10 STEPS FOR DEVELOPING A

STRATEGIC SOCIAL MARKETING PLAN

Step 1: Describe the Social Issue, DEI Considerations,

Organization(s), Background, Purpose, and Focus of Your Plan

1.1 Briefly identify the social issue, sometimes referred to as the “wicked problem,” your
plan will be addressing (e.g., gun violence, youth suicide, air pollution, water
contamination, homelessness, voting).
1.2 Note any Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) considerations relevant to the social
issue being addressed.
1.3 Identify the organization(s) involved in developing and implementing the plan.
1.4 Summarize key background information leading to the development of this plan, ideally
using reliable statistics (e.g., percent decrease in salmon populations).
1.5 What is the purpose of this effort, the intended impact (e.g., reduced teen pregnancies,
increased protection of salmon habitats)?
1.6 What is the plan’s focus, the approach you will be using to contribute to your plan’s
purpose (e.g., residential gardening practices)? Areas of focus may be solution-oriented
(e.g., soft shore buffers), population-based (e.g., homes on streams), or product-related
strategies (e.g., native plants).
Refer to Chapter 5 for a detailed description of the process.

Step 2: Conduct a Situation Analysis

(Identify Two to Three Bullet Points for Each)

Organizational Factors: Organizational Resources, Service Delivery

Capabilities, Expertise, Management Support, Issue Priority, Internal
Publics, Current Alliances and Partnerships, Past Performance

2.1 What organizational strengths will your plan maximize?

2.2 What organizational weaknesses will your plan minimize?

External Forces: Cultural, Technological, Demographic, Natural, Economic,

Political/Legal, External Publics

2.3 What external opportunities will your plan take advantage of?
2.4 What external threats will your plan prepare for?

Prior and Similar Efforts

2.5 What findings from prior and similar efforts are noteworthy, those of yours and others?
Refer to Chapter 5 for a detailed description of the process.

Step 3: Select Priority Audiences

3.1 Describe the priority audience for your program/campaign in terms of size, problem
incidence and severity, and relevant variables, including demographics,
psychographics/values and lifestyles, geographics, related behaviors, and/or readiness to
act (e.g., homeowners on shoreline properties engaged in landscaping and interested in
protecting the environment).
3.2 If you have additional important audiences that you will need to influence as well,
describe them here, to keep them in mind as you develop strategies. They may end up
being messengers or distribution channels (e.g., garden centers and nurseries).
Refer to Chapter 6 for a detailed description of the process and Worksheet A in this Appendix.

Step 4: Set Behavior Objectives and Target Goals

Objectives

4.1 Behavior Objective:

What, very specifically, do you want to influence your priority audience to do as a result
of this campaign or project (e.g., plant native plants)?
4.2 Knowledge Objective:
Is there anything you need them to know in order to be more likely to act (e.g., how to
identify native plants at the nursery)?
4.3 Belief Objective:
Is there anything you need them to believe in order to be more likely to act (e.g., native
plants can be beautiful and easier to maintain)?

Goals

4.4 What quantifiable, measurable goals are you targeting? Ideally, these are stated in terms
of behavior change (e.g., increase in sales of native plants). Other potential target goals
are campaign awareness, recall, and/or response and changes in knowledge, belief, or
behavior intent levels.
Refer to Chapter 7 for a detailed description of the process and Worksheet B in this Appendix.

Step 5: Identify Priority Audience Barriers, Benefits, and

Motivators; the Competition; and Influential Others

Barriers

5.1 Make a list of barriers your priority audience may have to adopting the desired behavior.
These may be related to something, physical, psychological, cultural, economic, skills,
knowledge, awareness, or attitudes. (Try for a list of 5 to 10.)

Benefits

5.2 What are the key benefits your priority audience wants in exchange for performing the
behavior (e.g., a yard that’s easier to maintain and increased wildlife on their property)?
This answers the question “What’s in it for me?” (Try for a list of 2 to 3.)

Motivators
5.3 What does your priority audience say will make it more likely that they would do the
behavior? Ask them if there is something you can give them, say to them, or show them
that would help them (e.g., an easy way to know which nurseries sell native plants and to
identify plants at the nursery).

Competition

5.4 What are the major competing alternative behaviors (e.g., planting nonnative plants)?
5.5 What benefits do your audiences associate with these behaviors (e.g., easier to find)?
5.6 What costs do your audiences associate with these behaviors (e.g., requires more
fertilizing)?

Influential Others

5.7 Relative to the desired behavior, who does your priority audience listen to, watch, and/or
look up to?
5.8 What do you know about what these midstream audiences are currently saying and doing
regarding the desired behavior (e.g., staff at nurseries)?
Refer to Chapter 8 for a detailed description of the process and Worksheet C in this Appendix.

