The Basics of Social Marketing
Posted on Sunday, November 6th, 2011
What is social marketing?
Social marketing is the promotion of a goal that benefits society as a whole. This differs from commercial marketing which promotes products or ideas for profit. Most social marketing is done by government councils and non-government organizations. However, it is not out of the ordinary for a company to promote a social cause.
How does social marketing promote ideas?
There are many ways to promote ideas with social marketing training. Just because companies use television to advertise their products doesn’t mean that non-profit groups can’t promote social improvement. Government backed anti-drug commercials are very popular on television. Radio is also another medium for marketing. Advocate groups have hit the advertising jackpot with popular social networking websites as well.
What types of ideas are promoted with social marketing?
As mentioned earlier, it’s common to find government funded commercials that show the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse. Health organizations will promote practicing safe sex so the number of sexually transmitted disease cases will drop. More recently recycling and caring for the environment have become quite important to help slow the progress of global warming. These causes are just a few that organizations look to publicize for the benefit of society rather than to capitalize on.