Social marketing is an approach adapted from commercial marketing to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good. The resources below include toolkits, reports, and practice models to help support organizations and communities in implementing social marketing and other outreach efforts in child welfare. State and local examples are included.
Gateway to Health Communication
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019)
Offers information on health communication strategies, including health marketing and social marketing to inform and influence decisions and actions.
Involving Families in Social Marketing: Tips for System of Care Communities (PDF - 1,618 KB)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2016)
Discusses social marketing campaigns and the benefits of involving families in social marketing. The brief describes how to engage families in social marketing and provides examples of successful campaigns.
NCWWI Communications Guide: How to Advance Organizational Goals Through Effective Messaging, Storytelling, and Public Relations (PDF – 1,900 KB)
National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (2020)
Provides information to help programs improve their existing communications strategies to support systemic change, build public support, strengthen the workforce, improve partnerships, increase community collaboration, and enhance perceptions.
Social Marketing
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (2019)
Offers social marketing resources on topics such as getting started, social marketing planning, and engaging stakeholders.
Understanding Social Marketing: Encouraging Adoption and Use of Valued Products and Practices
University of Kansas, Center for Community Health and Development (2019)
Provides an overview of social marketing, ways it can be used, and strategies of a successful social marketing effort.
State and local examples
Kansas System of Care Social Marketing Strategy (PDF - 478 KB)
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (2017)
Offers insight into the social marketing strategy used by the Kansas System of Care and outlines marketing strategy goals. The resource also discusses the strategy from the viewpoint of three audiences: youth, families, and care providers.
Social Marketing for Systems of Care Communities (PDF - 341 KB)
Saracene (2017)
New York State Success Systems of Care Expansion Grant
Suggests ways organizations and individuals in New York may use social marketing strategies to raise awareness about programs and events aimed at improving lives.