Understanding the 8Ps of Social Marketing

Social marketing is similar to the practices of commercial marketing, except instead of focusing on selling a product (like cell phones), social marketing is focused on encouraging behavior change (like smoking cessation) in order to improve the overall health and wellness of a particular community. It is a powerful tool that can be used to address a wide range of social issues, such as public health, environmental protection, and economic development.

The 8Ps of social marketing are a framework that can be used to plan and implement effective social marketing campaigns. The 8Ps are:

• Product: The product is the behavior that you are trying to promote. For example, if you are trying to encourage people to eat healthier, the product would be healthy eating.

• Price: The price is the cost of the product, both in terms of money and time. For example, the cost of eating healthy may include the cost of buying healthy foods, the cost of preparing healthy meals, and the time it takes to cook and eat healthy foods.

• Place: The place is the location where the product is available. For example, healthy eating can take place in a number of different places, such as a restaurant, at home, or even at the grocery store.

• Promotion: The promotion is the way that you communicate the product to your target audience. For example, you could promote healthy eating through public service announcements, social media campaigns, or educational events.

• Policy: Policy is the laws, regulations, and other rules that affect the product. For example, there may be laws that require restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.

• Purse strings: Purse strings are the resources that are available to support the product. For example, you may need funding to develop educational materials or to hire staff or to offer small block grants to community grocery stores.

• Partnerships: Partnerships are relationships with other organizations that can help you to promote the product. For example, you could partner with local farmers or local schools to help you reach your priority audience.

• People: People are the individuals who are involved in the product, such as the priority (or target) audience, the change agents, and the stakeholders. For example, the priority audience for a healthy eating campaign might be adults who are overweight or adults who are at-risk for developing chronic illnesses. The change agents might be health educators or dietitians. The stakeholders might be food manufacturers, restaurants, and government agencies.

By carefully considering each of the 8Ps, you can create campaigns that are more likely to achieve your desired results by taking time to research each component of the 8P's.

Here are some examples of how the 8Ps of social marketing have been used to address social issues:

• Tobacco control: The tobacco industry has been a major target of social marketing campaigns. These campaigns have used a variety of strategies to discourage people from smoking, including public service announcements, educational materials, and support programs for smokers who want to quit. An example of a tobacco cessation campaign is the award-winning public education campaign called "The Real Cost" Campaign.

• Nutrition: Social marketing campaigns have been used to promote healthy eating habits. These campaigns have focused on educating people about the importance of eating healthy foods and providing them with resources to help them make healthy choices. For example, the Dairy Council of California launched the "Let's Eat Healthy" Campaign to elevate the health of children and families in California and beyond.

• Sexual health: Social marketing campaigns have been used to promote safer sex options and prevent sexually transmitted infections. These campaigns have focused on educating people about the risks of unprotected sex, providing them with information about how to get tested for STIs, and encouraging them to get treated if they are diagnosed with an STI. The STD/HIV/Hepatitis Program at the Louisiana Department of Health launched the "Just Check" Campaign to normalize STI screenings among sexual active individuals.

• Environmental protection: Social marketing campaigns have been used to promote environmental protection. These campaigns have focused on educating people about wildlife conservation, climate change, air pollution, carbon emissions, etc. Ultimately, the goal of these campaigns is to provide individuals with information about how to make environmentally friendly choices, and encouraging them to take action to protect the environment. A popular example of an environmental protection campaign is the "Smokey the Bear" Campaign to prevent wildfires.

Further, social marketing has evolved over the years in response to changes in society, technology, and the way people communicate. Early social marketing campaigns were often based on a "deficit model" of behavior change, which assumed that people needed to be educated about the risks of certain behaviors in order to change their behavior. However, this approach has been shown to be largely ineffective. More recent social marketing campaigns have taken a more nuanced approach, recognizing that people are complex creatures who are influenced by a variety of factors, including their personal values, social norms, and the environment in which they live.

One of the most significant changes in social marketing has been the rise of evidence-based practice. Social marketers are now more likely to use research to inform their campaigns. This has led to a more rigorous approach to social marketing, which has resulted in more effective campaigns, such as the campaigns mentioned above.

Overall, social marketing has evolved into a more sophisticated and effective tool for promoting social change. By taking a more nuanced approach following the 8P's Framework and using evidence-based practice, social marketers are now able to create campaigns that are more likely to achieve their desired results.