pre-test and adjust
Step 13: Deliver and monitor
Step 14: Measure impact and make adjustments
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Online resources 36
Resources and guides provided by
the Australian Sports Commission
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References42
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5
Introduction
This guide will assist you to
understand social marketing and to
use various strategies that support
and motivate healthy behaviours
among certain groups of people.
Active
You may like to inform particular groups about non-communicable
diseases (NCDs) and encourage them to be more physically active to
reduce their risk. Or you may want to advertise a local sporting event
in the community, a new facility or service, or to boost membership
in a sporting organisation to make participation in sport or other
physical activities easier. This guide will assist you achieve these goals
by offering a simple step-by-step process to develop strategies and
communication materials that support and motivate healthy behaviors
through TV, radio, posters, brochures, social media, or whatever other
creative methods you might want to employ.
Unfortunately, it's common for people to think social marketing is
beyond their skills, resources, budgets and timelines. The aim of
this guide is to emphasise that regardless of the challenges you or
your organisation face, applying effective social marketing strategies
is always possible. It can even make your work more productive,
effective, and rewarding.
This guide provides a basic introduction to offer guidance and support
for your social marketing efforts, to set you in the right direction, and
to place a few simple concepts, tips, steps, and prompts in your back
pocket to help you along the way.
7
What is social
marketing?
Social marketing is one way of understanding
why people act as they do and then using this
knowledge to motivate and support them to
modify or maintain positive behaviours.
Adopting a social marketing approach involves combining a range of strategies to make
healthy behaviours easier and more appealing, as well as developing communication
materials that motivate and support these healthy behaviours.
Google 'social marketing' and you will get a confusing array of definitions, concepts,
and terms; enough to scare anyone away. But it helps to know that most of us are
exposed, for better or worse, to some form of marketing almost every day. Coca-Cola,
McDonalds, and Nike, for example, all use sophisticated and well-tested marketing
techniques to encourage people to do what they want them to do: purchase their
products. Typically, this requires a combination of carefully crafted posters, TV and radio
spots, billboards, newspaper advertisements, websites, media, or promotional events. It
also involves reducing various barriers affecting their customers to ensure their products
are affordable, easy to purchase, and always available.
Put simply, social marketing borrows from and adds to some of the most effective
concepts and techniques of commercial marketing to motivate and support behaviours
that benefit individuals and communities. So instead of selling soft-drinks, hamburgers,
and shoes, social marketers are more likely to develop strategies and communication
materials that promote better health, equity, mental wellbeing, and community
development. And when addressing potential barriers to their audience adopting healthy
behaviours, they are more likely to ensure their strategies have been modified to meet
the needs and interests of particular groups of people, including the disadvantaged,
minority groups, or people living with disabilities. Guided by ethical principles, social
marketing aims to put people and community first.
8
Social
Why is
behaviour
change
important?
Understanding and promoting behaviour
change lies at the heart of social marketing.
Behaviour change refers to human actions
that transform or modify over time. While
always complex and often unpredictable, one
useful way of viewing behaviour change is as
a series of stages that people move through.
Social marketing draws upon various techniques and strategies to motivate and
support certain groups of people to shift their position on this behavioural change
continuum — from a state of not knowing and not caring to that of concerned and
motivated, and from committed and planning to actively changing and maintaining
their behaviours.
Of course, behaviour change is never a simple process of moving from one stage
to the next. People can slip back through stages before potentially moving forward
again, such as joining a sports team but dropping out, or planning to exercise every
morning but becoming demotivated. Also, behaviour change does not always follow
a shift in awareness and attitudes. Sometimes the reverse occurs. For example,
a man participating in a Zumba class for the first time might find himself motivated
to learn more about the health benefits of being active after a positive experience.
In short, no single model can capture and predict the complexity of human
behaviour and its transformation over time.
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Stages of Behaviour Change:
Example of an individual's knowledge, attitude or behaviour
Stage
Don’t know,
Don’t care
Unaware and unconcerned that a lack of physical activity increases
one's risk of developing NCDs.
Stage
Aware &
Informed
Aware of NCDs and that physical activity is one way to reduce
one's personal risk.
Stage
Concerned
& Motivated
Supports the view that physical activity will reduce one's risk of
developing NCDs and is motivated to change their behaviour.
Stage
Committed
& Planning
Seeks out opportunities and makes plans to be physically active.
Stage
Actively
Changing
Being physically active.
Stage
Maintaining
Change
Is physically active for extended periods of time and plans to
stay active in the future.
Nevertheless, considering these stages of behaviour change helps us to respond
to the needs, understandings, motivations and barriers of different groups
of people. Some people, for example, may be aware and informed about the
importance of changing their behaviour but do not believe that the proposed
action will be effective in reducing their risk. Others may be concerned and
motivated to change their behaviour but lack confidence in their personal capacity
to make this change because of a number of barriers or a lack of role models in
their community. And some may be actively participating in the desired behaviour
but are at risk of discontinuing their activities because of a lack of sociable, fun
and affordable activities in their community.
So, with this in mind, we can see that different strategies are going to be needed
for people at an early stage of change compared to those at a later stage. These
are known as stage-matched strategies. Strategies focusing on people in Stage
1, for example, may focus on raising awareness of the harms of being physically
inactive and ensuring people understand their level of personal risk. Strategies
focusing on people in Stage 4, on the other hand, may focus on making it easier
for people to participate in sporting events in their community as a way to get
active. And sometimes you can use different strategies within your campaign to
match the needs of certain sub-groups within your target audience who may be
at different stages. In short, knowing where the people you want to reach with
your social marketing strategies are situated in this behaviour change process is
key to designing an effective social marketing campaign. Let's look at some other
features of a social marketing approach.
