10 Quick Social Marketing Start-Up Resources

Due to the roadblock that there aren’t very many full social marketing graduate programs existing in the United States (to my knowledge)(sound the deans, I think there’s a gap in the market up for grabs), as a fellow student, I wanted to offer some insights on educational opportunities for gaining social marketing expertise. And, some of the resources I myself have employed to keep learning, keep growing…

1. Own your education.

2. University of Southern Florida: Graduate Certificate, Social Marketing in Public Health

3. Numerous Workshops, one of which is Social Marketing University.

4. Contact working social marketing professionals. Read their blogs, websites, etc.

5. Subscribe to the SM Quarterly.

6. Currently, social marketing is rooted in public health, so many practitioners get a MPH or masters in public health communications, etc. (John Hopkins, George Washington both have these programs. I’ve also heard that the following schools have great health/social focuses in their research: Georige, Florida, UNC-Chapel Hill, Penn, and UT-Austin.) So, there’s more options.

7. However, social marketing continues to grow in other areas: civil issues, social issues, international issues, environmental behavior, etc. So, taking related coursework is helpful. Click here for a full listing of social marketing educational programs known to date.

8. The CDC has a great list of programs for those interested in professional development in the health marketing department.
9. Subscribe to the social marketing listserv run by professor and SM researcher Dr. Alan Andreason. Or, subscribe to the ‘Social Marketing in Higher Education’ list serv, run by Jim Grizzell from Cal Poly Pomona.

10. Nedra Weinreich, of the blog Spare Change and Weinreich Communications, has a full listing of resources and shares her story on how she entered into a SM career. She also offers more resources and information on how to prepare for a SM career.

Feel free to add more! =)