Dear Marissa,
Thank you for this question about social marketing. For starters, it is important to recognize that social marketing is distinct from social media — and can use any variety of media (e.g., billboards, paper fliers, print posters, radio) not only social media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, etc.
A good introduction to social marketing, which is the concept of using common sales strategies to convince people to change their behavior, can be found in Chapter 45 of the Community Tool Box (CTB). In Section 1 of Chapter 45, the 4 P’s are introduced, which may be one answer to your question about the essential elements of social marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion. See here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/sustain/social-marketing/overview/main
A cohesive set of social marketing messages are often referred to as a social marketing campaign. In response to your question, I also think it may be helpful to look at the steps of managing a social marketing campaign: 1) Define the problem, 2) Choose your strategies, 3) Implement and evaluate your work, 4) Do it all over. These topics are covered in Section 2 of Chapter 45: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/social-marketing/conduct...
Finally, an important aspect of effective social marketing is engaging members of the community in developing the messages and providing input to the strategies to be used. Some insight on how to work alongside members of your target audience can be found in Section 3: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/social-marketing/listen-to-those-whose-behavior-matters/main
Thank you for your outreach and good luck with your social marketing.
In community,
Sharon M. Wasco, PhD
Ask An Advisor, September 2021
