Digital marketing and public health can work together to increase access to accurate health information, improve community engagement and inspire healthier decision-making. Public health campaigns have always tried to help people and communities make healthier choices, avoid illness and live better lives. But today, it’s harder to get people’s attention and trust because there is so much information online and many people are unsure who to believe.
That’s where social marketing comes in. It’s a smart way to use ideas from regular marketing to encourage healthy choices that help people and communities. When public health organizations use social marketing along with search engine tools and content strategies, they can connect better with their audiences, earn trust and help people make long-term positive changes.
This article explores how behavioral SEO — the application of social marketing to SEO and content strategy — can address the top growth challenges facing public health organizations today. We’ll also discuss how BURG+CO. can help your public health organization get the results you’re looking for.
What is social marketing?
In this day and age, social marketing might make you think of social media. However, the definition is much more uplifting than what you may be seeing on your phone screen. While the two often intersect, social marketing is not social media marketing. The former prioritizes behavior change as the ultimate goal, while the latter typically focuses on brand awareness, engagement and lead generation.
Social marketing uses ideas from marketing to support individual and community well-being. Instead of trying to sell products or services like regular marketing, social marketing tries to change behaviors to help everyone — like getting people to smoke less, exercise more or learn CPR.
Social marketing was coined as a term in the 1970s. It rose to popularity through campaigns like the U.S. government’s anti-smoking and seat belt initiatives. These efforts showed that strong messages, smart use of media and understanding people’s behavior can help change what the public thinks and reduce harmful habits.
Core principles and techniques of social marketing
To use social marketing well online, public health organizations need to understand the basic ideas behind it. These strategies help make sure that messages are not only correct but also interesting, easy to understand and convincing.
From learning about the audience to helping people stick with healthy habits, the techniques below are key to making a strong social marketing plan. When added to SEO and content strategies, they can help health campaigns truly make a difference in how people act.
1. Audience orientation
Social marketing begins with understanding your audience. This means:
- Conducting audience segmentation to tailor messaging
- Identifying barriers to action (e.g., cost, misinformation, accessibility)
- Pinpointing motivations and current behaviors
Example: A campaign to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among teens must understand that taste, peer influence and convenience drive beverage choices — not just health awareness.
2. Behavioral focus
Rather than aiming for vague outcomes like “raising awareness,” social marketing focuses on specific behaviors. Examples include:
- Scheduling a cancer screening
- Wearing a bike helmet
- Disposing of prescription drugs safely
3. Value exchange
People rarely change behavior without some form of perceived benefit. Social marketing identifies what the audience gains in return for making a change. This might be better health, cost savings, convenience or social approval.
4. The 4 Ps of marketing, applied to behavior
- Product — The behavior itself (e.g., hand washing)
- Price — The real or perceived cost (e.g., time, embarrassment)
- Place — Where the behavior happens or where support is available
- Promotion — Messaging that motivates action
5. Influence strategies
Behavioral influence is often emotional and social. Techniques include:
- Social proof (testimonials, peer behavior)
- Emotional storytelling
- Norm nudges (“Most people in your area recycle.”)
6. Sustainability and evaluation
Behavior change must be sustained to have a public health impact. This requires:
- Ongoing support and reinforcement
- Metrics to evaluate success and make iterative improvements
Top 3 growth challenges facing public health organizations today
Even though public health campaigns are meant to help people and save lives, many organizations have a hard time getting noticed online.
It can be tough to show up in search results or get people to trust their messages. To fix this, it’s important to understand the biggest problems they face so they can create better plans that really change behavior.
Below, we explore three critical barriers that digital and content teams must address to amplify impact and achieve long-term growth.
1. Lack of visibility in digital search ecosystems
Most public health organizations fail to rank for the search terms that matter most to their mission. For instance:
- A campaign promoting diabetes prevention might not appear in searches for “how to lower blood sugar naturally.”
- Prevention-focused content is often buried under commercial or sensational results.
2. Audience distrust or apathy
In a landscape riddled with misinformation and politicization of health topics, trust is harder to earn. Public health entities may face:
- Skepticism of “government-sponsored” messaging
- Competing narratives from influencers, marketers or pseudoscientific voices
3. Difficulty driving behavior change through digital alone
Even with traffic, public health websites often struggle to convert clicks into action. This is because:
- Information alone doesn’t trigger behavior.
- Digital experiences may lack emotional engagement or clear next steps.
Applying social marketing to SEO and content strategy
Once you understand the core principles of social marketing and the key challenges facing public health organizations, the next step is integration.
By weaving these behavioral insights into SEO and content efforts, organizations can design strategies that do more than inform — they influence. This alignment allows teams to create digital experiences that resonate deeply with audiences at various stages of behavior change.
It also supports long-term digital growth. By continually applying behavioral insights, teams can evolve their messaging based on data and community feedback. This ensures that public health organizations remain up-to-date in a rapidly shifting information landscape and able to respond to new health concerns, misinformation trends and behavioral patterns.
