What would you have to do to achieve a 15% drop in excess fertilization? How about to save 1.8 million gallons of water? Or to protect almost all of the high priority streambanks in a farm community from overgrazing?

You might be forgiven for thinking you’d have to publish some new regulations, stir up hard feelings with a lawsuit, or pull strings in the legislature to secure a lavish subsidy. But some of your peers have secured these impressive accomplishments solely through the power of persuasion. And if they can do it, so can you.

That’s what Jack Wilbur believes. Jack works for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is the author of the new report “Getting Your Feet Wet With Social Marketing,”which combines case studies of successful efforts and how-to guides for those looking to undertake a social marketing campaign of their own. He’s today’s interview guest.
“Anybody can do this,” Jack says about the practice of social marketing, which he describes as campaigning to persuade carefully selected groups of people to voluntarily modify their behavior. “You do not have to have a degree in marketing or public relations or psychology, you just have to have the motivation to learn some of these skill sets.”

So what does he mean by “these skill sets?” Listening, for one.
“You kind of have to release, and disconnect yourself from the idea that because we are the topic experts” that that means that we know best about what’s going to motivate people to make changes,” Jack says. “The more you talk to the people whose behavior you’re trying to influence, the better chance you’ll have of actually understanding what it takes to influence their behavior.”

And recognizing the importance of peers in persuading people to change their minds or change their habits, for another.

“We tend to trust the words of our neighbors and our peers, even a little bit more than we do the experts. If you see one recycling garbage can on your street, you may not decide to recycle, but if you start to see two or three or five, even the most resistant people are going to start doing that.”

• Download or listen to the interview with Jack Wilbur (MP3 file, 32 minutes)
• Download Getting Your Feet Wet With Social Marketing
• Click the comments link below to post a question for Jack.