Marketing Management for Social Ventures

Marketing Management for Social Ventures

Social enterprises face unique challenges with regards to marketing.  A social entrepreneur creates a business to fill a gap in the market and serve a neglected community. For this reason, tools for market research for ethical/impact products are underdeveloped.

When defining your audience for social enterprises you have to both define your customer and the community you impact – a traditional company only needs to understand their customer. Both the revenue model and impact model are key to success.

 

Additionally, as you are addressing a major societal or environmental problem, expertise and authority in your space is even more important than in traditional business models. An organization might look for certification, for example, from the Fair Trade Certified mark or officially marked as organic, to increase the value of their item and convey their commitment to the end purchaser.

 

Keeping these differences in mind, your social enterprise marketing strategy should incorporate your impact at every step of the way. In our next marketing post, we’ll talk about the specifics of developing your organization’s brand and voice and how this can be integrated into your visuals, content and every customer-facing asset. In the mean time, check out the following overarching marketing plan via Social Enterprise:

 

Strategy:  The vision and purpose of the organization will provide the long-term strategic direction of the marketing plan. As a social enterprise, one of your core values will be to reinvest profits into your stated cause or community.

 

Communications Objectives:  SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) objectives for marketing should lead the action planning. Communications objectives work to manage the buying cycle, abbreviated as AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action), and different media are used throughout the buying cycle to stimulate demand. In addition, objectives should consider company image and branding.

 

Communications Tactics:  Depending on the stage of the product in the product life cycle, the campaign objectives, the customer profile and the market positioning determines which media are used. A campaign integrating multiple media avenues is strongest, and ensures that the marketing messages are reinforced.

 

Action Planning and Implementation:  Resources, budgets and time frames are confirmed, and test marketing may be undertaken.

 

Evaluation and Control:  Controls are essential in measuring the results of the campaign compared to expectations. This will also help with planning further marketing campaigns.