Mike Newton-Ward on "You're Already Doing It"

I think that social marketing is a process that anyone can use at the state health department level or at the local health department level and, as a matter of fact, I find when I work with people in the state and local levels that they often realize that they’re already doing a number of the steps that are social marketing steps and that are included in CDCynergy. I think one of the advantages of using the social marketing model is that it is systematic, and it helps people categorize the kinds of tasks they are already doing and then be able to channel that information into a social marketing plan.

I think when people sometimes first see the number of steps that we’ve laid out, they do get nervous and think that this looks like a lot. But I think once they take a second look at it -- what we like to do actually is work with people, provide some technical assistance to them -- they actually realize, “Well, these are things that we’re already doing, but a lot of them we do at a subconscious level and we don’t really think about it.” And I think one of the advantages of using CDCynergy is it helps us think about it at a very conscious level so that we can be very systematic and strategic in the work that we do.

Sometimes I think people think of focus groups, “Well, that’s going to take me a lot of money or a lot of time.” But, even if you can only do a few focus groups, I still think it’s worthwhile because the amount of local information you get is so valuable, it really helps you just zero right in on what the problem factors are for the folks that you’re trying to work with.

I think one of the benefits I would cite for people using social marketing locally or at the state level is that it really can help you target our scarce resources to the problem. And I think that’s even more important because our resources are becoming more scarce, and we’re demanding more accountability at the same time. Social marketing I find, I like to think of it as it really helps you to wrap around the problem so that you see a problem from all the sides and understand all the various determinants. That’s one of the things that really excites me about social marketing is that it helps us see the big picture, then we can decide where it’s most appropriate for us to do an implementation or an intervention; and really, in the long run, it ends up saving us resources. And also I think in the long run, it really makes our intervention more effective so that we really do get that long-lasting behavior change that we’re trying to get.

I really encourage people to think of social marketing as being a mindset as much as a series of tasks or activities you do. I think sometimes people look at all the tasks they think are involved and think, “Well, I can’t do that.” But it’s helpful just to think of it as a mindset, kind of a set of lenses that we look at a problem through. And even that can inform the way we ask questions, the way we frame our interventions. And so just to think in terms of what is the behavior change that you want from people? And if it doesn’t lead to the behavior change, don’t do it. Knowing about our audiences and what motivates them, what are their hopes and fears, what benefits or concerns do they have? Thinking in terms of when is the right place and time to reach an audience?

When are they going to be thinking about our issue? And then, also, where can we most easily reach them? Social marketing really helps us ask those questions and, even if we just do those things and aren’t able to do the full set of activities, it really I think can make a big difference in the effectiveness of our interventions.