The past decade has seen an enormous surge in social marketing to convey various messages. Social marketing has also been established as an essential health communications tool to promote health initiatives. Social marketing should not be the only tool to communicate information to the general public, but to complement the existing practices in place.

This week, you will examine the use of social marketing as a communication channel in healthcare.

Review the following website article:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Gateway to health communication & social marketing practice. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/

Using the readings for the week, the South University Online Library, and the Internet, create a 15- to 20-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation with a separate title and reference slide. Include the following:

• Justify why social marketing is needed in today’s society to promote health initiatives.
• List the numerous communication channels that are used in developing a health campaign.
• Describe the process used to identify the population segment that can benefit from a specific health behavior.
• Explain how you will evaluate the effectiveness of your communications campaign.
• Provide a specific example of how social marketing was used in a health campaign.

In addition, include a minimum of five scholarly references in support of your statements. Be sure to support your statements with appropriate examples. Cite all sources using the APA format.