Step 1: Define Your Audience
Step 2: Identify Evaluation Measures
Step 3: Identify Channels
Step 4: Identify Benefits
Step 5: Identify Obstacles
Step 6: Determine the Message
Step 7: Test and Refine
Step 8: Collect Data
Step 9: Modify Your Work, Based on the Data
Step 10: Write an Evaluation Report

We will describe each step, below.

Step 1: Define Your Audience. Be as specific as possible about the group you will be targeting and learn as much as you can about them. One way to define your target audience is by describing their demographics. For example, you might describe a group as “heterosexual males between the ages of 14 and 18 who smoke.” However, in order to develop a successful campaign, you will also want to paint a vivid picture of the individuals within the group. You will need to understand their attitudes, feelings, beliefs, values, motivation, and culture—all the factors that might influence their behavior.

Step 2: Identify Evaluation Measures. How will you assess whether you implemented your campaign as planned? How will you know if you've met your goals? Evaluation is a big part of all prevention efforts: This is no exception. Start developing your evaluation strategy early in the planning process. Think carefully about the kind of questions you want your evaluation to answer, the best ways to collect the necessary information, and the people you may need to bring on board to help in the process.

Keep in mind that establishing a direct correlation between your campaign and any observed outcomes may be difficult because a communications campaign does not exist in a vacuum. However, you may be able to evaluate broader, population-level changes in behavior and compare them to a baseline before the marketing campaign began. For example, Massachusetts is currently conducting a large-scale, multi-million dollar anti-smoking campaign, funded largely by a tax on tobacco products. To assess change, they measure the difference in the number of cigarette packs sold before and since the campaign began.

Step 3: Identify Channels. It’s important to think about how you want to communicate your message. You may want to deliver it directly to your target audience. Common marketing channels include television or radio commercials, interviews, and public service announcements. They include newspaper or magazine articles, editorials, and print ads; billboards; banners across main streets. You can also use Web sites; electronic mailing lists; bulk mailings; and special events, contests, and awards. In selecting appropriate dissemination channels, consider the costs involved. Think about where your target audience gets its information, and which channels they consider most credible. Also, keep in mind that the most effective campaigns combine mass media with other efforts, such as community events and small-group discussions.

You can also deliver your message indirectly, through intermediaries associated with your target audience. Intermediaries include people who work with these groups, such as coaches, teachers, and counselors; or other people who are respected, such as athletes, clergy, and community and political leaders. Intermediaries can also be credible organizations, such as citizens’ advocacy groups and local agencies.

In Thailand, for example, social marketing planners wanted to prevent HIV in two targeted populations: sex workers and the military. To reach these two groups, they needed a powerful intermediary. In Thailand, there are two powerful leaders revered by the people: Buddha and the King. Buddha wasn't available, so social marketers decided to use the royal family as an intermediary in that campaign.

Step 4: Identify Benefits. The exchange principle asserts that in order for people to voluntarily give something up or try something new, they must benefit in some way. Ask yourself: Why would your target audience want to adopt the behavior your campaign is promoting? Remember, you need to think about this question from your audience's perspective. For example, to convince people over 50 to start exercising, you might highlight benefits such as increased energy and protection against osteoporosis. But to convince young adults to exercise, you might instead "sell" the idea that going to the gym is a great way to get in shape and increase your sex appeal.

It is also important to differentiate between long- and short-term benefits. People tend to gravitate toward short-term benefits: They're more immediate and enticing. Therefore, in the example above, increased energy-a short-term benefit-may be a far more compelling reason for people to exercise than developing stronger bones. However, only solid research will tell you for sure.

Step 5: Identify Obstacles. To achieve an exchange, it is also important to identify any obstacles that might prevent members of your target audience from adopting a given behavior. For example, if you are trying to promote treatment for alcohol and drug problems, you will want to find out whether treatment slots are, in fact available; whether members of your target audience have insurance coverage; and if the programs can be reached using public transportation. These are just a few of the barriers that could derail your campaign.

Similarly, imagine that you are trying to encourage a group of adults to quit smoking. The sheer power of nicotine addiction, plus the strength of the habit of smoking, are both big obstacles that prevent many people from quitting. Your prevention message must thus be compelling, and salient enough to overcome these barriers. In order for the "exchange" to work, the benefit of adopting (or giving up) a behavior must be greater than the cost.

Step 6: Determine the Message. This is a critical step. First, be clear in your own mind about the behavior you would like to elicit. Do you want your audience to make a telephone call? Send for information? Stop doing something-like smoking-or start doing something-like talking to their children about drugs? People who see or hear your message must be clear about what is expected of them.

Next, create a message that builds on what you have learned about your audience: their existing knowledge, concerns, and interests. Try to emphasize positive behavior change rather than negative consequences. For example, the message "Use a designated driver" offers people concrete information for how to get home safely, whereas "Don't Drink and Drive" simply tells people what not to do.

Finally, determine the tone and the style you would like your message to have. Tone is an elusive quality but is very important in a social marketing campaign. Do you want your message to be informative? Emotional? Humorous? A combination of the above? The next time you watch television, pay attention to the commercials you see and think about how you might describe the tone of the ads that appeal to you.

Remember: all the "pieces" of your message-headlines, illustrations, and copy-should work together to immediately establish what is being offered, what the benefits are, and who is advertising it. People should know at a glance what the message is about.

Step 7: Test and Refine. Once you’ve determined your message, it’s important to “pre-test” it. The best way to do this is by showing it to focus groups that represent your target audience. Present them with several message samples and record their impressions and reactions. Then use their feedback to refine your message. You will want to test the message for comprehension, attention and recall, strong and weak points, personal relevance to the target audience, and sensitivity to cultural and/or audience-specific characteristics.

Step 8: Collect Data. You will need to collect data to determine whether your message is having an impact. Data collection might involve conducting more focus groups, administering surveys, or doing telephone interviews. Your data collection methods should be dictated not only by cost, but also by the questions you want answered and the kind of information you want to collect. Whenever possible, work with an evaluator to design and implement your data collection efforts.

Step 9: Modify Your Work, Based on the Data. Even the best-researched campaign often needs some tweaking once it has been launched. Use the data you collect to refine and adjust your message, your communication channels, and your promotion strategies. If something isn’t working, a small alteration is often enough to improve it significantly. If you're not sure what to do, go back to your target audience and ask them what they think.

Step 10: Write an Evaluation Report. This is often required by your funder. Yet, even when it is not, creating a report is a helpful way to organize the information you have collected so that you can share it with others and garner support for future efforts. In your report, you will want to present the change you hoped to see, campaign accomplishments, broad lessons learned, and remaining tasks or recommendations for follow-up. Try to be concise, avoid jargon, and present a balanced set of findings.

As you go through these steps, always keep a clear picture of your target audience in your mind. Your million-dollar asset is your knowledge of the audience. Don't ever underestimate just how critically important that knowledge is to the success of any social marketing campaign.

You have completed the presentation for Day 3.
Please go to Activity 3: Applying the Steps.

References

Backer, T. E., Rogers, E. M., and Sopory, P. (1992). Designing health communication campaigns: What works? Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 30.

Conducting a social marketing campaign (2000). University of Kansas Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development and AHEC/Community Partners in Amherst, Massachusetts. Available online at http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/section_1324.htm.

Office of Cancer Communications, National Cancer Institute (1989). Making health communications work: A planner's guide. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health.