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The basics
of social
marketing
Social marketing can be
viewed as both a way of
thinking and a way of doing.
Later we will focus on the
doing; for now, let's look at
five key concepts that define
social marketing.
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Change
1. Specific
behavioural
goals
Health
Social marketing is
more than just raising
awareness and increasing
knowledge. It is also
about having an impact on
human behaviour. Social
marketers set specific
behavioural goals; for
example, "to increase the
percentage of women
aged 18-24 in rural areas
being physically active for
at least 150min a week by
15% between 2015-2020".
Specific behavioural goals
ensure an initiative has
meaning and direction,
and that achievements
can be measured.
2. Putting
people and
community
first
Social marketing aims
to promote and support
behaviours that benefit
individuals and the
community. In the health
sector this typically
involves promoting health
and reducing health
inequalities. Importantly,
the 'benefit' should always
reflect the experiences,
needs, motivations and
barriers of the audience
targeted by the initiative.
3. Insight
Social marketing, like
commercial marketing,
focuses on what people
do, why they do it, what
and who influences them,
their needs, and their
motivations and barriers.
With this in mind, social
marketers seek to develop
insight into their target
audience and the various
factors that support
healthy behaviours or
compete with them. This
insight is what makes
social marketing possible
and effective.
4. Audience
segmentation
While it's tempting to
communicate to everyone
all at once, one-sizefits-all approaches
have shown to be much
less effective than
targeting certain groups
of people who share
particular characteristics,
understanding, lifestyles,
interests, needs,
motivations, and barriers.
This process of identifying
different sub-groups
within a population is
known as audience
segmentation and it is
a central feature of any
social marketing strategy.
We'll learn more about
audience segmentation in
Step 5.
5. Strategic and
evidencebased
A common mantra among
social marketers is to
"do nothing…make no
posters, no t-shirts, no
pamphlets, no videos, no
caps, no websites" until
you have thought about
and planned exactly what
you are going to do. This
involves clarifying why
your approach is the best
one among other options
based on good research,
what behaviours you want
to influence and support,
who you are reaching
and why, the people and
resources required to
make it all happen, and
how you will measure your
progress and impact. This
is sometimes referred to
as developing a ‘program
logic’, which is really just
another way of explaining
in simple terms why you
believe that what you are
planning to do will be
effective in achieving its
objectives with the target
audience.
Getting to the point at
which you feel confident
you can develop and
implement strategies
and communication
materials that support
and motivate healthy
behaviours can seem a
little overwhelming, until
you realise that it's all
possible by following a
few simple steps.
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14 steps to
developing
social
marketing
strategies
& materials:
16
Knowing where to start
when you decide to
'do' social marketing
can be tricky. And
it's likely you are
concerned about your
lack of staff, funding,
skills, or resources.
Here's 14 steps to
give you some ideas,
tips, and prompts to
set you in the right
direction and to give
you confidence that,
despite the challenges
you face, applying
effective social
marketing strategies
is always possible.
Keep in mind that these steps overlap and
do not neatly follow one another. You will
find yourself commencing a few steps
simultaneously and jumping back and forth
between them when necessary. Think of
them as different toolboxes that will need
to be re-opened and shuffled through at
various stages of your project.
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1
Research Example
Step 1: Define the issue
A good place to start before developing your strategies
and materials is to clarify the issue you are hoping to
address. Some of the following questions might help:
• What is happening?
• What needs to happen to improve the situation?
• What will happen if nothing is done?
• What behaviours can we focus on?
• What models or theories are relevant to this issue?
You won't be able to answer these questions on
your own, so you'll need to draw upon a mix of research
carried out by others (secondary research) and yourself
(primary research).
Despite their names, secondary research is typically
conducted before primary research. In short, secondary
research lays the groundwork while primary research
fills in the gaps. Secondary research might include
looking at national strategy documents, reports by
international organisations and government agencies,
census data, text-books, journal articles, and project
evaluations. Primary research, on the other hand, might
involve conducting your own surveys, focus groups,
interviews, and community observations. Put simply,
both secondary and primary research allows you to find
accurate and reliable answers to each of your questions.
Now is a good time to commence writing
a summary of your thoughts, research,
and discussions with others. Your notes
should include a list of actions and will expand
as you progress through the next steps.
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Where to start?
These days, secondary research
often begins on the Internet.
To ensure you only get what you
need, narrow your search to include
websites that are well known and
reliable; for example, the World
Health Organization, the United
Nations, Government departments,
and respected research institutions.
For more trustworthy sources of
information, type 'edu' and 'gov' into
your internet search or use Google
Scholar. When unsure, check your
findings by looking at multiple
sources or by seeking advice from
local experts. And if you can't find
what you need online, don't forget
there is always the old-fashioned
way of visiting your local library or
requesting printed reports from
relevant institutions.
Primary research can seem
daunting. To put you in the right
direction, begin by emailing,
phoning or dropping by the office
of individuals that share your
interest in the issue. These people
will give you a better idea of who
to include in interviews, focus
groups and surveys. There are
many free how-to-guides available
online to assist you. For example,
Google "health compass, how-toguide, formative research" or visit
www.thehealthcompass.org
Questions
Research
Answers
What is
happening?
