Developing An Essay On Reducing High School Dropout Rates Through Social Marketing.

Develop a plan to help convince students at risk to stay in high school until they graduate.

Using all of the components of the 10 step social marketing planning process give the department of education in the city where you went to high school (Washington DC) --a plan for a $5 million social marketing program to help solve the problem of many students dropping out of high school before they graduate.

Background, Purpose and Focus

The purpose of the plan is to convince the students they should not drop out of the school until they graduate. It is a serious issue in the United States of America as more and more students are dropping out of the school after the ninth grade. These students reduce their chances of earning a living wage when they leave end their studies. Other than that, these school dropouts create substantial burden financial and social burden on the community, state and the country. This phenomenon has recently garnered the attention of various governments and social agencies. With the research in this area, it has been identified that the students in the age group of sixteen to twenty-four from the lowest quarter of the family income is more likely to drop out of the school in comparison to the students belonging to higher quarter (Burchell, Rettie& Patel, 2013). Although there is no specific reason for the high dropout rate of certain schools, the most common reason is the difficult transition from the primary to the high school, difference in the education level and lack of engagement with the students serves as the primary reasons for the high dropout rate of the students. In this regard, the present social marketing campaign is focused on raising the awareness of the students regarding the importance of the education at the primary and the higher level. In the report, a marketing plan has been developed which will be targeted at the students studying in the primary and the secondary level. The marketing plan will raise the importance of the students regarding the importance of the education. The purpose of the campaign is to reduce the voluntary dropout of the students from the higher education level. The focus of the campaign is on the intentional dropout of the students.

The voluntary dropout of the students is a grave situation in the United States of America. The situational analysis of the present situation can be conducted by SWOT analysis of the current situation.

Strengths

• Recent increased awareness for the education
• Several non-government and government organizations are involved in the cause
• Allocation of high government budget

Weakness

• Incapability of the teachers to get the students engaged
• Lack of trained teachers in the country

Opportunities

• Potential sponsors
• Lack of awareness for the cause
• Several potential sponsors

Threats

• Perception that it is not a priority issue
• Poverty
• Carelessness of the teachers

According to the report by City Year (2017), the issue of high school dropouts is enormous in the USA. The report highlights that in high poverty community, there are several external factors which interferes the ability of the students to go to school and enhance their learning. Therefore, it is important that these students are provided with extra and individualized support to the students. In the present, the schools in the USA are established in such a manner that they provide support only to 15% of the students of the country. However, in high poverty communities, 50% of the students require support in various forms, namely, academic support, or support in social or emotional setting.

Situational Analysis

The issue of the dropout crisis in the country. It is a major issue as the dropouts face very bleak economic and social prospects in the future. In comparison to the graduates, they are less likely to be poor and suffer from health issues. In future, they are likely to become dependent on the public welfare, engage in crime and increase the social cost by taxpayers.

The target audience of the present marketing campaign is the students which is the primary target audience of the marketing campaign. Other than that, the parents of these students are the secondary target market for the marketing campaign. In the social marketing campaign, the organization will try to educate the parents fo the children belonging to the lower-middle class students. The marketimg campaigm will be specifically designed for the young parents of these children so that they realize the importance of educatin. In childhood, the biggest influence is that of the parents; therefore, it is important that the marketing campaign is dedicated to educate the parents that education has an extreme importanace in the lives of children. There will also be the target audience of teachers. It is important that the teachers realize the importance of education in the future lives of the children. In the class, they should discuss the importance of education with the children. They are an integral part of thee childhood of a person. Therefore, the teachers are acknowledged as an important target audience in this marketing campaign (Brennan, & Binney, 2010).

It is important to set some goals and targets while developing  marketing plan. The goals helps to identify the aim of the marketing plan. It is also important to monitor and evaluate the efficacy of the marketing plan. In the present, following objecitves have been designed for the marketing plan. The use of SMART framework has been used to design the objectives of the marketing plan.

• To raise the awareness of the people regarding the importance of education
• To decrease the dropout rate of the students by 5% in six months
• To encourage the students to enrol in the higher education system

Barriers, Benefits and Competition

There will be several barriers in the implementation of the marketing campaign. The biggest barrier in the designing of the social marketing campaign is the designing process. The marketing plan should appeal to diversified target audience. It sohlud equally appeal to the students, teavher and parents of the children at lower quadrent of income. Therefore, the designing and the content of the marketing plan should be carefully chosen for the marketing of the advertisement. Another significant barrier is that to create awarenesss of the social marketing campaign amidst numerous other markting plans. It can be critiqued that at present, several other organizations are operating similar campaigns; thereofore, it is difficult to design a specific campaign which cancreate a distinguished place in the mind of the custmoers (Whit, & Peloza, 2013, May). Another major challenge is the financial constraints in the development of the marketing campaign. The monetary gain from the social marketing is very minimal; as a result, it is quite difficult to find fundings for such advertising campaigns.

