Marketing has got the much needed acclamation and is at the crossroads. It was 1960, when Theodore Levitt, wrote marketing myopia, it became a serious function of the strategic management. Writers like Philip Kotler took the discipline to a different level and induced the importance of the domain in the overall success of any organization.

Earlier, the organizations have never had such powerful information and communication technologies with which to interact with clients, audiences, and partners. They were not able to explore, find, capture, store, analyze, present, use, and exchange information data and information about them; and tailor products and services accordingly. But, now with the advent of the internet and social marketing, all this have become possible. With search engines like Google, the options galore for the customers to look for the best bet in the market.

The distance between the users and the organizations has minimized, and now the former have the power to customize the products according to their needs. Marketing, now have become a social process, composed of human behaviour patterns, with shared values and cultures.

Social connect has always been an issue in marketing. In the 21st century, when issues like environmental sustainability, poverty, education, HIV/AIDS are taking a centre stage, the magnitude of options for social marketing is on an increase.

The application of social marketing is widening, viz its applications help encourage wider socially and environmentally beneficial behavioral changes, promote protective behaviors, prevent risky behavior, increase use of community services, or facilitate the formulation and adoption of new policies and standards.

The term social marketing was coined by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zoltman in the year 1971. Social marketing is the application of principles and techniques drawn from the commercial sector to influence a target audience to voluntarily accept, reject, modify, or abandon a behavior for the benefit of individuals, groups, organizations, or society as a whole. The intent of social marketing is to create positive social change.

The dimensions for social marketers are much wider than commercial marketers. The latter might focus on making the pockets of their shareholders more heavy, but the social marketers work for the upbringing of the society at large.

Trends show that the social sector will be having huge investments, not only in India, but in the developed nations as well. Therefore, the road less travelled, will have more footfalls and impactful.