Tangerine Trees Social Marketing

Social Marketing in Practice

October 2010

SOCIAL MARKETING APPROACH

Why Social Marketing?• Social marketing attempts not only to promote a beneficial or acceptable message, it

also seeks to understand the starting mindset for any behaviour reluctance• By mapping the target’s current mindset to the desired outcome, it is possible to

clearly see and track the stages required to move someone towards the desired action

• By understanding the stages required in any behaviour change, social marketing campaigns achieve the goals of the set programme timescale as well as seeking to create long-term insight and data that can continue to benefit communities and individuals

• Human behaviour is affected by a number of internal and external factors including self perception, feelings of control and responsibility, social pressure, acceptance, and aspiration, and social marketing attempts to take all these into consideration

• Effective social marketing campaigns, utilising the data and methodology above, also provide more accurate Return on Investment figures than traditional communications techniques, and these can reinforce the other metrics of any campaign

Stages to Readiness• Not everyone will be

ready to act immediately, so this campaign will involve them until they are

• Utilising the segmented campaigns will also allow variations of the same message so targets can choose the route they are comfortable with

• There are four stages before someone acts, and one very important stage afterwards

Pre-contemplative –

Create awareness and provide information

Contemplative –

Reinforce interest and highlight relevance

Preparation –

Emphasise desire and benefit/cost balance

Action -

Maintenance – reassurance and encouragement

Readiness to act in general• The most effective route is

from a small number of innovators and early adopters, through the rest in turn.

• Broadcast messages can reinforce the propagation from one adopter level down to the next, but lower levels are unlikely to respond until the level to their left has adopted.

• People are more likely to adopt, or even consider adopting, if people they know and respect have adopted. Imitation is the strongest influence channel.

• Therefore, the most effective strategy is to first sell to the early adopters, then reinforce the diffusion to each successive level, but not to waste resources on trying to reach any given level before it is ready for it Time

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Actual and perceived self• Perceived feeling of control can play a huge

part in the healthy actions someone takes• Someone who feels in control of their own

destiny might chose to regularly request screenings or check-ups. Alternatively they may believe they have control over their health so they will not be susceptible to cancer

• Someone who does not feel in control of their future may want their health professional to “take responsibility” for their illness. Or they may believe that they are naturally unlucky and so will “…die from something, so it might as well be cancer”

• People often recognise negative or dangerous behaviour in others, but not in themselves.

• People commonly believe they are healthier or fitter than they actually are. This is known as the distinction between actual and perceived behaviour

Contrasting human needs• These 6 human needs are inherent in

all of us. When we feel we have too much of one, we seek to tip the scales the other way

• What someone is looking to add or maintain in their life, as opposed to what they are looking to remove or reduce, will affect the type of help, support and information that they accept.

• Someone looking for unconditional love will not want any situation where they are made to feel responsible for their illness or actions

• Someone looking for stability will not like treatment at different locations or different times

The need for certainty and stability

The need for variety and excitement

The need for significance and recognition

The need for unconditional acceptance and love

The need for personal growth

The need for social contribution

Beliefs about healthy options• The weighting that

individuals put to each of these areas relating to their health will influence the action they take.

• Where a particular area is identified, it then becomes possible to reinforce and strengthen that belief, i.e. someone who does not believe they are susceptible to illness will not respond to more extreme and graphic representations of illness, but someone who believes in the benefits of regular check-ups and screening will respond well to emphasis of those benefits.

The “cost” of taking action, i.e. embarrassment, exclusion

The benefits of taking action, i.e. reassurance, confidence

How susceptible I am to illness

How serious I consider those illnesses could be

Internal factors

SEGMENTATION

Segmenting the 40+ PopulationSegment Profile Approach

Early adopters They like trends, technologies, like to be ahead, they aspire to higher socio-economic group, well-connected

Link to New Year health campaigns, alignment with gyms, leisure centres, juice bars, iPhone apps, hairdressers/salons Celebrity endorsement would work well here

Proximity to Clinic Awareness and reinforcement to support knowledge of a local resource

Promote the centre and its staff, visual, photography, reinforce local message, work with local shops, bars, social clubs

Influencers (GPs) Key to success of all campaigns, they like to be recognised as significant, educated and influential

Educate, inform, engage, awareness of the whole campaign scope, facts and figures, create advocates, reinforcement through restaurants/ social venues