Target Audience

In the development of marekitng campaign, there are three significant steps, namely, the segmentation, target market determination and positioning. The positioning is the process of placing the product or the services in the mind of the customers. It influences the perception of the customers towards the organization. The positioning is an importan step in the marketing process as it influences the marketing mix and overall efficacy of the marketing campaign. The positioning statement of the marketing campaign can be stated as,“ Brighten your Future with the Education”

Education bringsforth talent of the child. It also helps a child in realizing self-worth and makes him proficient to survive in the difficult world. Education helps a child not only to win bread and butter but also develops his knowledge and wisdom which supports him in leading the future life successfully (Hastings & Domegan,2013)

The 4Ps are one of the most popular concept of the marketing. They are integral in the development o the marketing plan of any product or service. In a cmobines manner, the 4Ps of the markwting plan is called marketing mix. The marketing mix is the offering of sn organization to the customers. It is the combination if several aspects related to the product. They are essential aspects of the product and the customers evaluate these aspects to before buying the product (Reichert,Heckler, & Jackson, 2001). In the marketing mix, 4Ps stand for product, price, promotion and plaace. In this section, the marketing mox of  the organization has been developed.

Product: The product of the marketing campaihn will be education provided to the students. The marketing campaign will promote the subsidized education provided by the government to the young adult students. It will draw the attention towards different several different benefits of education. It will also highlight the importance education in several different aspects of life of the students (Lennon, R., Rentfro  & O'Leary, 2010).

Price: The present campaign will bring the attention towards subsidized education. Therefore, the price of the service will be very low.

Promotion:  In the promotion, different themes will be used together so that the maximum impact can be made on the customers. The importance will be given to the broadcast media as it is commonly used by  the identified target market segment. The promotional capmaigns will be broadcasted to television as well as newspapers. In addition to it, the organization will also use social meda campaign strategy. The importance of education will be highlighted with the help of social media as these communication meiums are popularly used by the students. The use of different themes such as animation and the use of vibrant colors will be used in the marketing campaign. It will enhance the attractivesness of the campaign and engage more people with it. In the social marketing campaign, it is important that the organization should focus on giving a clear message to the audience (Lefebvre, 2013).

Behavioural Objectives and Goals

Place: The distribution strategy of the organization will comprise of the broadcasting of ther medua campaign in the television. Other than that, the voliunteers will also be encouragesd to organize plays and other such events in schools. These cultural programs should highlight the importance of edication for young children. The choice of  organizing plays in school is appropairate as it will increase the access to million of students.

The plan will be monitored according to the goals and objectives dcided at the first place in before the development of the marketing plan. The plan will be considered if there is decline in the voluntary dropout of the student by 5% at the end of six months. It can be evaluated that evaluation can be conducted with the help of survey. After the commencement of the marketing plan, it is important that the organization conducts a survey with the teachers to analyse if the marketing plan is appropriate. Moreover, it is also important that the feedback of the teavghers is utilized to improve the marketing plan of the education (Serrat, 2017).

The budget for the present marketing campaign has been determined as 20,000 USD. It will cover the cost of designing, creativity, animation and the laiunch of the broadcast media. Other than that, the organization will also try to create plays in school within the same budget. The social media promotional strategy will be utilized due to its low cost (Carins & Rundle-Thiele, 2014).

The marketing campaign will comprise of various implementation methods. The timeline for the development and the lauh of the marketing plan has been determined as six months. In the first two months, the designing, development and testing of the campaign will be conducted. In the next two months, the marketing campaign will be launched. Appropriate changes will be made in the marketing plan according to the feedback of the cutomers. In the next two months, the product will be sold to different customers.

References

Brennan, L., & Binney, W. (2010). Fear, guilt, and shame appeals in social marketing. Journal of business Research, 63(2), 140-146.

Burchell, K., Rettie, R., & Patel, K. (2013). Marketing social norms: social marketing and the ‘social norm approach’. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 12(1), 1-9.

Carins, J. E., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R. (2014). Eating for the better: A social marketing review (2000–2012). Public Health Nutrition, 17(7), 1628-1639.

City Year. (2017). The Problem. Retrieved 15 October 2017 from https://www.cityyear.org/what-we-do/problem 

Hastings, G., & Domegan, C. (2013). Social marketing: From tunes to symphonies. Routledge.

Lefebvre, R. C. (2013). Social marketing and social change: Strategies and tools for improving health, well-being, and the environment. John Wiley & Sons.

Lennon, R., Rentfro, R., & O'Leary, B. (2010). Social marketing and distracted driving behaviors among young adults: The effectiveness of fear appeals. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 14(2), 95.

Reichert, T., Heckler, S. E., & Jackson, S. (2001). The effects of sexual social marketing appeals on cognitive processing and persuasion. Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 13-27.

Serrat, O. (2017). The future of social marketing. In Knowledge solutions (pp. 119-128). Springer Singapore.

White, K., & Peloza, J. (2013, May). Self-benefit versus other-benefit marketing appeals: Their effectiveness in generating charitable support. American Marketing Association.