What does Health-Related social marketing look like?

In our experience, the level of understanding and engagement for social marketing varies from PCT to PCT. Some health promotions and communications teams have embraced this and are delivering effective social marketing campaigns in a range of key areas. However, at the other extreme, some in the NHS seem to view marketing as a process of defining which marketing materials would be most effective to deliver a top-down message. They are, however, aware that social marketing is growing in significance in a very big way.

Here is a 5 minute guide to identifying and applying social marketing within the NHS, based on the six key characteristics identified by the National Centre for Social Marketing (NCSM).

Social marketing has:

1: Strong ‘customer orientation’

This reinforces one of the core values more commonly associated with commercial marketing; ‘Understanding the customer’. Appropriate market research would go beyond statistics to incorporate an understanding of the ‘customer’s’ awareness, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and values.

Key Questions: What are the key drivers? Where are they at, in terms of the desired behaviour of the individual? Where are we at, in terms of the wider social and cultural influences on people?

2: Clear behavioural goals

As any management and marketing book or workshop will tell us, it is essential that we shoot for behavioural goals that are specific, realistic and achievable in the relevant timescale, and phased over the short, medium and long term.

The NCSM will tell us, “we are not just looking at ‘behaviour change’ but also at ‘behaviour reinforcement and maintenance”.

Practical Example: For increased fitness programmes, a behavioural outcome might be taking regular exercise, but the behavioural goals on the way to this might include developing an exercise plan or finding out about local fitness facilities.

3: Using ‘exchange’ concept: “to give something, in order to get something”

This would be demonstrated in an understanding of what a person has ‘to give’ in order to get any offered benefit. The real cost to the customer could include time and effort involved, social consequences, implications of deferring potential enjoyment and pleasure, as well as potential monetary costs. Understanding would therefore focus on: enhancing the incentives or benefits of the desired behaviour AND removing or minimising any barriers in the way of this.

Practical Example: Restricting or banning smoking in public places increases barriers around the negative behaviour, making it harder or less rewarding and attractive.

4: Well developed audience ‘segmentation’

Segmentation would move beyond the traditional focus on demographic or epidemiological factors such as age, sex, class, culture, education, and disease patterns. Segmentation would primarily focus on behavioural factors.

Key Insights: We need to understand “where the audience is at” in relation to adoption and maintenance of the desired behaviour and behavioural goals. For example, are they strongly resisting, willing but feeling unable, contemplating change, uncertain or unaware of the benefits?

5: Based on ‘voluntary’ action

Initiatives would primarily focus on encouraging and supporting particular ‘voluntary actions’, rather than aiming to control or regulate them.

The focus on voluntary action would also extend to wider secondary audiences or ‘key influencers’. Where relevant, this might include specific policy or decision makers, and practitioners that may have important impacts on the primary audience.

Practical Example: In encouraging children to eat more fruit and vegetables, parents are likely to represent a key secondary audience for the success of this programme. Their role both in supporting their child’s acceptance of fruit and vegetables, and in monitoring eating patterns within the home, is crucial. However, the behaviour must stem from the voluntary desire of the child to have a lasting effect, as imposing vegetables may have a detrimental effect.

6: Using ‘competition’ concept

Much like the business world is competing with a vast array of alternatives and bombardment of marketing messages, social marketing initiatives would recognise the issue of ‘competing interests and factors’, and would specifically look at ways to neutralise or minimise their impact on target audiences.

Practical Examples: ‘Anti-health forces’ such as advertising for unhealthy foods or alcohol brands promote negative health behaviours. ‘Pro-health forces’ compete for the attention of the same audience, which could either work synergistically or create message overload. Internal factors could include desires for risking taking or ‘thrill seeking’ which may need to be fulfilled in other areas.

Social marketing: “putting people at the heart of policy, communications and delivery to encourage behaviour change.”

The key to successful social marketing is to take these insights and convert them into intrinsically linked action.

Those in marketing, communications and strategic roles within PCTs and NHS trusts may benefit from the assistance of private sector specialists, who can apply social marketing insights, along with commercial marketing principals and technical know-how, to deliver effective social marketing campaigns.

A Guide to Writing Effective Leaflet and Brochure Copy

This article will cover:

•    The goals of a leaflet

•    Writing the right content for your readers

•    How to write your content

What is the purpose of your brochure? Is your brochure an advertisement? Is it a detailed product description marketing piece? Or to put it another way, what kind of customers will be getting your brochure?

What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want new customers to come into your shop?  Then create interest and excitement with an advertisement type brochure designed to bring them in. 

