Societal Marketing
Why a Societal Marketing Strategy is Important and How to Develop One
Share this post
In today’s world of growing environmental degradation, lack of resources, and neglected social services, the societal concept of marketing is doubted. Some people may question most businesses’ ability to satisfy customers and meet their long-run societal welfare obligations.
Quick Links
Societal marketing is closely related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable development. Its underlying paradigm is that an organization should not ignore society’s long-term welfare to achieve its mission and vision. Understanding the fundamental concepts of societal marketing helps organizations channel economic resources in the right direction. Businesses should have a robust societal marketing strategy to deliver laser-focused results that satisfy their clients, improve their image and boost their revenue.
What Is a Societal Marketing Strategy?
Societal marketing is founded on the concept of societal welfare. It underlines that a firm must make strategic marketing choices bearing in mind customer desires, organizational requirements, and, most importantly, long-term societal interests.
Creating a societal marketing strategy is developing a positive image for a company to increase its revenue. A societal marketing strategy emphasizes social responsibilities and the need to sustain them. It supports marketing that is sustainable, socially responsible, and eco-friendly. This type of marketing meets the needs of consumers and businesses while preserving future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.
Current global issues like climate change have created the need for companies to develop strong societal marketing strategies. Companies like Body Shop were at the forefront of societal marketing. It’s a cosmetic company that uses only natural, vegetable-based ingredients for its products. Body Shop promotes communal trading and calls for absolute environmental preservation.
How to Create a Societal Marketing Strategy
Greenwashing is dishonest and will come back to haunt you. A successful societal marketing strategy will support your sustainable business strategy. The first critical step is to create a baseline for the data you want to assess. This might all seem like eating an elephant at first, so take one bite at a time and make minor adjustments gradually. Every change you initiate will add to the greater good, so create the vision, put everything on the table, and delegate tasks to team members to influence and monitor change.
Identify Your Target Audience
Get to know your target audience by paying close attention to their demographics and listening closely to their wants and needs. Construct a clear image of the people in your target audience, and familiarize yourself with their attitudes, emotions, beliefs, and culture, as well as any other character traits that may impact their conduct.
For example, if your primary target audience includes women between 24-34 years of age living in rural areas, ensure you understand their broad societal concerns and identify how your organization can do a better job addressing those issues.
Select Your Marketing Channels
It is critical to identify the most effective channels for conveying the desired message. Common marketing channels include social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Email campaigns, special events, and TV and radio interviews are among the many other media options to consider.
Advertising costs can add up quickly, so pay attention to the expenses involved while choosing your channels. Observe where your target audience obtains their information, and appeals to them via the media they trust the most. Remember, the most successful campaigns mix mainstream media with additional initiatives such as community gatherings and small-group conversations.
Identify Benefits and Obstacles
According to the exchange principle, for individuals to freely give up something or try something new, they must gain from the change. Determine what your target audience would want to gain from your adopted campaign and create messaging supporting their personal benefits. For instance, to convince diabetic individuals over 50 years to exercise, and show them how improved cardiovascular health will improve their time spent with loved ones.
It is essential to identify potential obstacles that may prevent the target audience from achieving their goals. For instance, nicotine addiction is a significant obstacle when convincing adults to stop smoking. Anticipate how they can overcome these types of barriers well in advance.
Create Your Message
This is a crucial process. When crafting a message, be extremely specific about the desired action. People who receive the message should immediately comprehend what’s expected of them.
Next, craft a message based on what you’ve learned about the audience’s prior knowledge, worries, and interests. Instead of focusing on negative repercussions, try to stress positive behavior change.
Finally, determine the style and tone of your message. The tone is an elusive yet essential quality in crafting your message. Your audience should know if it is informative or conversational.
Test and Refine
It is essential to test the message before conveying it to your target audience. The easiest method is to test the message with representative focus groups of the intended audience. Present them with many sample messages and record their perceptions and responses. Then utilize their comments to refine the message. Examine the message’s memorability, weaknesses, personal significance to the intended audience, and cultural relevance.
Monitor Your Progress and Collect Data
Determine if the message is making an impact by collecting data. Data collection entails surveys, questionnaires, and/or telephone interviews. Data collection methods should be determined by the potential for audience engagement, the questions being asked, and the kind of data you want to gather.
Use the data collected to refine the message, communication channels, and advertising tactics. A slight change may drastically improve performance and lead to satisfying results.
Write an Evaluation Report
Creating a report helps in evaluating your campaign’s performance. Make sure to present the results to your constituents in an easy-to-digest format, so you may garner support for future initiatives. In the report, present the planned campaign successes, lessons learned, and remaining tasks or suggestions for follow-up. Be brief, avoid jargon, and give a well-balanced collection of results.
Benefits of Creating a Societal Marketing Strategy
Societal marketing is essential to business, society, and the environment. The concept helps to quiet businesses’ profit and consumerism motives and steer focus toward long-term societal interests. Additional benefits include:
- It helps establish a better image for the company
- Ensures all economic resources are channeled in the right direction
- Increases sales and market share
- Facilitates expansion and growth in the long-term
- Raises the living standard of people
Summary
A societal marketing strategy facilitates your business’s growth and elevates its image. It promotes sustainable, socially, and ecologically responsible marketing that meets the desires of today’s consumers while protecting the needs of future generations.
A robust societal marketing strategy will make your business more competitive and boost it to new heights. If you’d like to learn more about creating a societal marketing strategy, HyFyve is here to help. Contact us today to get started.
FAQ
How can small businesses with limited resources implement societal marketing strategies?
Small businesses can focus on local community engagement, such as sponsoring community events or supporting local causes that resonate with their customers. This approach helps build brand loyalty and can be more cost-effective than larger campaigns.
What metrics can be used to measure the effectiveness of a societal marketing strategy?
Effectiveness can be measured through customer surveys to gauge brand perception changes, tracking engagement and participation in societal campaigns, and monitoring sales data for products associated with societal marketing efforts.
How can a company balance profit-making with societal marketing objectives?
A company can align its profit-making objectives with societal benefits by integrating sustainable practices into its business model, which can reduce costs in the long run, and by investing in community projects that also serve as marketing opportunities, thereby creating brand value that translates into customer loyalty and increased sales.