Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide

Book Description

Have you ever read an article or emerged from a workshop, excited about using social marketing techniques in your own program, only to come back to the office and say, "Now what do I do?" And how often do people say, "We need to take a social marketing approach," without really understanding what that means and how to implement it? Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide will provide you with the practical skills you need to put social marketing to work for you.

Several excellent books on the art and science of social marketing provide theoretical knowledge about what social marketing is and the rationale for how and why to use it. For many, though, the jump from theory to practice is a precipitous leap of faith into uncharted territory rather than a step-by-step process of strategic planning and development. This book provides practical advice not offered by the more academic texts, gently guiding you in the development of a social marketing program from the beginning all the way through to evaluation and points beyond.

Hands-On Social Marketing was written with practitioners primarily in mind. Organizations at the community level may not have the benefit of extensive resources and expert assistance at their fingertips that are often found in state and national social marketing programs. Each chapter takes into account the challenges faced by organizations with small budgets and little experience with developing and implementing this type of program. Despite this orientation, the information in this book is equally applicable to those working at the state, national or international levels.

The beauty of social marketing is that it provides a clearly defined process for program development. This book explains that process and provides detailed advice on how to successfully accomplish each stage. Moreover, the book is designed to be user-friendly and functional -- a tool as much as a teacher. By using the many accompanying worksheets in your planning, you will have a ready-made "consultant" asking you all the right questions as you go along.

The main message of this book is that you can do social marketing yourself. You do not need to hire a high-priced advertising agency or spend large sums of money to put these ideas into practice. This book emphasizes low-cost research methods and tells how to stretch a small budget without sacrificing quality. The biggest investment you will need to make is mental not material -- it is simply to develop the understanding needed to begin thinking from a social marketing perspective.