Secondary: World Health
Organization report on cause
of death and disability, national
census data.
Primary: Interviews and
focus group discussions with
health experts.
An increasing number of
people in the community
are being affected by NCDs
What needs to
happen to improve
the situation?
Secondary: Project evaluations
of successful initiatives, national
strategy documents.
Primary:Surveys distributed
to health experts and
opinion leaders.
People could make healthy
lifestyle changes to reduce
their risk of developing NCDs
What will happen if
nothing is done?
Secondary: World Health
Organization report, journal
articles, national census data.
Primary:Interviews with
health experts.
More people will acquire
a disability or die, the
economy will suffer, and social
inequalities will increase.
What behaviours
can we focus on?
Secondary: Project evaluations
of successful initiatives, national
strategy documents.
Primary:Interviews and
focus group discussions
with health experts.
Increasing physical activity
through sport and other
active recreational activities.
What models or
theories are relevant
to this issue?
Secondary: Journal articles,
text-books.
Primary:Emailing and
phoning academics to request
their advice.
Ecological model of
factors influencing physical
activity; Stages of change
model; Theory of learned
helplessness.
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2
3
Step 2: Know your audience
Your audience refers to those who you intend to
reach and influence through your strategies and
communication materials. Effective social marketing
involves seeing the world from your audience's point of
view and understanding why they behave the way they
do. Here are some questions to assist you in gaining this
perspective:
• Who does the issue affect most?
• How do these people behave?
• What and who affects their behaviour?
• What are their experiences, beliefs, and needs?
• What motivates them?
• What barriers do they face regarding the behaviour
you are trying to influence?
• What behaviours are they adopting that are
competing with the behaviours you want to
influence?
• What issues relating to minority groups, the
disadvantaged, or persons living with disabilities
need to be considered?
Again, draw upon a mix of secondary and primary
research to guide your investigation and add your
findings to the notes you commenced writing in Step 1.
Ensure key insights are discussed with your team and
incorporated into the planning and development of
materials later on.
Step 3: Understand the situation
Considering equity
Understanding the experiences,
needs, understandings and opinions
of minority groups, the disadvantaged,
and people living with disabilities from
the outset is vital.
Reaching out to individuals and
organisations representing each of
these groups is the best place to
start. In doing so, you might learn
that persons living with disabilities
have higher rates of NCDs in your
community because their access to
health services is very poor. Or that
individuals who identify as transgender
have not felt welcome to participate
in sporting events because they
have been turned away from both
male and female teams. Or perhaps
people living in remote locations are
often unaware of health promotion
campaigns because they receive most
of their information by radio rather than
TV and print media. Understanding
and responding to the unique
challenges of certain people and
sub-groups within your audience will
help to ensure your project is inclusive.
People never live their lives in isolation from their
environment and the influence of other people. A woman
motivated to get active may be prevented from exercising
because of a fear of being bitten by dogs on her street,
the judgment of others, commitments at work and at
home, or because of a lack of safe footpaths in her area.
Some of these factors may have been revealed when
you sought to understand a range of possible audiences.
Now it's time to look more closely at what influences
behaviour. Consider some of the following factors:
• Political (laws, policies, regulations, taxes)
• Social (family, technology, education, inequalities,
employment, crime, media)
• Cultural (norms, practices, obligations)
• Personal (knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, confidence)
• Physical (infrastructure, facilities, location, transport,
safety, weather)
Again, draw upon a mix of secondary and primary
research to guide your investigation and add your
findings to your notes.
TIP
To access a free how-to-guide on situational
analysis, Google "health compass,
how-to-guide, situational analysis" or
visit: www.thehealthcompass.org
TIP
To access a free how-to-guide on audience
analysis, Google "health compass, howto-guide, audience analysis" or visit:
www.thehealthcompass.org
At this stage, it's unlikely you will know exactly who you
want to target. Not to worry; this step is simply about
exploring various possible audiences. Narrowing down
on a particular audience will come later.
20
It's worth keeping in mind that social marketing is
effective not only in influencing the behaviours of
individuals but also in changing policies, mobilising
community debate and action, and addressing
structural barriers in the community. So remember to
identify strategies and approaches that look beyond the
individual level that you can integrate into your initiative.
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4
Step 4: Work with others
No single person or organisation has all of the skills and
knowledge to plan, develop, and deliver social marketing
materials. In fact, by now you might have met some people
with whom you can discuss your research and guide your
planning, or at least been exposed to the work of others
through secondary research. Through learning from the
experiences, knowledge, and skills of others and inviting
relevant people and organisations to collaborate, your project
will become more productive, efficient, and effective.
A common risk of not consulting with others is that your
strategies and communication materials may duplicate or
conflict with existing projects. Not only does this waste time,
funding, and resources, it may confuse and overwhelm your
target audience, leading them to turn away altogether.
Not consulting with others may also mean you miss
opportunities to build upon past achievements and to
collaborate with other organisations doing great work.
A social marketing strategy to promote bicycle riding, for
example, will be more effective if it works with the local
council to construct bike paths, with commercial retailers to
import affordable bikes into the community, and with bicycle
clubs to provide insight into your target audience and to
organise community events to support the campaign. These
people and organisations are known as your 'stakeholders',
and by working closely with them throughout your project,
your chances of reaching your goals with your available
funding and resources are greatly improved. To clarify who
your stakeholders are, consider the following:
• Who knows most about your audience, their behaviours,
and what influences them?