Community leaders They have knowledge about and access to their community and can provide insight, they are influential

Imams for Muslim community could encourage awareness, education, discussion, link to their duty of responsibility

Seldom heard group For example, an Eastern European community who do not understand how to access services and support

Community representatives and spokespeople, businesses, churches, social clubs, pubs, sports groups, community workers, Local Authority advisors

Other possibilities:

Female manual labourers

Stay-at-home mums

The proposal - segmentation• A segmented profile of the 40+ population using those most comfortable with change

and new ideas (or unique ownership for Segment 2)• From this, health professionals can prioritise the most “at risk” groups, and the

audience will segment themselves in their responsiveness• Secondly, the segmentation will tell you all the potential partners like retailers,

employers, media, leisure/social/religious organisations etc who are trying to develop, or already have relationships with these segments

• Thirdly, and most importantly, these segments will tell you exactly how, when and where to reach them, how to overcome their objections, what incentives to offer them, and where they want the service provided!

• It is vital not to consider these target segments in isolation, but to think about all the other brands they interact with, as this will increase their susceptibility to your message, and reinforce it

• Working with partners also increases budget and resource potential exponentially!

Example segment profilingSegment Examples of beliefs, perceptions and values

Segment 1 – early adopters

Believe themselves to be healthy, think the NHS is an option for “poor people”, comfortable accessing “private” secondary care, strong social network, biggest fear is embarrassment or weakness, actively seek information, like a challenge, want tangible and informational support

T4, Sony Erikson, Thomas Cook, Boots, Ford, Radio 1, Company magazine, McDonalds, Facebook, iPhone apps, Virgin Active, Pret a Manger

Segment 2 – local to clinic

Believe their lifestyle and choices are their own responsibility, do not engage with NHS messages, do not actively engage with primary care, biggest fears are exclusion or enforced change, social network also take responsibility for own lifestyle choices, interested in saving money and financial incentives

Blockbuster, Philips, community college, local newspapers and radio, Esso, Nintendo Wii Fit, Big Brother, Vauxhall, iTunes, Football Premier League, Cadbury, Sky, British Airways

Segment 3 – Influencers (GPs)

Believe their education and social status separates them from the majority, understand (or believe they understand) fully the processes and procedures of the healthcare system, are reluctant to be proven wrong, are relatively financially orientated, are concerned for the welfare of patients

Breitling, Mercedes, NHS, Radio 4, Newsnight, Marks and Spencer, Lastminute.com

Segment 4 – community leaders

Believe their community has strong rights and requires representation to society and government, encourage the health and wellbeing for those whom they are responsible, strong family values, biggest fear is loss of control, enjoy holding a position of knowledge, want access to information

Arts Council, WeightWatchers, Eastenders, Smooth Radio, Watchdog, Asda, NSPCC, Nokia, Tesco Home Insurance, Open University

Segment 5 – seldom heard group

Nervous or apprehensive about their own health and susceptibility, believe they are weak or don’t have control over their behaviour, weaker social network, biggest fears are gaining weight and illness, only believe people who’ve “been there and done it”, social network are adopting healthier lifestyles gradually

The proposal – example outline• Example campaign outline, including media,

partners, and “hot topics”

• At each stage, information is captured and analysed to progress to the next step

• A broad initial topic will capture the largest possible audience, and allow analysis of information from both targets and influencers

• By creating a full campaign rather than trying to get the “sale” at the outset, this programme will also create advocates and enthusiasts who will take the message out themselves to a wider group than reached independently

• The timing of each activity and sequence of activity will be tightly aligned with the project plan timeline, and will support the project objectives throughout

Stage 1 – The Big Stress Test

Leaflets

Web-based surveys EmployersPR

Street surveysBluetooth text bombs

Retailers

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Case studies Radio adverts

WebPartnershipsBlogs

Newsletters

Buddy groups

Vouchers

GP info packs

Tests

Posters

Mobile unit

Partner events

The proposal – capturing data• Daily, weekly or monthly reporting (or

anything in between!)• Reporting shows measures for every

activity including:– Response rate

– Attrition rate

– Cost by campaign or activity

– Cost per “sale”

– Return on investment

– Take-up of incentives

– Web hits

– Text responses

– Survey summary results

– Personal views of targets and influencers

– Best and worst performing activities

– Partner perspectives