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Social Change: How Can Marketing Help?

Learn how marketing can be used to improve healthcare, protect the environment and overcome social problems.

23,928 enrolled on this course

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  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours
  • 100% online

    How it works
  • Digital upgrade

    Free

Use marketing to drive social change

Marketing is often used to influence consumer behaviour, but it can also be used to promote social good.

On this course, you’ll learn how social marketing can deliver change in your local community.

You’ll find out how marketing can tackle social problems, improve healthcare and protect the environment.

You’ll understand how to use social marketing to encourage change and alter behaviour.

By the end of this course, you’ll know how to develop a social marketing program you can put into practice.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 7 seconds Do you like being told what to do? I’m guessing your answer is, “no.” It’s surprising, then, that most behaviour-change campaigns try to tell us what to do. In fact, they all go to the extreme of setting policy to force us to change. It’s no wonder education and policy are often criticised. There are consequences to all behaviours. While some are positive, others impact our community negatively, damaging our environments, harming our health, and hurting others. We can’t deny that there is a need for some behaviours to change. I’m Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, the director of social marketing at Griffith University. We are the world’s leading centre of social marketing, delivering award winning research and practice.

Skip to 0 minutes and 58 seconds In this course, we’ll show you the process used to design, communicate, and deliver programmes that bring about positive change. We can do more than set rules and tell people what to do. Working with community is a much smarter way to go. Join this free, two-week course and together, we’ll explore how social marketing techniques are used to deliver positive behavioural change.

What topics will you cover?

  • Why isn’t education and policy sufficient for change?
  • How to use social marketing to deliver change for the better?
  • How do I co-create a program that changes behaviour?
  • How to design a program that meets target audience needs and wants
  • How can I engage people to change?

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Explain how to co-create a program with your target audience
  • Improve engagement with your target audience
  • Develop an outline for a social marketing program

Who is the course for?

The course is aimed at anyone interested in understanding how to deliver changes that benefit society, particularly people working in social enterprises, community organisations, non-profit organisations and government.

What do people say about this course?

There is a lot for me to take away from this course

"There is a lot for me to take away from this course- really enjoyed reading others’ experiences and contribution. Think, I will revisit this course."

Who will you learn with?

Drawing on her commercial marketing background Sharyn’s work focuses on applying marketing tools and techniques to change behaviour for the better. She is Director of Social Marketing @ Griffith.

Who developed the course?

Griffith University

Griffith University was created to be a different kind of university—challenging conventions, responding to trends and pioneering solutions through innovative teaching and research.

  • Established

    1971
  • Location

    Queensland, Australia
  • World ranking

    Top 210Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021

What's included?

Griffith University are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:

  • Unlimited access to this course
  • Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
  • A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you’re eligible
  • Learning on FutureLearn

    Your learning, your rules

    • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
    • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
    • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

    Join a global classroom

    • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
    • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
    • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

    Map your progress

    • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
    • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
    • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

    Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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