Identify Your Product

The first step in developing a promotional plan asks you to begin by identifying the item or service you want to provide^(1,2). A product could look like:

Item:	Service:
Healthy food and drink options	Healthy Eating or Active Living event/program

As you identify your product, remember that every unique product needs its own promotional plan. Each product has its own unique selling features. Promoting multiple products at the same time makes it hard to highlight those unique selling features.

Need help with developing a HEAL program?

Visit the Programs Pillar of the Healthy Communities Framework! Creating a successful program isn’t just luck. Incorporating key elements and following critical steps can help ensure that your next program is relevant and sustainable, reaches your audience and accomplishes your goals.

Programs Pillar

SWOT Analysis

Once you’ve identified your product, conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. After reflecting on your answers, consider how your product might need to change to stand out better or to take advantage of external opportunities^{(2 & 3)}.

Similar to Asset Mapping, a SWOT analysis is a great way to involve the community in decision-making! Aim to bring together different perspectives to best identify all the internal and external factors that impact your product. Invite staff, key community members, partners, and leaders to participate in the brainstorming.

Once you have your product identified and you have a good understanding of where you stand in comparison to the external community factors, let the product guide the other Ps: Price, Place(ment) and Promotion.

Internal Factors:

With your product in mind, ask:

What are we doing well?
What makes your product stand out?
What is your competitive advantage?

With your product in mind, ask:

Where are our gaps?
What needs to be improved?
What can be changed to make our product stand out?

External Factors:

What trends are creating opportunities to make our product more successful?

What external barriers exist to making our product successful?

What advantages or strengths do our competitors have that would make them more successful than us?

Key Considerations

Looking for windows of opportunity to promote your product or HEAL behaviours? Join in on social awareness campaigns, policy windows, or recognition months or days. Check out the Government of Canada’s Calendar of Health Promotion Days ⁽⁴⁾ for a complete list of national HEAL events.

Developing a Promotional Plan

Continue exploring the steps to help guide you through developing your own promotional plan!

Continue Exploring Promotions

Tips & Tricks

American Marketing Association [Internet]. The Four Ps of Marketing; July 2022 [cited 2023 January 14]. Available from: https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/the-four-ps-of-marketing/
Business Development Bank of Canada [Internet]. How to write a marketing plan; n.d. [cited 2023 January 14]. Available from: https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/marketing-sales-export/marketing/5-no-nonsense-strategies-attract-customers
Business Development Bank of Canada [Internet]. How to conduct a competitive analysis; n.d. [cited 2023 January 14]. Available from: https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/marketing-sales-export/marketing/how-evaluate-competition
Government of Canada [Internet]. Calendar of health promotion days; January 2023 [cited 2023 January 14]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/calendar-health-promotion-days.html

Identify Your Product