• Who is involved, or has been involved, in similar initiatives
and can share their lessons-learnt or perhaps collaborate
with you to build on their achievements?
• Whose skills, support and approval do you need to make
the project successful?
• What other individuals or organisations (including private
sector companies) currently have an influence on the
behaviours of your audience, either positively or in
competition with your objectives?
• Which representatives from minority or disadvantaged
groups can you consult to ensure your materials reflect
their needs?
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Adapting materials in
low-resource settings
Partnering to reach children
with disabilities through football
Close to zero staff, few training
opportunities, poor and outdated
equipment, uncompromising
deadlines, and little funding can
make the task of developing
campaign materials seem
impossible. Fortunately, however,
starting from scratch is rarely
necessary if you can find
campaign materials (posters,
animations, TV spots, scripts)
produced elsewhere that can be
adapted to your local setting.
Just Play was launched in 2011 across the
islands of Fiji to promote physical activity
through football among primary school children.
Just Play, designed and implemented by
Oceania Football Confederation, aimed to not
only address issues relating to NCDs, poor
nutrition, and gender equity, but also stigma and
discrimination affecting children with disability.
Start by identifying social
marketing initiatives throughout
the world or in your region that
are relevant to the behaviours
you are focusing on. Rank each
project according to their impact
and the ease in which their
materials can be adapted to your
local context by translating text,
adding images of local people
and settings, and adjusting
other details to make them
more suitable to your campaign
objectives.
You should always contact
those involved in developing
the original materials to request
their permission for a local
adaption. Most of the time
you will find these people
and organisations more than
willing to lend their knowledge,
resources, and skills to ensure
your adaption is a success. In
fact, some organisations actively
seek to make this process of
adapting successful campaigns
in other countries as easy and
affordable as possible, such as
World Lung Foundation’s Mass
Media Resource for tobacco
control campaigns (http://www.
worldlungfoundation.org)
The Just Play team recognised the need to
partner with a range of local, regional, and
international stakeholders that specialised in
disability and that could advise and support
their efforts to make football more inclusive to
all children. The team reached out to special
schools around Fiji and worked closely with
the Fiji Paralympic Committee to ensure their
sporting activities were tailored to the needs of
children with disability and that volunteers were
trained in modifying sports. These partnerships
also allowed Just Play to develop strategic
campaigns that addressed negative perceptions
towards people with disability in the wider
community. Funding and technical support was
provided by the Australian Sports Outreach
Program, UNICEF Pacific, Oceania Football
Confederation, and a range of local sporting
clubs and associations to ensure adequate
training, equipment and resources were provided
to those implementing the campaign on the
ground.
Through partnering up with local, regional and
international stakeholders, the Just Play team
designed and implemented a variety of fun and
effective ways to include children with disability
in football activities and to reduce stigma and
discrimination in the community.
Create a list of your stakeholders, including experts, department heads,
community organisations, service providers, community leaders, media outlets,
private sector companies, minority representatives, and donors. Take note of their
relevance to the project, and consult with them regularly at every stage of your
project. It's also a good idea to revisit your previous steps with your stakeholders
to review, revise, and expand upon your existing research.
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5
Step 5: Choose who to target
By now you may have a rough idea of who your audience might be. Of course, people
within any population can differ enormously according to their age, gender, ethnicity,
location, income, education, abilities, experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. Also recall
that certain groups of people are located at different stages of readiness for behaviour
change, from 'Don't Know, Don't Care' to 'Concerned and Motivated', and from
'Committed and Planning' to 'Maintaining Change'.
While it's tempting to reach as many people as possible, communicating the same
message to everyone regardless of their differences and hoping for the same result
will likely fail. Research tells us that targeting specific segments of the population with
materials tailored to their unique needs, motivations, and experiences will have the
greatest impact.
Guided by your research so far, and also the insights of your stakeholders, consider
different segments and choose who you will target. The TARPARE method can guide
this process of prioritising different audience segments for your initiative:
T: What is the total number of people that can be targeted?
AR: What proportion of the segment is considered at-risk?
P: To what extent can the segment be persuaded?
A: Can the segment be easily accessed?
R: What resources are needed to reach the segment?
E: Has equity been considered to ensure minority groups or
the disadvantaged are reached?
These questions will allow you to consider various audience segments that might be
more or less likely to change their behaviours following your investment of resources.
Let's say, for example, you decide to focus on five factors: gender, location, age, current
level of physical activity, and commitment to being more active. You might consider the
following segments:
• Gender: Male/Female
• Location: Urban (Good access to services)/ Rural (Poor access to services)
• Age: 18-24/25-34/35-44/45+
• Current level of physical activity: Less than 150min a week (Low) / 150-300min a
week (Medium) / More than 300min a week (High)
• Commitment to being more active: Don't Know, Don't Care (Low) / Concerned and
Motivated (Medium) / Committed and Planning (High)
• Guided by the TARPARE method, you might decide to target:
• Males living in urban areas aged 25-34, active less than 150min a week, concerned
about their health and motivated to be more physically active; or
• Females living in rural areas aged 18-24, active less than 150min a week, committed
and planning to increase their physical activity.
