Develop and maintain working relationships with stakeholders in social marketing programmes

This standard addresses the strategic (upstream) issues of social marketing where developing and maintaining working relationships with target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders may be involved or affected by the relevant programmes.

The range of activities may involve multiple goals, such as co- design of strategy, participation in delivery as intermediaries (e.g. through channels to reach the target group to influence their behaviour change), or risk management. These engagement activities should remain flexible and responsive to emerging activities.

This standard is for professionals in strategic or managerial roles who are responsible for identifying, analysing and maintaining working relationships with stakeholders, target groups, communities involved in or affected by the social marketing programmes.

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1. work with colleagues and stakeholders to identify community, national, regional, and/or international priorities, and identify those for which a social marketing approach may be appropriate
2. describe social marketing to colleagues and other professionals and differentiate it from other approaches to influencing behaviours and social change
3. engage with the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders to determine their intention to collaborate and their potential roles and contributions
4. plan how you will identify and manage target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders for your social marketing programmes
5. segment the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders who are involved in or affected by the social marketing activities
6. identify the needs of the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders for further engagement
7. identify how engagement with the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders is expected to complement the range of activities
8. identify and develop plans to mitigate any risks to engagement with the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders and determine how these risks are to be mitigated
9. analyse the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders to identify the nature of their involvement with your organisation
10. identify the methods, tools and techniques of engagement with target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders
11. identify the primary and secondary roles within target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders in relation to social marketing programmes
12. develop and sustain working relationship with the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders
13. develop and agree communication strategies and other actions for managing the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders
14. engage with the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders through means of social networks and other related media
15. document and communicate the results of social marketing initiatives to target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders
16. monitor target groups', communities and relevant stakeholders' involvement in relation to your social marketing activities
17. review and evaluate your relationships with the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders on a regular basis
18. ensure compliance with the legal, organisational, code of practice requirements and policies relevant to your role, your organisation and the activities being carried out

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1. how to identify and manage target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders for your social marketing programmes
2. the segmentation methods of target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders in relation to the social marketing activities
3. the relevant stakeholders, target groups, their diverse interests, needs, abilities and preferences
4. the methods, tools and techniques of engagement with target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders
5. the range of activities in which the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders may be involved
6. the social marketing compatible marketing mix models
7. the risks to engagement with target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders and the mitigation strategies to minimise these
8. how to assess and identify the nature of involvement of target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders for your organisation
9. the roles within the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders in relation to the social marketing programmes
10. the relevant techniques of developing and maintaining working relationships with the target groups, communities and other stakeholders
11. the relevant channels of communication and engagement
12. the communication and other strategies and actions for managing the target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders
13. how to document and communicate the results of social marketing initiatives to colleagues, stakeholders, communities and other relevant organisations and groups
14. the monitoring techniques of target groups', communities and relevant stakeholders' involvement in relation to your social marketing activities
15. why it is important to review the relationships with target groups, communities and relevant stakeholders on a regular basis
16. the social marketing principles, ethical principles, concepts, theories and techniques
17. the importance of keeping up to date with evidence based best practice guidance
18. the legal, organisational, code of practice requirements and policies relevant to your role, your organisation and the activities being carried out

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Social marketing programme

As used in the standards, "social marketing programme" encompasses longer-term (3 years) programmes, medium-term (1-3 years) campaigns and short-term (<1 year) targeted initiatives.

Risk

This means the chances of an event happening and the seriousness of the consequences of that event. Risk does not of itself have a negative connotation; there can be both positive and negative consequences of an event. One of the key risks in carrying out a test marketing activity is that the results become contaminated by changes in other environmental factors.

Risk management

This includes: assessing the risks, taking action to avoid events that have negative consequences, planning to minimise the negative consequences and maximise the opportunities if events do occur.

It is recognised that social marketing programmes usually involve a number of "partner" organisations working together in close collaboration.

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Academic Competencies in Social Marketing developed and approved by International Social Marketing Association (iSMA), European Social Marketing Association (ESMA), Australian Association of Social Marketing (AASM). https://socialmarketing.blogs.com/rcraiiglefebvres_social/2014/09/academic-competencies-for-social-marketing.html

Social Marketing Statement of Ethics: https://www.instructus-skills.org/documents/SM%20statement%20of%20ethics%20FINAL%2006032020.pdf

Global Consensus of Social Marketing Principles, Concepts and Techniques by ESMA, AAS, SMANA, iSMA: https://europeansocialmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ESMA-endorsed-Consensus-Principles-and-concepts-paper.pdf 

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1

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24 Mar 2025

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Current

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Original

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Instructus

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CFASMB1.1V3.0

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Education and Training, Government and Related Organisations, Health and Social Services Officers, Public Service and other Associate Professionals, Sociology and Social Policy, Teaching Professionals, Social Policy Organisations

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3554

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social marketing; social marketing stakeholders; relationship management; relationship building; stakeholder management

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