Step 6: Develop a Positioning Statement

Positioning Statement

6.1 Write a statement similar to the following, filling in the blanks:

“We want [PRIORITY AUDIENCE] to see [DESIRED BEHAVIOR] as [ADJECTIVES,
DESCRIPTIVE PHRASES, SET OF BENEFITS, OR HOW THIS BEHAVIOR IS BETTER
THAN THE COMPETITION]” (e.g., “We want shoreline property owners engaged in
landscaping to see native plants as beautiful, easy to find, less hassle to maintain, and a way to
protect water quality and wildlife habitats.”).
Refer to Chapter 9 for a detailed description of the process.
Step 7: Develop Marketing Strategies

7.1 Product: Creating the Product Platform

7.1.1 Core Product: What is the major perceived benefit your priority audience wants from
performing the behavior that you will highlight? (Choose one or a few from those
identified in 5.2.)
7.1.2 Actual Product: What, if any, tangible goods and services will you be offering and/or
promoting (e.g., 100 native plants to choose from, fruits and vegetables, life vests, blood
monitoring equipment, low-flow showerheads, 988 mental health hotline)?
7.1.3 Augmented Product: Are there any additional tangible goods or services that would assist
your priority audience in performing the behavior (e.g., workshop on designing a native
plant garden)?
Refer to Chapter 10 for a detailed description of the process.

7.2 Price: Fees and Monetary and Nonmonetary Incentives and Disincentives

7.2.1 If you will be including tangible goods and services in your campaign, what, if anything,
will the priority audience have to pay for them (e.g., cost of native plants, life vests)?
7.2.2 Describe any monetary incentives for your priority audience (e.g., coupons, rebates).
7.2.3 Describe any monetary disincentives you will highlight (e.g., fines, increased taxes,
higher prices for competing products).
7.2.4 Describe any nonmonetary incentives (e.g., pledges to have toddlers wear a life vest on
the beach).
7.2.5 Describe any nonmonetary disincentives (e.g., negative visibility, a website with photos
of properties where migratory birds have disappeared).
Refer to Chapter 11 for a detailed description of the process.

7.3 Place: Develop the Place Strategy

As you determine each of the following, look for ways to make locations closer and more
appealing, to extend hours, and to be there at the point of decision making.
7.3.1 Where will you encourage and support your priority audience to perform the desired
behavior and when?
7.3.2 Where and when will the priority audience acquire any related tangible goods?
7.3.3 Where and when will the priority audience acquire any associated services?
7.3.4 Are there any groups or individuals in the distribution channel that you will engage to
support efforts (e.g., nursery owners and their staff)?
Refer to Chapter 12 for a detailed description of the process.

7.4 Promotion: Decide on Messages, Messengers, Creative Strategies, and

Communication Channels

7.4.1 Messages: What key messages do you want your campaign to communicate to priority
audiences?
7.4.2 Messengers: Who will deliver the messages and/or be the perceived sponsor?
7.4.3 Creative Strategies: Summarize, describe, or highlight elements such as logos, taglines,
copy, visuals, colors, script, actors, scenes, and sounds in broadcast media.
7.4.4 Communication Channels: Where will messages and creative elements appear?
Refer to Chapter 13 for a detailed description of the process.

Step 8: Develop a Plan for Monitoring and Evaluation

8.1 What is the purpose of this evaluation? Why are you doing it?
8.2 For whom is the evaluation being conducted? To whom will you present it?
8.3 What inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impact will be measured?
8.4 What techniques and methodologies will be used to conduct each of these measurements?
8.5 When will these measurements be taken?
8.6 How much will this cost?
Refer to Chapter 14 for a detailed description of the process and Worksheet D in this Appendix.

Step 9: Establish Budgets and Find Funding Sources

 9.1 What costs will be associated with product-related strategies?

 9.2 What costs will be associated with price-related strategies?
 9.3 What costs will be associated with place-related strategies?
 9.4 What costs will be associated with promotion-related strategies?
 9.5 What costs will be associated with evaluation-related strategies?
 9.6 If costs exceed currently available funds, what potential additional funding sources can
be explored?
It should be noted that formative research costs are not included in this plan. It is included in
plan development costs. Costs in Step 9 are ones associated with Plan implementation. Refer to
Chapter 15 for a detailed description of the process.

Step 10: Complete an Implementation Plan

10.1 Sample Implementation Plan

What Who When How much

10.2 If you are conducting a pilot or plan with several phases, complete a grid for each phase.
Refer to Chapter 16 for a detailed description of the process. For an electronic version of this
plan, visit [Link].
Worksheet A

Selecting Priority Audiences

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Potential Size Problem Readiness Ability to Match for Average
Priority Incidence to Act Reach the Score
Audiences Organization (From 2,
3, 4, 5)

1. POTENTIAL PRIORITY AUDIENCES: Relative to a campaign purpose (e.g.,

improve water quality) and focus (e.g., yard care), brainstorm and then list potential
priority audiences. A priority audience is a segment of a population that has similar
characteristics. Potential audiences may be grouped based on one or more variables,
including demographics, geographics, values and lifestyles, or current related
behaviors (e.g., homeowners with large lawns).

