Using Social Marketing to Build Your Customer Base

joint venture marketing

Social marketing is a relatively new advertising concept that was originally introduced in the 1970s. Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman discovered at this time that the same strategies used to sell customers products and services could also be used to sell them on ideas, attitudes and behaviors. The primary purpose of the approach was to benefit the general public by influencing behaviors in an advantageous way.

Today, social marketing has become an effective method for generating website traffic, as well as persuading consumers to purchase a broad range of goods or services that fit well within a single category. It can also be used successfully through a joint venture, as long as both businesses are onboard with what social marketing is and how to use it effectively.

The Components of Social Marketing

A successful social marketing strategy includes the following components:

  • Product – This does not refer to a specific product, but rather a spectrum of products that fit within the intangible ideas the advertiser is trying to get across, as well as the benefits the consumer stands to gain.
  • Price – As opposed to a set monetary value, the price in social marketing shows what one must do to get the product in question. The actual price is minimized in a successful social marketing campaign.
  • Place – This component refers to how the product reaches the consumer, and it requires a basic knowledge of the habits of the target audience to reach them effectively and fit with their lifestyles.
  • Promotion – Promotion incorporates a wide range of methodology to alert customers to the product in question and creating a sustaining demand for it.

When all of these components are successfully integrated into a social marketing strategy, you are much more likely to succeed in your social marketing endeavor. It is also important to remember that the ultimate goal of social marketing is to influence behavior, rather than simply sell a product.

How to Use Social Marketing

To incorporate social marketing into your joint venture, you must first develop a thorough understanding of your target market. Social marketing begins by identifying the market need and then addressing that need directly for a better response. To legitimately influence one’s behavior, you must provide good reasons why that behavior change will reap serious benefits to the consumer.

Once you have convinced the public that they need a behavioral change, make it easy to follow through by ensuring your product or service is easy to find and purchase.

While social marketing is often used in industries like health care, it can be effective in other fields as well. The primary principles to keep in mind when launching a social marketing campaign are that you are ultimately interested in action by your target audience. You promote this action by offering a fair exchange that is beneficial to your customers, offering concrete benefits whenever possible. When these steps are carefully followed, you do much more than sell a product; you sell the idea of your product, complete with benefits that will keep customers coming back for more over the long term.

christian fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A joint venture marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more joint venture marketing Strategies join his free report on joint venture marketing.

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