Applying the Social Marketing Model

The practice of social marketing, which applies the principles of commercial marketing to programs with social ends, is well-suited for the challenges facing sponsors of quality information projects. Without a good marketing strategy that attracts consumers to your information on quality (i.e., your product) and helps them recognize its value, even the most accurate, credible, and well-designed report will just sit in a warehouse or go unnoticed on a Web site.

This section reviews:

• The Elements of the Marketing Model.
• The Importance of an Ongoing Marketing Campaign.

Elements of the Marketing Model

One of the fundamental principles of marketing is the explicit recognition that the features and benefits of a product or service—in this case, a report on quality—are only one factor that determines its success, i.e., whether an audience uses the information you provide and how readily they do so.

What are the other components of an effective marketing strategy?

• Advertising and promotion

Why should consumers care about the information you are providing? Since most people are not familiar with information on quality, sponsors have to take steps to educate them about quality issues and motivate them to seek out information that will enable them to make better decisions. A well-designed communications strategy does this by delivering the most appropriate messages through the outlets that are best suited to your particular audience.

For details on the communications component that is critical to a marketing strategy, go to Building Awareness and Interest.

• Distribution

Distribution refers to the ways in which you provide access to your quality information. Is the information available when people need it and in places they would expect to find it? How exactly will you get it into their hands? This part of your strategy encompasses decisions about the timing of your report, the channels that are most appropriate for your audience, and the media that you can use to deliver it. 

For details on these decisions, go to Getting the Timing Right and the Reaching People Where They Are.

• Price

Pricing typically represents an effort to capture the perceived value of a product or service for consumers. With a report card, you can think about price in two ways:

• In the context of social marketing, price refers to anything that your audience would have to give up in order to use your information effectively: time, relationships, habits, ways of making decisions. When designing and marketing quality information, you need to be conscious of whether any decisions you make could be raising the price too high. For example, if your report is too long or complicated, people may not be willing to invest the time required to use the document.
• In the more familiar context of commercial marketing, price refers to a financial cost. While this is rarely a factor in quality reports and particularly Web sites (which are nearly always free to the user), some private sector sponsors may want to consider whether charging a small fee for information would create a perception of greater value among consumers. For example, the Colorado Business Group on Health Sells Reports for Small Fee through a local bookstore. Some publishers also include health care quality reports in National or regional magazines, which are sold at newsstands or as part of subscriptions.

The Consumers' CHECKBOOK is produced by The Center for the Study of Services, an independent, nonprofit consumer organization founded in 1974 with support from the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs. Consumers' CHECKBOOK is available in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Washington DC area. It evaluates the quality and prices of local service firms and stores, such as auto repair shops, hospitals, health plans, plumbers, banks, and insurance companies.

• Service

Service is the aspect of a marketing strategy that addresses how you will support your audience in using health care quality information as effectively as possible. When faced with something that is complex or unfamiliar—such as a report on quality—consumers are likely to need help in understanding what it is, how to interpret it, and how to apply it to their individual circumstances. While you are in the early stages of your project, you need to be planning how you will provide this kind of support to your audience and how you will let them know that this support is available.

For details, go to Supporting Consumers in Using the Information.

The Importance of an Ongoing Marketing Campaign

A marketing campaign is not a one-shot deal, but an ongoing effort to promote, deliver, and support your information on quality as effectively as possible. The key is to develop a cohesive, long-term strategy that allows you to see how all the components fit together over time. This requires research with your audience, some analysis of your options, and a willingness to think through the steps required to influence the attitudes of your audience towards your information. It also requires that someone on your staff or an outside expert take responsibility for developing and managing the campaign from start to finish. Finally, it requires that you anticipate the financial resources you will need to implement your strategy and manage your budget accordingly.

It is helpful to document your plans, recognizing that new information and changes in your environment are likely to lead to changes in your approach over time. A written strategy can help to ensure that you and your partners are in agreement, and that changes in staffing won't affect your ability to implement the project.