Or are your customers looking for information? Or in the true sense of the word, are you requiring your brochure for propaganda purposes? Then you want to create a brochure packed with information specifically for them.

It is better to create different brochures to accomplish these different goals. Detailed product information will not entice a new customer to call. A lightweight sales brochure will not satisfy a demand for more information. Define your objective clearly, and use your brochure design to accomplish your goal.

This rule should be followed each time you want to target a different type of audience. If they are important, then you want to tailor your message, and your brochure design, especially for them. 

Unless you have a prominent position in the market place and have a brand guideline in place then generally your logo or company name should be the last thing that is mentioned. Your message should be strong enough to give a call to action (motivate the reader to make the next step, e.g. pick up the phone and make an enquiry).

With every medium of marketing, publicity or for the spread of propaganda, it must be kept in mind that three things use to spread the message:

•    Words

•    Pictures

•    Graphics

The first step involved in the process of writing a leaflet is to be clear in your mind about the message you want to convey to your target audience. You need to write in a clear, concise and persuasive manner, giving all the necessary details. The text must not only be persuasive, but it should also be interesting, punchy, catchy and memorable, all at the same time.

The main points should be highlighted to make them stand out amidst the rest of the body copy. Pictures and layout are two crucial decisions to be taken in order to make the leaflet more aesthetically appealing and visually attractive.

What is interesting about brochures and leaflets is that they're seldom read in the right order. Like we read magazines in dentists' waiting rooms, your readers will flick through brochures and leaflets and stop to take a longer look at bits that grab their attention.

Alternatively, they'll flick all the way through and then go back to bits they've noticed and that have interested them. They're just as likely to flick through from back to front as they are from front to back.

What all this teaches us, is that despite seeming logical, writing for brochures and leaflets in the form of a story that starts at the beginning, goes through the middle and finishes at the end, is not necessarily the best way forward.

There are some tricks you can use to get this random reading pattern to work a bit more effectively for you.

Many people do absorb brochures in the usual order. Even if they don't they still expect to find the introduction at the beginning, the substantiations in the middle and the conclusion at the end.

The trick here is to put the main points in as sub-headings in bold type. Someone scanning the document will get the gist of your message, even if they don't have time to read the body text.

You should also ensure that the sub-headings make sense in their own right and that understanding them is not wholly dependent on their being read in any particular order. Body text should support and expand on each sub-heading and lead the reader towards the next one.

Top 10 Tips for writing Brochure and Leaflets Copy

1.    Copywriting is a skill. If you are a Software Engineer, Electrician, Accountant, you are not a copywriter. If you do write the copy, make sure you get a second opinion on your work. Try to use someone who is not a professional or semi-professional in the field. Listen and take on board criticism.

2.    Most readers at first will only read headlines, subheads, and captions. These must give the benefits and the motivation so that your readers will want to read the rest of the copy.

3.    Use high quality photographs of your products, of handsome people, or preferably of handsome people enjoying the benefits of using your products.

4.    Your brochure copy will be read out of order. Each page or panel should contain benefits and sales copy. This is good brochure design.

5.    Collect brochures from other companies. What do you like and why?

6.    Remember that colours represent different things in different industries. Be careful with your choice of colours. Read our article on the Psychology of Corporate Colours for more information.

7.    Use white space in your brochure design. Crowded copy is hard to read, your photos will lose impact. Use white space to make the most impact on a particular message.

8.    Try not to use more than five or six lines in each paragraph.

9.    Try not to use more than two or three sentences per paragraph.

10.    Leave a space between paragraphs, and do not indent them.

An Example of Good Leaflet Structure

•    Imagine an A5 leaflet. Typically, it may have a front and back cover and a two page spread inside.

•    The front cover lends itself to a single, powerful statement and a hard-hitting graphic to support the leaflet's title. These should be gripping enough to make anyone want to read on.

•    On page two you can set out the problem. For instance, the situation against which you are campaigning.

•    On page three, right opposite, you can explain what you are trying to do about the situation on page two; and how, when and where.

•    Finally, on the back cover, tell us about yourself and your organisation. Don't forget to include contact details for people who want to know more or want to get involved.

•    If you are working in association with another organisation, be sure to mention them. See if you can add their logo to your flyer. Their support will add authority to your efforts.

•    Try not to overload readers with too much information, but do try and answer common questions and concerns. Aim for not too much but not too little.

•    Create accurate models and mock-ups for your brochure. Cut and fold your brochure to size. Use the same type of paper that you will ultimately print on, and review your work.

