The potential of social marketing: uncovered
Posted by TeamPC on 14 May 2017
Have you ever evaluated a marketing campaign and thought – “yes that was powerful!”? If you have, that’s great. But many marketing campaigns fail (or at least don’t go all the way), because creative agencies are too focused on content and delivery, and not enough on customers.
Healthcare: a new kind of people-based marketing
Anyone that works in the creative industry knows that before you go off and design an all singing and dancing marketing campaign, that you need to get to grips with a big thing – ‘the customer’. After all, why would you promote a message designed for people that prefer squares, to those that prefer circles? Or, to put it another way, why would you target a 50+ health screening campaign, to the under 20s?
A social marketing health campaign is different – it gets to grip with what customers want, need, require and must-have, and then seeks to inspire and motivate them to positively change, or influence their life-style decisions.
Social marketing campaigns deliver behavioural change, but to people that are genuinely interested and concerned by the issues it raises. The potential is almost limitless!
A socially motivated healthcare strategy
So what makes social marketing so different to other forms of marketing, and why has the NHS decided to champion it? In short, it’s because it makes a difference.
But to make a difference - a real difference - a social marketing campaign needs to make a connection, catch the eye, fit a need, and then provide a solution.
It’s not about profit
Those businesses working alongside the NHS and involved with marketing health services, are clear about what social marketing is all about. “It’s not about profit at all - it’s about people and improving their quality of life.”
Changing peoples’ opinions about their health
A few years ago, Telford and Wrekin Council (in tandem with a leading social marketing agency) was commissioned by the NHS to deliver a high profile social marketing project designed to drive improvement in the health and wellbeing of the male population (aged 30-74). The campaign encouraged inactive men into sport/physical activity, by increasing their awareness of associated health issues. The results have been staggering, leading to more dedicated 1-2-1 health trainers for men across the region.
So as more and more positive health outcomes are delivered by the healthcare sector, the evidence is mounting - social marketing is different, does deliver and has a huge amount of potential to positively transform lives and create social good. And that is a really exciting prospect.
Who are we? We’re Perfect Circle - an award-winning social marketing agency, (in Manchester and London) delivering positive behavioural change across the UK
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