Social marketing is an approach used to develop
activities aimed at changing or maintaining people's behaviour for the benefit
of individuals and society as a whole. Social
marketing has the primary goal of achieving "social good".
Traditional commercial marketing aims are primarily financial, though they can
have positive social effects as well. In the context of public health, social
marketing would promote general health, raise awareness and induce changes in behavior.
Social marketing has been a large industry for some time now and was originally done with newspapers and billboards, but similar to commercial marketing has adapted to the modern world. The most common use of social marketing in today's society is through social media.
Social marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to social change. Social marketing aims to influence behaviors that benefit individuals and communities for the greater social good. The goal is to deliver competition-sensitive and segmented social change programs that are effective, efficient, equitable and sustainable.