Promotion

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Promoting your program or health issue is a key component to its success. People need to be aware of safety programs so they can access them. People need to be aware of health issues so they can learn how to change their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors for a healthier lifestyle. Promotion helps make people aware of safety issues and of program that can increase their ability to be safer.

One very useful method to promote safety programs or messages is through Social Marketing. Social Marketing is a way to create voluntary changes in behavior that bring meaningful benefits to individuals and society as a whole. For example, Social Marketing can be used to influence an individual, or a community, to wear helmets when riding a bike or to engage parents in "arms length" water safety with their children.

Four P’s of Social Marketing:

1. Product: In this case, "product" refers to the childhood injury prevention strategy your program emphasizes. For example, your "product" can be the use of a helmet or car seat. The key to Social Marketing is for people to perceive that there is a "problem" and your "product" will provide a solution. Using the example of car seats’ safety as a "product", the public must acknowledge the risk of car crashes and the deadly impact of crashes in order for them to support and utilize properly installed car seats for young children who are small enough to require them.
2. Price: Refers to the "cost" of the new behavior, from the customers’ point of view. This includes an investment of money, time, effort, or risk of embarrassment or disapproval. The key is to ensure that the perceived value of the product outweighs its price.
3. Place: Refers to the way your product will reach its intended audience. Examples include geography and logistics (e.g. citywide versus countywide, time of day, etc.), as well as chosen mediums (i.e. using radio ads, earned media, flyers, posters, etc_.
4. Promotion: Refers to methods for maximizing your desired results — in this case, reaching as many people who need to hear your message (and change their behavior) as possible.

Source: Weinrich Communications, What is Social Marketing?

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Injury Prevention Social Marketing Resources

The following list of websites provides additional information on social marketing:

• Adding Power to Our Voices: A Framing Guide for Communicating About Injury, CDC [pdf, 2.9MB*]
  This guide is designed to help organizations involved in injury and violence prevention and response use framing theory, message development techniques, and other vehicles for explaining important public health statistics.
• Marketing Public Health Initiative, ASTHO
  This initiative is intended to help facilitate a national public health marketing movement involving a collaboration of public and private public health entities.
• National Center for Health Marketing, CDC
  This section of the CDC website defines "health marketing" and provides guidance for using health marketing concepts in public health research, interventions, and communication campaigns.
• Public Health Communications Toolkit, NACCHO
  This toolkit will assist local health departments to effectively communicate about local public health issues.
• Social Marketing: A Resource Guide, Turning Point Initiative [pdf, 963KB*]
  This resource guide is intended for organizations wanting to expand their employees’ knowledge of social marketing and its basic principles of implementation.
• Social Marketing How To's and Training Materials, California Kids' Plates Program
  This section of the Kids' Plates website provides Social Marketing tips and training materials.
• Social Marketing in Public Health Training Workshops, CDC
  These training workshops address a variety of social marketing topics including social marketing basics and community-based prevention marketing.
• Social Marketing Institute
  This organization works to advance the science and practice of social marketing using training, education, strategic guidance, and research.
• Social Marketing Resources, CDC
  This section of the CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity website provides an assortment of social marketing tools and resources.

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