2. SIZE: As a segment of a population, what is the actual or relative size of this

segment?

3. PROBLEM INCIDENCE: How significant is the contribution that this audience

makes to the problem this plan is addressing (e.g., shoreline properties or frequency
of fertilizing)?

4. READINESS TO ACT: How concerned is the priority audience with the problem
issue/behavior?

5. ABILITY TO REACH: Can you identify this audience, and do you have efficient
ways to reach them?
 6. MATCH FOR THE ORGANIZATION: Does this audience support your
organizational mission, expertise, and positioning?

7. AVERAGE SCORE: This can be a “weighted average” to give increased

significance to one or more of the items, or it can be an “unweighted average,” with
each aspect being considered equally important.
A variety of scales have been used to rank these items: (a) high, medium, low; (b) scale of 1
to 10, (c) scale of 1 to 7, (d) scale of 1 to 5. The one used will depend on how much verifiable
information is available.

Worksheet B

Prioritizing Behaviors

PRIORITY AUDIENCE _______________________________________

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Potential Impact Willingness Measurability Market Market Average
Behaviors on the of Priority Opportunity Supply Score
to Rank Social Audience (From 2,
Issue to do this 3, 4, 5, 6)
Behavior

1. POTENTIAL BEHAVIORS TO RANK: Relative to a campaign purpose, focus,

and priority audience, brainstorm and then list potential single, simple behaviors to
promote (e.g., replacing half of lawn with native plants).

2. IMPACT ON THE SOCIAL ISSUE: What potential impact do scientists, technical

staff, and/or engineers determine that this desired behavior will have on the
 environment relative to other behaviors (e.g., using natural vs. chemical fertilizers
vs. reducing lawn in half)?

3. WILLINGNESS: How willing is the priority audience to do this? In the diffusion

model, this would be the percentage or number or relative size who are in the Help
Me group versus the Show Me or Make Me group.

4. MEASURABILITY: Can the behavior be measured through either observation,

record keeping, or self-reporting?

5. MARKET OPPORTUNITY: Estimate the percentage and/or number of people in

the priority audience/population who are not already doing the behavior. (Note: The
higher the number, the higher the score.)

6. MARKET SUPPLY: Does the behavior need more support? If some other
organization or organizations are already addressing this behavior, perhaps a
different behavior would be more beneficial to the social issue.

7. AVERAGE SCORE: This can be a “weighted average,” to give increased

significance to one or more of the items, or it can be an “unweighted average,” with
each aspect being considered equally important.
A variety of scales have been used to rank these items: (a) high, medium, low, (b) scale of 1
to 10, (c) scale of 1 to 7, (d) scale of 1 to 5. The one used will depend on how much verifiable
information is available.
(Adapted from Doug McKenzie-Mohr, [Link].)
Worksheet C

Marketing Intervention Tolls: Using the 4Ps to Reduce Barriers and Increase
Benefits, Inspired by Audience Motivators

Desired Behavior: _______________________________________________________

Priority Audience: ______________________________________________________
For each of the Potential Strategies Using the 4Ps
priority audience’s to reduce barriers and increase benefits
perceived barriers
and potential benefits,
consider whether one
or more of the 4Ps
would help reduce the
barrier and provide
desired benefits.
PRODUCT PRICE PLACE PROMOTION
Goods or Incentives and Where goods Messages,
services to disincentives and services messengers,
promote or (includes use can be creative
to provide to of pledges and accessed or strategies, and
help the commitments) behavior will communication
audience do be performed channels
the behavior (includes use of
prompts)
Perceived Barriers to
Desired Behaviors
Desired Benefits
 WORKSHEET FOR POTENTIAL EVALUATION MEASURES

INPUTS OUTPUTS OUTCOMES IMPACT RETURN ON

INVESTMENT

Resources allocated to Program activities Audience response to Indicators that show Economic value of
the campaign or conducted to influence outputs including: levels of impact on the changes in behavior
program effort: a desired behavior. social issue that was and the calculated rate
These measures do not  Changes in the focus for the effort: of return on the
 Dollars indicate whether the behavior spending associated
 Incremental staff time audience "noticed" or  Changes in numbers  Water quality with the effort:
 Existing materials responded to these of related products improved
 Existing distribution activities. They only or services "sold"  Wildlife and  For every dollar
channels represent what was (e.g., native plants) habitats protected spent, dollars saved
 Existing partners "put out there"  Changes in or generated
including: behavior intent  After subtracting
 Changes in expenses, what is the
 Number of materials knowledge rate of return on the
disseminated  Changes in beliefs investment
 Number of calls  Responses to
made campaign elements
 Numbers and types (e.g., hits to a Web
of distribution site)
channels for any  Campaign
products or services awareness
 Number of events  Customer
held satisfaction levels
 Web sites  Policy changes
created/utilized  Partnerships and
 Social media tactics contributions
 Reach and frequency created
of communications
 Free media coverage
 Paid media
impressions
 Implementation of
program elements
(e.g., whether on
time, on budget)