What is Social Marketing?

An Introduction to Community Based Social Marketing is available at Tools of Change

See the application of social marketing for stormwater education and outreach

Learn more about Community based environmental education

The National Extension Water Outreach Education website is a great source of information on many aspects of water quality education

See our listing of Resources

Analyzing the Audience

The first step in creating an effective program is to evaluate your audience and create social marketing strategies which target them.

For guidance, go to this Step by Step Guide to Conducting a Social Profile, which is a workbook that has been created to provide a general overview of the importance of social issues to the watershed planning process and also provide detailed guidance on how to assess these issues in individual watersheds.

Surveys are often used to gather information about citizen attitudes toward water quality issues and potential barriers to behavior change - The Community Survey: A tool for participation and fact finding

In addition to surveys, focus groups can be used to evaluate the target audience - Focus Groups: A tool for understanding community perceptions and experiences

Understanding a community's sense of place can lead to more effective, long term protection of natural resources, including watersheds - Community Culture and the Environment – A guide to understanding a sense of place

Creating a Plan

For guidance in creating your own community education plan check out this Step by Step Guide to Community Education

Friends of Lake Wingra collected community information to set goals and a philosophy for their Citizens' Stewardship Plan

Dane County, Wisconsin communities joined together in creating an education and outreach plan, details can be found in their Joint Stormwater Education Permit