Additionally, building SEO strategies around real-world health motivations helps organizations stay connected to what truly matters to their communities.
Here’s how social marketing can directly address today’s most pressing digital barriers.
Challenge 1: Boosting visibility
SEO tactic — Use audience insight-driven keyword research that reflects real user behavior and language. For example:
- Instead of “tobacco cessation resources,” use “how to quit vaping without gaining weight.”
Social marketing lens — Map behavioral intents to keyword queries. Segment keywords by behavior stage:
- Awareness — “Is vaping bad for you?”
- Contemplation — “Vape alternatives that are safe”
- Action — “Quit vaping help near me”
Content strategy tactic — Build content hubs that:
- Align with the 4 Ps (e.g., highlight free local support)
- Serve both informational and behavioral goals
- Include FAQs, checklists and plain-language guides
Challenge 2: Building trust and connection
SEO tactic — Use schema markup for health content and publish authoritative, transparent content.
Social marketing lens — Integrate real-life behavioral success stories that reflect diverse backgrounds. This humanizes public health goals.
Content strategy tactic:
- Include community voices via interviews, user-generated content or collaborations with cultural leaders.
- Emphasize cultural competence and inclusive design.
Example: A flu vaccine awareness campaign that includes testimonials from Black, Latinx and rural voices will resonate more deeply than a generic CDC link.
Challenge 3: Motivating behavioral change digitally
SEO tactic — Invest in interactive and emotionally resonant content:
- Quizzes (“Is your home asthma-safe?”)
- Videos (e.g., PSA-style content)
- Narrative-based guides (“Follow Maria’s journey to quit smoking”)
Social marketing lens — Use behavioral economics principles like:
- Micro-conversions — Small steps (e.g., “Take the pledge”)
- Nudges — Make the desired action the easiest choice.
Content strategy tactic:
- Partner with trusted influencers, faith leaders or health providers.
- Use a behavioral content calendar to align messaging with seasonal needs (e.g., “Flu prevention tips for back-to-school”).
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about behavioral SEO
Public health organizations that are learning about behavioral SEO might wonder how it’s different from regular marketing and how to use it the right way. This section answers some of the most common questions and clears up confusion.
By explaining important terms and showing how these ideas work in real life, teams can feel more confident and understand their strategies better. Whether you’re just starting with SEO or have worked in public health for years, these answers can help you take the first steps.
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What’s the difference between SEO and behavioral SEO?
Traditional SEO focuses on search engine visibility. Behavioral SEO adds a layer of behavioral intent, meaning the underlying motivations and decision-making processes behind user searches, and psychological insight to keyword targeting and content design.
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Isn’t this just health communication?
Health communication is broader and often one-way. Social marketing, by contrast, emphasizes exchange, behavior measurement and market segmentation — and actively uses persuasion and design thinking.
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Can small local health departments do this?
Absolutely. Even with limited budgets, small organizations can:
- Use free SEO tools like Google Search Console.
- Gather behavioral insights via surveys.
- Partner with community leaders to localize messaging.
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What are the risks of ignoring behavioral SEO for public health?
Failing to incorporate behavioral SEO can result in content that lacks relevance, empathy and motivation — leading to low engagement and missed opportunities for impact.
Public health organizations risk being invisible in critical digital moments when people are searching for help or guidance. In a crowded content landscape, showing up with the right message at the right time is vital.
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How do you ensure ethical considerations when applying behavioral techniques?
Behavioral marketing must prioritize the audience’s well-being. Techniques should be rooted in transparency, respect and empowerment — not manipulation. Public health teams can maintain trust by grounding their campaigns in evidence-based strategies, clearly citing sources and being honest about intentions.
Regular evaluation and feedback loops also help keep campaigns aligned with ethical standards.
Want to learn how to use social marketing to help your public health organization grow its impact? BURG+CO. can help
When done right, SEO and content marketing do more than drive traffic — they drive change. By embedding social marketing principles into digital strategies, public health organizations can:
- Increase their visibility in meaningful ways.
- Build real trust across diverse communities.
- Inspire and sustain behavioral change that saves lives.
Digital alone isn’t enough. But with the right mix of behavioral insight, strategic SEO and powerful storytelling, public health messages can move beyond awareness to action.
At BURG+CO., we believe that every click should serve a greater purpose. That’s why we combine audience research, ethical marketing and content expertise to create digital strategies that lead to real-world results. Our team partners with healthcare organizations to craft campaigns that resonate with real people because behavior change starts with understanding.
Our content creation and SEO services help you to get the results that you want for your public health organization. We have the insight, expertise and passion to help you help others and make changes that will have a positive long-term impact on users.
Together, we can turn information into transformation.
Discover the difference a strategic digital marketing partner can make. Schedule your complimentary consultation with BURG+CO. now.