This page includes links to information on social marketing. Links to specific public education materials (for parents, teens, children, and the public) can be found in Public Education Resources.
Websites and Workshops
Community Toolbox (http://ctb.ku.edu/index.jsp) is a website created and maintained by the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development at the University of Kansas, in collaboration with AHEC/Community Partners in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Tool Box includes practical guidance for the tasks necessary to promote community health and development. Each section, including the sections on social marketing, includes the following:
- a description of the task
- advantages of performing this task
- step-by-step guidelines
- examples
- checklists of points to review
- training materials
In addition to sections on social marketing, the toolbox contains sections on the following topics:
- leadership
- strategic planning
- grant writing
- other tasks and activities
CSAP Training Library (http://p2001.health.org/). The materials in the CSAP Training Library are intended as curriculum for face-to-face workshops. However, much of the information can be valuable stand alone resources (although users will have to skim each workshop to identify these materials). Training Curricula relevant to social marketing include
- Applying Health Communications and Social Marketing to Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Problem Prevention;
- Media Relations.
Thinking Like A Marketer (http://www.hsc.usf.edu/CFH/ntcsm/) is an online course developed by the National Collaborative for Social Marketing (NCSM). NCSM is working to improve the integration of Social Marketing into public health initiatives by providing Social Marketing training and support to health promotion directors throughout the United States. It is funded by CDC and Association of Schools of Public Health. The course covers issues including knowing an audience, identifying behavior, formative research, message design, designing a market strategy, and evaluation. The website also includes text transcripts of the lectures and PowerPoint presentations.
PSA Research Center (http://www.psaresearch.com/). An online information center on public service advertising created by Goodwill Communications, a public service advertising firm. Resources found on this website include
- Articles, monographs, evaluation techniques, and media placement advice
- Case studies
- Information on the media including a glossary, statistics, and links to media association websites
- FAQs on PSAs
Social Marketing Skills Training (http://www.ccapt.org/sm_skills.html) is a web-based, self-paced training experience that prevention workers the opportunity to understand, learn and actually practice social marketing skills and concepts. The content of this workshop includes:
- Evolution and definition of social marketing
- How social marketing differs from commercial marketing
- Research basis for consumer and audience analysis
- Designing messages and strategies
- Social marketing in context of a comprehensive prevention approach
- Assessment and evaluation of the social marketing effort
Social Marketing Skills Training was created by the Central Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies.
Social Marketing Network (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/socialmarketing/index.html) is a comprehensive website created by Health Canada (the Canadian government’s public health agency). Among other resources, the Social Marketing Network’s website contains Seven Steps to Social Marketing an online tutorial designed to help users make strategic decisions about social marketing activities. The tutorial's step-by-step, question and answer format guides users through the process of developing a social marketing plan.
Turning Point Social Marketing
(http://www.turningpointprogram.org/Pages/socialmkt.html).
Turning Point is an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Its mission is to transform and strengthen the public health system in the United States by making it more community-based and collaborative. Resources found on the Turning Point Social Marketing website include Publications, such as The Basics of Social Marketing, The Managers Guide to Social Marketing, and Social Marketing and Public Health: Lessons from the Field, a Social Marketing 101 PowerPoint presentation, and a Social Marketing Resource Guide.
Also available through this website is CDCynergy - Social Marketing Edition, a tutorial and planning guide for applying social marketing systematically to public health programs. It is designed to help public health professionals analyze health problems and plan, implement, and evaluate social marketing programs to address those problems. This CD-ROM contains case studies, commentary from experts in the field of social marketing and tutorials for each stage of effective program development. The product is intended for the individual with some knowledge of social marketing and moderate familiarity with computer technology. It will assist the public health professional to take a step-by-step approach to developing, implementing, and evaluating a social marketing program. This CD-ROM can be ordered (at no cost) through this website. Turning Point also offers Train-the-Trainer workshops for CDCynergy-Social Marketing Edition.
Publications Available Online
CSAP Technical Assistance Bulletins. These short documents from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention includes a number of following publications relevant to social marketing, including publications on increasing media coverage, developing culturally competent materials, and using pretests, focus groups, and experts to help ensure your materials are effective and appropriate to you audience. To locate these materials, go to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information Publications Catalog (http://store.health.org/catalog/), click on the Pubs in Series link, and then click on the Technical Assistance Bulletins link. Bulletins available on-line are indicated as such by a blue URL underneath their title on their description page.
Making Health Communications Work (http://cancer.gov/pinkbook) A comprehensive guide on designing and implementing health communication campaigns developed by the National Cancer Institute. This publication was developed to be useful for any health communication campaign. The appendices include valuable tools for strategic planning, message development and testing, and evaluating a campaign.
Social Marketing – A Synopsis by the Centre for Social Marketing (http://www.marketing.strath.ac.uk/csm/about/synopsis.htm)
A short publication describing the history and development of social marketing and how it differs from commercial marketing from the Centre for Social Marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
Social-Marketing.com Social Marketing Library (http://www.social-marketing.com/library.html) is a collection of very basic and very short introductions to various aspects of social marketing, including What Is Social Marketing? and Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Social Marketing. These introductions were created by Weinreich Communications, a private communications and marketing firm.
Social Marketing Strategies for Campus Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems (http://www.edc.org/hec/pubs/soc-marketing-strat.html)
This publication by the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention at Education Development Center, Inc., examines how social marketing draws on the lessons learned from commercial marketing and how the two differ, and it illustrates, through the experiences of ten colleges and universities, the benefits of a social marketing campaign.