24
Targeting at-risk women through netball in Tonga
Kau Mai Tonga: Netipolo (Come on Tonga, Let’s Play Netball!) was launched in 2012 to provide fun,
social and easy opportunities for women to reduce their risk of developing NCDs through sport.
Adult women were selected as the target audience following research and careful strategic planning
by a team from the Australian and Tongan governments, as well as various partner organisations in
the Tongan community. Through their secondary research, the team learned that obesity affected
more women than men in Tonga, with about 75 per cent being obese compared to 56 per cent of
men. They also found that Tongan women were much less active than men, with the vast majority
failing to meet the recommended 150 minutes a physical activity a week. Based on this research,
the team identified a segment of the female population that could be considered at high risk of
developing NCDs.
To learn more about this audience segment and the issues they faced, the team conducted primary
research to listen to what women had to say themselves. Through these discussions, the team
learned that local women faced a number of cultural, social, and financial barriers to being active.
Many, for example, commented that sporting activities in the community were often tailored for
and dominated by men. Others talked of the lack of sporting events and facilities in their villages,
competing demands at home, and embarrassment relating to exercising in public. The good news,
however, was that the vast majority of the women the team spoke with were highly motivated to be
more active if fun, social, and affordable opportunities were made available in their community.
Following their research and discussions with local women, the team identified their target audience
as adult women at risk of developing NCDs motivated and looking for opportunities to be more
physically active. Mass media campaigning with posters, brochures, TV and radio materials were
used to create excitement about being active through sport among target audiences. This created
additional demand for free netball activities that were being run by the Tonga Netball Association
in villages. The availability of these netball activities ensured the desired behaviour change was
supported.
Guided by the TARPARE method, you might decide to target:
• Males living in urban areas aged 25-34, active less than 150min
a week, concerned about their health and motivated to be more
physically active; or
• Females living in rural areas aged 18-24, active less than 150min a
week, committed and planning to increase their physical activity.
TIP
To access a free how-to-guide on audience segmentation Google
“Health Compass, how-to-guide, audience segmentation” or visit
www.thehealthcompass.org
Now that you have
selected your target
audience, you can tailor
your materials to their
specific needs,
experiences, motivations,
and barriers. It's a good
idea to revisit Steps
1–4 to conduct more
specific research into
your segmented target
audience and to
invite other relevant
stakeholders to be
involved.
25
6
7
Step 6: Outline your behavioural goals
Step 7: Choose your communication channels
It's time to figure out exactly what you want to achieve
by listing some specific behavioural goals. Without
these goals, your project will quickly lose focus and your
materials and strategies are unlikely to be effective. When
developing behavioural
goals make sure they are SMART, that is:
• Specific to your target audience and their setting
• Measurable against key indicators of progress
and impact
• Appropriate to your target audience and the
local setting
• Realistic given your funding, resources, skills,
and timeframe
• Time-bound, with a specific end-date for the
project set
It's likely your target audience receives and engages with information in a number of
ways. Also keep in mind that many people do not have access to certain communication
channels because it is not affordable, they live in remote locations, they do not have the
necessary skills or language, or because they live with a disability. For this reason, using
a range of communication channels will greatly enhance the reach and impact of your
campaign. Here are some channels you may want to consider:
Your SMART goals may look something like the following:
• Increase the percentage of men in rural areas aged
25-34 doing at least 150min of physical activity
a week from 15% to 25% by March 2018; or
• Increase the percentage of female adolescents
12–17 years of age in urban areas doing at least
300min of physical activity a week from 30% to
45% by November 2017.
Of course, you will need to consider how you are going
to know whether or not you have been successful in
reaching your goals. More on this in Step 9.
26
Don't rush it
Pressure from stakeholders,
enthusiasm among staff, and advice
from experts can lead to a situation
in which people feel impatient to 'do
something' as soon as possible. In
this environment, the previous steps
can be rushed or bypassed altogether.
This typically leads to poor quality, illresearched, and ineffective strategies
and materials that will only confuse
and mislead your audience and waste
everyone's time and money.
If you find yourself in this situation,
discuss your concerns with your team
and stakeholders to clarify what needs
to be adjusted before the project can
progress. Make sure all those involved
in your project are aware of how long
the development of a good social
marketing approach will take, and
what steps you will follow to ensure
your work is effective. Ensuring good
communication regarding project
timeframes can help avoid missed
deadlines and frustrated program
partners.
• Television
• Radio
• Brochures and
posters
• Billboards
and
banners
• Car and bus stickers
• Newspaper
advertisements
• Press releases
• Newsletters
• Online (websites,
YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram)
When choosing your channels, ask the following:
• To what extent is each
• What are the advantages
channel appropriate,
and disadvantages of
relevant, accessible, and
each channel?
affordable to your target
audience, including minority
and disadvantaged groups?
• Telephone calls
and mobile phone
messaging
• Loudspeakers
• Face-to-face
communication
• How can multiple
channels be used
to complement
one another?
Are your materials appropriate, accessible, and inclusive?
It's important that your materials reach a range of audiences regardless of
their age, gender, sexuality, location, ethnicity or language. You also need
to consider if the materials you produce are accessible to people with
disabilities. Developing partnerships with representatives from minority,
disadvantaged, or disabled people's organisations from the outset will put
you in contact with people who can guide you in this process. It may be
suggested, for example, that you use multiple communication channels,
translate content into other languages, use large and simple fonts, include
visual prompts to complement written content, or add subtitles to TV
programs. Each of these adjustments will ensure your materials are more
appropriate and accessible to all members of your target audience.