Ambitions for Health: A Response - 5 Key Observations from T Media

As you may be aware, on Friday 11th July, Ambitions for Health; a new framework for action on social marketing and public health, was published. The document sets out how the Department of Health will use evidence of what motivates people to help them lead healthier lives through targeted action.

Social Marketing: putting people at the heart of policy, communications and delivery to encourage behaviour change

The framework document can be found in full at http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Choosinghealth/DH_086106



In response to this, T Media has prepared a brief paper outlining 5 key observations of the paper in relation to our experiences in this area.

This summary may prove valuable to those in marketing, communications and strategic roles, to whom this framework will become increasingly relevant.

Executive Summary

The framework sets out the belief that people are ambitious for their own health and for the health of their family. The framework is said to share that ambition, ensuring that NHS professionals use evidence and understanding about people, to design and deliver effective interventions.

The new framework for social marketing is based on four key areas:

• Health Capacity: Increasing the skills and knowledge of public health professionals.


• Health Insight: What motivates people to change their behaviour, using a ‘life stage segmentation model' and ‘one stop research shop'.


• Health Innovations: Learning from success and putting social marketing into action locally, nationally, and regionally.


• Health Partnerships: Funding support for building relationships, locally and regionally.

A timeline for implementation has been published as part of the framework.

T Media's Observations

1) Social Marketing is here for the long-term

We don't wish to overemphasise this point, however this framework adds additional weight to the belief that social marketing is more than a fad. It is clear that there is a long-term view within the NHS, in academia, and professional institutions as social marketing qualifications are proliferated at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

"This framework illustrates our long-term commitment to a new way of working and to adopting a systematic approach to the promotion of public health." Dawn Primarolo, Minister of State for Public Health

2) Interactive technologies have an edge over traditional marketing methods

Research suggests that 86% of people think that the Government should intervene to prevent illness by providing information and advice, but 89% of people think individuals are responsible for their own health. This suggests a need to implement new ways of empowering people to make their own choices.

The framework acknowledges that the UK shows declining levels of trust in the media, and that advertising is the least trusted information source. Additionally, it draws attention to studies evidencing that trust in the Government had dropped by nearly half, from 33 per cent in 2006 to just 16 per cent in 2007.

Drawing upon our own experiences, using new technology to give people a voice of their own is a more effective means of creating motivations for positive health change. Specifically, online and interactive tools are an effective way to present information and create this desire. The key element is that the learning choices are with the user, i.e. they seek to find rather than have information and instruction forced upon them.



3) There is no starting from scratch; insight and knowledge is available to those that seek it

Health Insight is one of the four key areas described within the framework, and is the foundation upon which all implementation is based. It is clear that that policies, campaigns and communications should be based on or shaped by this insight.

Within the UK there is a wealth of prior evidence and intelligence about what has worked elsewhere, together with data about what motivates people, what they say will help them and any perceived barriers.

Future health promotion programmes will be built on shared insight into audiences, clearly defined through segmentation analysis, to bring about specific behaviour.

4) The future is in forging cross-sector partnerships

The framework describes a new social movement for health. Recognising that the Department of Health cannot change people's behaviour without the support of individuals themselves, or active help from the commercial and third sectors. However the Government can encourage, enable and create the conditions to build a social movement for health through sustainable and effective cross-sector partnerships. Early actions include establishing a £1 million per annum partnerships capacity-building fund, to provide local and regional support for building partnerships.

Social Marketing messages and actions must be aligned with those led by communities, third sector organisations and business.



5) Private sector specialists are well positioned to add value to PCTs and NHS trusts

The National Social Marketing Centre has created a highly valuable knowledge base and shared intelligence that marketers can draw upon. The access to this knowledge creates opportunities for proactive individuals and organisations to become social marketing specialists, not only by drawing upon their own experiences, but also by applying the insights and outcomes from previous social marketing projects and programmes, that have been so thoroughly documented and evaluated.

Those in marketing, communications and strategic roles within PCTs and NHS trusts may benefit from the assistance of private sector specialists, who can apply these insights, along with commercial marketing principals and technical know-how, to deliver effective social marketing campaigns.

Conclusion

The Ambitions for Health framework and new action plan provides a clear steer on the next steps for social marketing, in order to build on the increasing appetite for its wider adoption throughout public health delivery systems.

Companies such as T Media and our peers can add value to PCTS and NHS trusts by applying social marketing insights and marketing expertise from scope through to development, implementation, evaluation and follow-up of social marketing projects and programmes.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss the emerging social marketing objectives of your organisation.

