What is Social Advertising?

Social advertising is a form of communication and promotion for persuasive purposes.

This type of advertising is promoted by non-profit organizations for social utility and general interest purposes.

The goal of this communication is to exert an influence on the behavior of the target audience, namely its own target.

To pursue its objectives, this kind of advertising employs media that produce benefits and advantages for the entire community.

Social advertising strategies

To engage its reference target and increase the effectiveness of communication, various strategies are adopted aimed at arousing various emotions in the public, leading them to embrace the conveyed message.

Public service advertising promotes healthy and sustainable habits and lifestyles, leveraging features, tools, and strategies to  inform or raise awareness among the public opinion on an issue.

Furthermore, it is used to encourage the adoption of a behavior or a lifestyle , or to promote donations for a specific cause.

To have a successful social advertising strategy, however, it's important to recognize how the proposed messages clash with lifestyle habits and public opinions.

The audience that does not adopt a "healthy" behavior will show greater resistance to the communication stimulus.

To make social advertising campaigns more effective, multi-level communication strategies are used.

In practice, it involves group communication that seeks the help of opinion leaders, testimonials, and influencers.

Therefore, the goal of social advertising is to promote public interest initiatives.

Promotion of Social Advertising

Defining that this type of communication is persuasive but non-commercial, it can be promoted by various entities, including:

• Public Administration: National, Regional, Provincial, and Local Governments;
• Non-profit organizations;
• Public or private companies.

The main tools used for promotion are: the slogan, photographs, and other advertising tools that are used with the aim to encourage social change.

In fact, its purpose is not only to sell products or services offered, but also to instill a certain "education" in purchasing behavior among the population.

Language of Social Advertising

Social advertising focuses on the emotional communication of consumers.

In fact, the language must be consistent with the implemented strategy.

Therefore, it is important to use an effective language for every social advertising strategy:

• Emotional/Dramatic Language: aims to establish an emotional connection with the viewer, presents the dramatic nature of the situation through images and words with a strong empathetic charge;
• Accusatory Language: aims to draw the attention of those who have the duty to take action and denounces a problem or accuses those responsible for the "drama";
• Shocking Language: its purpose is to lead to constructive reflection on the consequences of certain choices;
• Ironic Language: induces awareness, focusing on ironic and light-hearted tones;
• Educational Language: stimulates reflection by playing on individual responsibility.

Each language is a strategic choice in communication aimed at evoking specific emotions in the audience.

Examples of Social Advertising

Water conservation starts at home

Colgate encourages you to turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth to save over 11,000 liters of water a year.

Its slogan is: "Take the pledge, spread the word, and make every drop of water count".

In the case of Colgate's advertising, the advice provided still relates to the services or products sold by the company and explains to consumers how to reduce water consumption, simply by turning off the tap while brushing their teeth.

Alcohol and Drugs. 1 BlackRussian

Example of a social advertising campaign aired on MTV.

To reach its target audience, it used very explicit tones.

This spot was shot to discourage alcohol consumption by playing on the double meaning of “black russian”, which is the name of an alcoholic beverage and a phrase that in English means “black Russian person”.

The advertisement depicts a young man entering a bathroom with several black individuals wearing Russian-style hats, then the following text appears on screen: «This is the only way to get all the Black Russians you want».