Equally important will be to ensure your materials feature positive
representations of people with a range of identities, backgrounds, and
abilities to ensure all audience members feel invited and welcome to
participate in your initiative.
To access a step-by-step guide to improving the accessibility of your
materials, Google "Federation of Disability Sport, access for all, inclusive
communications" or visit: www.ausport.gov.au/participating/disability or
www.playbytherules.net.au/
8
Step 8: Develop strategies and communication messages
We can make this step a little easier by dividing it into two parts: (1) developing social
marketing strategies and (2) developing communication messages.
When developing social marketing strategies, begin by asking:
• Why is the target audience not currently adopting a certain healthy behaviour?
• How can I work with my stakeholders to reduce barriers affecting this behaviour to
make it easier and more appealing?
• How can I increase the capacity of my audience to adopt this healthy behaviour?
• What changes to the environment are needed to motivate and support this
behaviour?
• What lessons can I learn from previous initiatives that share my behavioural goals?
Through asking these questions you might decide to include a low-impact sport in your
campaign to address concerns among older women of being injured. Or you may work
with village leaders to ensure sports grounds are kept clean and mowed so people
motivated to get active can use them. Or maybe you have learned from organisers
of a past initiative that running an aerobics session early in the morning rather than
in the mid-day sun will increase participation. Considering these issues and making
the necessary adjustments means you are thinking and acting strategically, greatly
increasing the effectiveness of your project.
Now that you've made progress with your social marketing strategy, you can turn to your
communication messages. If you had just a few seconds with your target audience, your
communication messages are what you would share with them. In just a few words,
they must grab the attention of your audience and tell them exactly what they should do
and why. Often messages will consist of a short and memorable catch-phrase and, if
necessary, a slightly longer sub-phase that directs your audience to a specific action.
• Get active now! Be active at least 30 minutes a day five times a week to stay healthy.
• Get Healthy, Get Happy! Sign-up to our free badminton club and have fun while
getting healthy.
• Move for life! It's never too late to get healthy, be active in whatever way you can.
• NCDs are Killing us. Protect yourself against chronic diseases by being active at
least 30 minutes a day five times a week.
28
Never forget your audience
Each of those involved in funding,
planning or implementing a social
marketing campaign will have their
own understandings, opinions,
and experiences. Some might be
particularly keen to be innovative or
creative, while others may wish to
borrow from other campaigns they
like. However, if the experiences,
needs and understandings of the
target audience are not prioritised
above all else, your materials will not
be effective among the very people
the campaign seeks to influence.
Never forget your audience.
Be highly selective when choosing your communication
messages. Providing too many messages can overwhelm
or confuse your target audience. Also remember to be
very clear about what you are asking people to do. If
your campaign is promoting more than one behaviour
change, your audience may not know what to prioritise
and decide to do nothing at all. Finally, you will need
to tailor your messages to the specific characteristics,
understanding, lifestyles, interests, needs, motivations,
and barriers of your target audience. Think about some of
the following questions:
• What is the most important information to
communicate?
• What attitudes and behaviours need to be promoted
and maintained?
• What kind of messages will appeal most to your
audience (rational, financial, family-focused,
emotional, threatening, positive, comical)?
• What specific actions are you seeking to trigger
through these messages?
• Can you foresee any negative reactions or confusion
regarding your messages?
• Are your messages short, clear, simple, specific,
factual, appropriate, relevant, and accessible?
By the end of this step you should have some strategies
and messages ready to present to stakeholders for their
feedback and to pre-test with target audiences.
We'll get to this in Step 12.
29
9
10
Step 9: Plan how to track progress and measure impact
Step 10: Prepare an action plan
Whether you are printing 30 posters for a handful of community centres or launching a
national mass media campaign using TV and radio that will reach thousands, you'll want
to know whether your project is progressing according to plan and if you are reaching
and positively influencing your target audience in line with your objectives.
It's time to figure out how everything you have learned and planned so far can translate
into meaningful action on the ground. Your action plan answers the question: How can I
make this happen? Here are a few questions to get you started:
• Who will need to be involved during each stage of the project?
• When, how, and by whom will strategies be implemented and communication
materials be developed and distributed?
• How much funding is needed and where will it come from?
• How will the campaign complement and build upon other strategies now and
in the future?
• Why is your strategy the most effective, appropriate, and affordable one?
• Who will do the monitoring and evaluation?
• What are the potential risks and barriers and how will they be addressed?
You might think your project was a total failure because you only had enough funding to
air your TV spots for three days when, in fact, it positively influenced the behaviours of
thousands because it was uploaded and shared on YouTube and Facebook. Or perhaps
you thought your poster campaign was a huge success but, in truth, it reached and
affected few because the posters were left out in the rain and ruined. You'll never know
what happened and what needs to change in the future unless you track your progress
and measure impact. And don't forget those funding your work typically expect to see
results.
A monitoring and evaluation plan is an important part of any project, and will help you
measure and demonstrate the success of your work. Periodic independent evaluations
are also very useful, and an important part of a strong monitoring and evaluation
approach.
TIP:
For smaller projects, a monitoring and evaluation plan can be developed and
implemented in-house with a bit of planning. To access a user-friendly guide
to track your progress and measure impact, Google "step by step guide, M&E
plan, evaluation toolbox" or visit http://evaluationtoolbox.net.au
For sports organisations trying to measure the success of health promotion
efforts, a suggested monitoring approach is attached to this guide, and can be
found at https://secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/home.