Social Marketing for Health and Specialised Health Promotion: Stronger Together – Weaker Apart

A Response: The View of a Commercial Marketer

Download Pdf. Version of this Article

The National Social Marketing Centre has just made available a new discussion paper, Stronger together - Weaker apart, which aims to identify the common ground - and the differences - between specialised health promotion and social marketing for health, in England. It suggests an approach to integration between the two spheres which would improve practice, make more effective use of resources and improve the impact of interventions to improve health and reduce inequalities.

The paper formed the background to a discussion and debate session at September's World Social Marketing Conference.

Here, T Media posts a brief response paper to lend the views of a commercial marketer:

I read the document with great enthusiasm (I know how that makes me sound!), and went as far shutting myself away in a quiet bright room so that I could concentrate.

The paper aimed to "identify the common ground - and the differences - between specialised health promotion and social marketing for health". As a private sector marketer working with both Social Marketers and Health Promotion teams, I was fascinated to see how the NSMC and the Royal Society for Public Health viewed the level of interaction.

At the risk of calling my cognitive capacity into question, I have to say that I found it hard work.

To say that specialised health promotion can be significantly enhanced by social marketing, and conversely that Social marketing for health can be significantly enhanced by specialised health promotion is valid, easy to accept and therefore easy to move on without the need for further debate.

Principles such as the value of Social Marketing's emphasis on really understanding people's lives and Health Promotion's ethos empowering people and working in partnership with them, results in more positive health outcomes. To me, this constitutes good marketing practice.

The reality is that Social Marketing and Health Promotion are, and certainly should be intertwined, as they are based on a fundamental marketing process:

1. Understand your reason for being and find your customers


2. Understand your customer, their needs and all of the key influencing forces


3. Develop solutions, products, services and conditions that ultimately benefits these customers


4. Develop communication strategies and conditions which fulfill these customer benefits


5. Ensure that the customer gains real benefit, is glad that they made the choices they did and would pass this on to others

The linear marketing process above is one I have written spontaneously rather than taking a model from one of the thousands of marketing books out there. Also, I'm fairly confident that the process above could be applied to specialised health promotion, social marketing and even commercial marketing.

As I reflect on this I notice that I have used the word "customer" at every stage, However, looking through the discussion paper the term is thin on the ground, with one notable exception:

"The word ‘marketing' and describing people in the health context as ‘customers' or ‘consumers' is a problem for some people working in the public sector because it has connotations of commercialisation."

In our organisation we use the term clients as opposed to customers. This is a term widely accepted amongst those delivering professional services and its origins are in trying to make the customer feel special. As it happens, I work within the "Client Care" division. We are the largest division in terms of people employed and were it not for the nature of our work, I'm pretty sure we'd be called "Customer Care".

Our role covers all marketing functions described in the linear process above and the customer, or client, is central to everything we think and do. We must create customer benefit (equivalent to better health); customer value (the trade-offs must fall on side of the customer); we have to develop suitable products and services, often utilising the latest technology to make things faster, better, easier, more effective, and less costly, whilst whilst maintaining a personal service (equivalent to improvements in the way health services are delivered): we must do what we have promised for our clients, on time and to budget (whatever your sector you are measured and everything has to add up!); and we do all this whilst trying to make a profit (equivalent to making sure that at the end of the month our accounts are in the black).

Amongst organisations developed to customer care, and indeed customer value, profit is not a dirty word. In a world of enormous customer choice, as a growing company we firmly believe that profit is invariably the bi-product of good service, good products and good marketing practice!

The very same good marketing practice that you get by combing the best bits of Social Marketing for Health and Specialised Health Promotion.

We want to fully understand and deliver value for our customers within the NHS by adding value to the work of Health Promotion Teams, Social Marketers, Communications Teams, Health Improvement Practitioners and all engaged in achieving better health.

We want to do this diligently, creatively, faster, better, easier, more effectively and less costly whilst maintaining a personal service, do what we have promised for our clients, on time and to budget and we try to do this whilst making sure that we have the profit to pay our skilled and passionate employees and directors what they are worth.

If the bi-product of providing great service means that social benefits are achieved throughout the UK then we can end each day knowing that we have not only cared for our customers, but that that we have contributed to social good. I feel that this is a good and honest way to make living with very strong motivation, albeit in a commercial way.

There are common grounds between specialised health promotion, social marketing for health and commercial marketing. The objectives will be different, though the delivery is always grounded in good marketing practice.