Swimming Within the Social Marketing Environments (DF 4 Learning Blog)

I picked this image as an illustration of how disastrous it is when one does not know what to do in a disaster. Disaster Risk Reduction is the topic I used to illustrate the lessons I learned in module 4 of DEV 208. Image courtesy of my favorite crafts blogsite : http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.sg/

 
DF4 opens and ends with me zooming in and out the different factors that affect a social marketing plan.


My "heavy-weight" reading material blinks with the words

1) Social marketing
2) focus
3) Environment
4) SWOT

and goes to say "have" to "Map the internal and external environments".  I seriously did not understand the usage of environment in this subject until I painstakingly read and reread the stack of reading materials.

"I thought that "purpose" and "focus" were the same".  "I thought that "background" and "rationale" are the same too". I had to mentally ask myself these questions and had to find my own answer to be able to start mapping my answers.

I think I did with the best of my ability and understanding and with the help of the given resources, my classmates at DEV208, and of course the internet where it serves a plethora of information. THANK YOU cyberspace!

So what did i exactly learn out of  module 4?

1) Social Marketing wears two skins - internal and external environments

For any social marketing campaign, it is important how well you know in both the internal and external environments of the campaign.  This is important to have a good grasp of the both environment since most if not all social marketing campaigns though specifically directed to a specific audience, takes the entire community to move for the campaign to be more than just a one time event.  Social marketing campaigns are directed towards societal gains.

2) The Macroenvironment holds the baton

Looking at the illustration at figure 5.2 where it illustrates the factors and forces influencing the target market and the effectivity of the campaign efforts, one can almost conclude that planning for a campaign can be like swimming from shallow shores to the deep crease of the ocean. There are simply layers and layers of factors that one need to manage before the campaign is able to fully manage the target audience.

While the rings of influence encircles the target audience, it is noticeable that the government / political leaders is placed at the outermost ring from the target audience alongside factors such as nature, culture, and technology (generally categorized as the macroenvironment).  From the illustration they look far from the target audience - which is usually in the case of an ordinary citizen but its influence affects all and holds the sustainability of the campaign. This is such because the government makes governmental policies.

3) A social marketing campaign should deliver what it promises

Knowing that a social marketer has to balance both internal and external environments it may be so easy to get lost within the layers of messages that permeates within the ring of environments.  As such, this is where the science and best practices of marketing takes in full picture.  At social marketing campaign should not be overtaken by the complexity of a social issue that's being addressed by the campaign itself but rather it should be able to approach its goals in a very systematic way.