30
By the end of this step, you should have a clear plan of action to create, implement,
monitor and evaluate your campaign with your available funding, staff, resources, and
timelines. Your action plan should be easily summarised and explained to stakeholders
in the form of a short report, presentation, or verbal pitch. You will need their approval
before you move onto the next phase. If you fail to gain their support, revisit the previous
steps and explore what needs to change before revising your action plan and seeking
approval again.
TIP:
For a simple guide to writing and implementing an action plan,
Google “Ctb, ku, develop action plans” or visit: http://ctb.ku.edu
And to access a guide to assist with learning the basics of budgeting,
Google “C-hub online, budgeting basics” or visit www.c-hubonline.org
31
11
12
Step 11: Create materials
With all of the work you have done so far, it's amazing to think that so many start at this
step and ignore the rest. But your hard work will pay off considering you are now in an
excellent position to develop strategies and materials that are well-researched, targeted,
grounded in audience insight, supported by stakeholders, and linked with other
strategies being implemented.
The primary goal of this step is to draw upon everything you have come to learn so far
to develop strategies that support and motivate the behaviour you are promoting and to
create materials (branding, posters, brochures, TV and radio spots, billboards, websites,
social media pages) that are:
• Attractive to grab the attention of your audience and keep them engaged.
• Comprehensible enough to be easily understood and remembered.
• Accurate, based on well-researched evidence and expert advice.
• Persuasive in motivating and supporting positive behaviours.
• Appropriate to the local context and the issues being addressed.
• Targeted to the unique needs of your audience, promoting personal identification.
• Accessible to all people within your target audience regardless of their minority
status, disabilities, or disadvantages.
Again, for large-scale campaigns it's likely you will need to seek assistance from
professional graphic designers, filmmakers, or web developers. This will require you to
write a creative brief to ensure all of the research and strategy development you have
done so far guides the materials they produce.
TIP:
To access a free how-to-guide on writing a creative brief, Google “Health
compass, how-to-guide, creative brief” or visit www.thehealthcompass.org
If you are implementing a smaller campaign and wish to develop your own materials on
a shoestring budget, you can find a list of websites that contain case studies, tutorials,
how-to-guides, and tool-kits at the end of this guide.
32
Step 12: Seek feedback, pre-test and adjust
Audience before
creativity
Making adjustments to
materials can often be
difficult if you disagree
with the views and
opinions of your
stakeholders or the
target audience. While
it might be tough, be
prepared to let go of
some elements of
the project that, while
creative, clever and
seemingly important,
are not supported by
insight into what will
move and motivate
your audience most
effectively.
It's time to invite your stakeholders and some members of your target
audience to provide their feedback on your work so far. This will allow
you to select the best strategies, materials, and messages among
various options and to make necessary adjustments to ensure they have
the greatest impact.
When seeking feedback from stakeholders, present your strategies,
materials, and messages without expressing your own opinion and
encourage an open discussion against the benchmark criteria of being
attractive, comprehensible, accurate, persuasive, appropriate, targeted,
and accessible. It's also a good time for experts to double-check the
accuracy and appropriateness of your content and for representatives
from minority groups and disabled people's organisations to advise if
any further changes are needed to make your strategies and materials
more accessible.
Pre-testing involves presenting your messages and materials to
members of your target audience to check that your assumptions are
appropriate and if changes are required to increase their impact. This
is a very critical stage in the development of communication materials.
Health experts have the technical knowledge to confidently write
content that is scientifically accurate and to provide recommendations
for actions based on this evidence. However it is only through pretesting that you can understand how your target audience reacts to your
materials, what messages are actually being communicated to them,
and if your strategy is likely to influence their behaviour.
TIP:
Pre-testing for large-scale campaigns will need to be
conducted by an independent and professional research team.
For smaller campaigns, however, pre-testing can be conducted
in-house. Google “health compass, how-to-guide, pre-testing”
or visit the following website to access a user-friendly guide to
conducting pre-testing sessions: www.thehealthcompass.org
After summarising and analysing stakeholder feedback and pre-testing
results, make the necessary adjustments to your strategies and select
the final set of communication materials to be distributed to your target
audience. Once the final changes have been made, seek approval
from senior management and, if appropriate an ethics committee,
to commence implementing your strategies and delivering your
materials to your target audience according to your action plan.
33
13
Step 13: Deliver and monitor
Your strategies and communication materials are now reaching your target audience
and, you hope, having a positive influence on their behaviour. But before you can figure
out whether or not your campaign is having an impact, you need to ensure everything is
progressing according to plan. Consider the following:
• Is the delivery of materials on time and within budget?
• Are staff, stakeholders and partners fulfilling their responsibilities according to the
action plan?
• Are strategies being implemented as planned?
• How effectively are communication materials reaching the target audience, how
frequently are they being exposed to campaign messages, and what is the quality of
delivered materials?
• Have any challenges or opportunities arisen?
• What feedback are you receiving from audience members and stakeholders?
• Are the needs of the target audience changing?
Through monitoring the delivery of materials and strategies you can identify issues and
address them as they arise. Let's say, for example, your radio spots are only being
run once a day instead of the planned three times a day. You'll need to call the radio
station to remind them to stick to the agreed-upon broadcast schedule. Or perhaps the
sports hall in which an event you have promoted through posters is being held has been
double-booked. You'll need to work with your stakeholders to find an alternative venue
and to inform your audience of the change.
