iSMA Online: Developing a Strategic Social Marketing Plan

2026 Course Dates
September - December 2026 - DATES TBC


iSMA Offers Social Marketing Professional Certificate of Completion
Fast forward your career in Social Marketing by earning online a Social Marketing Professional Certificate of Completion for the International Social Marketing Association’s Introduction to Social Marketing Course.

This 12-week course provides an in-depth model and planning framework for developing a strategic social marketing plan to improve public health, prevent injuries, protect the environment, engage communities or enhance financial well-being.


Course Format: Each week, you will read 1-2 Chapters in the assigned text, review (on your time) a narrated PowerPoint that offers an in-depth discussion of the assigned chapters, and a detailed description of the assigned Step in the 10 Step Planning Model to be completed that week. Once drafted, you will send a word document to the instructor who will provide feedback on your draft step. Upon final approval of your social marketing plan, you will receive a Professional Certificate of Completion from iSMA.

It is noted that if you have one colleague you are working on a social marketing effort with, you may work together on developing just one plan, versus 2 separate plans.  You will still need to register for the course independently, but you can submit each week, an assignment for the plan that the two of you have worked on together.  In the end, you will each get a separate Certificate of Completion.

The course will be limited to 15 students. Applicants will be accepted from around the world, although this course will only be provided using English language.


Instructor: Nancy R. Lee, is a “pracademic” with more than 30 years of social marketing experience. She has coauthored 16 books on social marketing, 13 with Philip Kotler. She is a teaching associate at the University of Washington where she teaches Social Marketing.


Required Text: Social Marketing: Behavior Change for Good, 7th Edition, Lee & Kolter & Colehour, SAGE Publications, 2024


Syllabus: Read the Course Syllabus Here


Scholarship: iSMA will provide a full scholarship for one student for this course.

If you would like to apply for the scholarship, please do so using the link below. All are encouraged to apply but preference is given to individuals from low-middle income countries. iSMA Scholarship Application Form