Max St John, NixonMcInnes www.charitycomms.org.uk/events

1. Social Marketing Conference:
Changing Behaviour Through
Communications
30 November 2011
www.charitycomms.org.uk
www.twitter.com/CharityComms
www.facebook.com/CharityComms

2. Social media and behaviour
change: planning and doing
Max St John
Head of Non-Profit and Public Sector
@maxwellinever
Page 2 | Social media and behaviour change

3. Not me
Page 3 | Social media and behaviour change

4. Me
Page 4 | Social media and behaviour change

5. Who I work with
Page 5 | Social media and behaviour change

6. Social media, blah blah blah
Page 6 | Social media and behaviour change

7. Designing a campaign
What am I talking about?
Page 8 | Social media and behaviour change

8. Insight and planning
You know your target audience but what do you
know about their life online?
• Where do they go and what do they do?
• What are their attitudes and language?
• Who do they listen to?
Who’s NixonMcInnes?
Page 9 | Social media and behaviour change

9. Understanding audience hangouts
google.com/adplanner
Page 10 | Social media and behaviour change

10. Researching attitudes
brandwatch.net
Page 11 | Social media and behaviour change

11. Finding out who they listen to
google.com (look left!)
Page 12 | Social media and behaviour change

12. Planning: conclusion
• Find where they are and what they do online
• Understand their attitudes and language
• Map their influencers – people they listen to
• Don’t do this in isolation, talk to them too.
• Use all of this to help inform your campaign.
Who’s NixonMcInnes?
Page 13 | Social media and behaviour change

13. Changing behaviour
Social media for changing behaviour:
• Case study: Social games / stages of change
• Case study: Online community / social cognitive
• Overview: Social norms and social proof
Who’s NixonMcInnes?
Page 14 | Social media and behaviour change

14. Stages of change
Pre-contemplation: “I’m unaware I have a problem”
Contemplation – “I need to do something about this”
Preparation – “I know what I’m going to change”
Action – “I’ve recently changed my behaviour”
Maintenance – “I haven’t relapsed”
Page 15 | Social media and behaviour change

15. Stages of change and social games
bit.ly/thinkpig
bit.ly/thinkpig
Page 16 | Social media and behaviour change

16. Stages of change and social games
Pre-contemplation: “I’m unaware I have a problem”
Soft introduction of the issues, through game play.
Contemplation – “I need to do something about this”
Educate through community engagement via Facebook page.
Preparation – “I know what I’m going to change”
Provide recipes and other take aways to make change easy.
Action – “I’ve recently changed my behaviour”
Encourage the audience to self-report through comments.
Maintenance – “I haven’t relapsed”
Use long term contact through Facebook to help maintain.
Page 17 | Social media and behaviour change

17. Social games: evaluation
Pig farming methods are reported on at a national level.
We can’t realistically tie this back to Facebook activity.
Instead we look for indicators that demonstrate success.
• Awareness: exposure to messaging – game plays.
• Contemplation: engagement through page – likes/comments.
• Preparation: uptake of tools – downloads of recipes.
Page 18 | Social media and behaviour change

18. Social Cognitive
Reciprocal determinism – “What’s telling me to change?”
Behavioural capability – “Am I able to make this change?”
Self-efficacy – “Can I really do this?”
Observational learning – “If they can do it, so can I.”
Reinforcements – “How can I celebrate my achievement?”
Page 19 | Social media and behaviour change

19. Social cognitive and communities
virginmediapioneers.com
Page 20 | Social media and behaviour change

20. Social cognitive and communities
Reciprocal determinism – “What’s telling me to change?”
Find the right partners, traffic drivers and channels.
Behavioural capability – “Am I able to make this change?”
Provide tools, advice training and information.
Self-efficacy – “Can I really do this?”
Build confidence through the ability to create new networks.
Observational learning – “If they can do it, so can I.”
Promote realistic role models that prove it’s possible.
Reinforcements – “How can I celebrate my achievement?”
Use feedback mechanisms to provide encouragement.
Page 21 | Social media and behaviour change

21. Online communities: evaluation
Core evaluation was Social Return on Investment.
Jobs created, decrease in people claiming benefits etc.
Measured using on/offline qual and quant surveys.
We used social media to measure social capital:
• Community make-up: size and segmentation by behaviour.
• Intensity of use: regularity and depth of engagement.
• Network data: number and strength of connections.
Page 22 | Social media and behaviour change

22. Time to change and social proof
facebook.com/timetochange
Page 23 | Social media and behaviour change

23. What is social proof?
“A psychological phenomenon where people assume the
actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation,
prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are
unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is
driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess
more knowledge about the situation.”
OR:
“the positive influence created when someone finds out that
others are doing something.”
Page 24 | Social media and behaviour change

24. Five ‘types’ of social proof
1) Expert social proof – credible experts in the field.
2) Celebrity social proof – celebs your audience identify with.
3) User social proof – individual’s stories of their experience.
4) Wisdom of the crowds social proof – weight of numbers.
5) Wisdom of friends – endorsement of people that are trusted.
Page 25 | Social media and behaviour change

25. Rounding up
• Know your audience in context of their digital lives
• Social games are huge and can be used to educate
• Online communities = multiple levers for change
• Social proof is powerful and an innate part of digital
• Social media isn’t a ‘cheap option’, get the mix right
• Always be engaging (or be invisible)
• Evaluate indicators - don’t measure everything
Who’stheory still counts but we’re all still learning
• The NixonMcInnes?
Page 26 | Social media and behaviour change

26. Any questions?
All links here: bit.ly/charitycommslinks
I like feedback – find me at:
max.stjohn@nixonmcinnes.co.uk
twitter.com/maxwellinever
uk.linkedin.com/in/maxstjohn
Page 27 | Social media and behaviour change