Monitoring your progress will also allow you to take advantage of opportunities. You
might learn, for example, that your campaign has triggered much discussion and
sharing on Facebook. In response, you can increase your Facebook posts to further
boost interest and engagement. Or perhaps journalists have requested more information
about the campaign and are asking for people to interview. Responding to these
opportunities as they arise will greatly enhance the reach and impact of your campaign.
14
Step 14: Measure impact and
make adjustments
You have reached the final stage in which, having
implemented your strategies and delivered your
communication materials according to your action
plan, you learn whether what you did had an impact.
Regardless of whether you contracted a professional
research team or carried out your own evaluation, you will
want answers to the following questions:
• What has your project achieved or not achieved?
• To what extent were your behavioural goals met?
• What worked or didn't work, and why?
• Were there any unintended impacts of the project?
• What lessons can be passed onto others doing
similar work?
• What adjustments need to be made to increase the
impact of future initiatives?
It's vital that you communicate your findings to your
stakeholders and the broader community, whether
through face-to-face meetings, reports, conference
presentations, journal articles, or press releases. Gaining
feedback, both positive and negative, from others will
clarify what adjustments need to be made for future
initiatives. It will also allow you to pass lessons onto
others who wish to build on your achievements.
TIP:
Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter all provide excellent, free, and user-friendly
data packages to track the popularity and engagement of your campaign
among your audiences. For guidance on using Social Media for health
promotion, Google "CDC, health communication, social media toolkit"
or visit: www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication
34
35
Social
Change
Online
resources
Social marketing in a low-resource
setting can be challenging.
Fortunately, a number of
how-to-guides, toolkits, tutorials,
and forums can be found online
to assist you. Here are a few.
Social marketing and health communication
• The Health Compass: www.thehealthcompass.org
• C-Hub Online: www.c-hubonline.org
• John Hopkins Center for Communication Programs: http://ccp.jhu.edu/resources
• The Big Pocket Guide to Using Social Marketing for Behaviour Change (National
Social Marketing Center): http://www.thensmc.com/sites/default/files/Big_pocket_
guide_2011.pdf
• Social Marketing Guide for Public Health Programme Managers and Practitioners
(European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control): http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/
publications/Publications/social-marketing-guide-public-health.pdf
Design
• www.behance.com
• www.pinterest.com
• www.canva.com
• https://designschool.canva.com
Social media and
online content
• www.sm4good.com
• www.cdc.gov/socialmedia
• www.wix.com
• www.squarespace.com
Film and radio
• www.nofilmschool.com
• www.lynda.com
• www.bbc.co.uk/academy/
production/radio
Monitoring and
evaluation
• www.google.com/forms/about/
• www.surveymonkey.com
• www.evaluationtoolbox.net.au
Accessibility
• www.adcet.edu.au/inclusive-teaching/working-withstudents/communication-tips/
• www.efds.co.uk/resources/case_studies/2697_
access_for_all_efds_inclusive_communications_guide
38
39
Resources
and Guides
provided
by the
Australian
Sports
Commission
40
• Research on the Barriers and Enablers to Physical Activity in the Pacific: https://
secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/Library/archive/digital_archive/asc_programs/
australian_sports_commission_programs_-_international/Research_on_the_Barriers_
and_Enablers_to_Physical_Activity_in_the_Pacific.docx
• Social Marketing Style Guide for Tonga: https://secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/
Library/archive/digital_archive/asc_programs/australian_sports_commission_
programs_-_international/Social_Marketing_Style_Guides_for_Tonga.pdf
• Social Marketing Style Guide for Samoa: https://secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/
Library/archive/digital_archive/asc_programs/australian_sports_commission_
programs_-_international/Social_Marketing_Style_Guide_for_Samoa.pdf
• Social Marketing Style Guide for Fiji: https://secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/
Library/archive/digital_archive/asc_programs/australian_sports_commission_
programs_-_international/Social_Marketing_Style_Guide_for_Fiji.pdf
• Social Marketing Style Guide for Nauru: https://secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/
Library/archive/digital_archive/asc_programs/australian_sports_commission_
programs_-_international/Social_Marketing_Style_Guide_for_Nauru.pdf
• Monitoring and Evaluation Guide for Physical Activity Promotion in Sports: https://
secure.ausport.gov.au/clearinghouse/Library/archive/digital_archive/asc_programs/
australian_sports_commission_programs_-_international/Monitoring_and_
Evaluation_Guide_for_Physical_Activity_Promotion_in_Sports.docx
41
References
Andreasen, A.R. (2006). Social marketing in the 21st century. Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2011). Social marketing made
simple: A guide for creating effective social marketing plans. US department of Health
and Humans Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta, GA.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/pdf/cdcynergylite.pdf
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). (2014). Social marketing
guide for public health managers and practitioners. ECDC: Stockholm. http://ecdc.
europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/social-marketing-guide-public-health.pdf
French, J., Blair-Stevens, C., McVey, D. & Merritt, R. (2010). Social marketing and public
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Carroll T. (2000). Population health social marketing: A model for comprehensive
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National Centre for Social Marketing. (2011). Big pocket guide to using social marketing
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42
Goals
An initiative of the Australian Sports Commission
The views in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily the Australian Government.