Social Marketing

The Basics 9
Thinking Like a Marketer
Marketing is an exchange. The marketer asks the consumer to perform an action (say, buying
a Coke) and in exchange, the marketer gives the consumer a benefit (for example, sweet taste
and a cool image). This is true in commercial marketing, where the objective is to get people to
buy something, and as you can see in the figure below, it is also true in social marketing, where
the goal can be encouraging a behavior that benefits society.
Figure 2: Marketing is About an Exchange
Changes behavior
Consumer Marketers
Gives benefit consumer cares about
Given this basic concept of exchange, it is clear why you must think about what you are offering
members of your audience. After all, they are unlikely to do something just because you asked.
That said, a marketer’s offering does not have to be something concrete. We are all familiar with
commercial marketing campaigns that try to add value to a product by associating it with an
image – that is part of what separates Coke from the grocery brand. Social marketers can use
those same techniques and more.
So, what does it mean to “think like a marketer?” In part, it is recognizing your side of the
exchange – the fact that you need to offer something. What’s more, a social marketer should
understand some of the basic principles of marketing. Of course, there are many marketing
principles. Entire textbooks are written about just one slice of marketing. In social marketing
however, five principles are among the most important:
1. Know exactly who your audience is and look at everything from that group’s
point of view.
Marketers are consumer-focused. It is crucial that you clearly identify your target audience and that
you look at the world from their point of view.
Why does a marketer think this way? To motivate
people to take an action, you have to understand
the world from their perspective - what
do they want, struggle with, care about, dislike?
The people you are talking to will not listen if
they sense that you do not understand them.
Given this basic concept of exchange,
it is clear why you must
think about what you are offering
members of your audience. After
all, they are unlikely to do something
just because you asked.
Social Marketing Behavior A Practical Resource for Social Change Professionals