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Creating Compelling Content for Social Media

Using TikTok to Increase Young People’s Vaccine Confidence

“Healthcare professionals and scientists are among the most trusted people for information on public health, including vaccines, but they often aren’t active on the social media platforms young people are using. Team Halo brought expert voices  directly to the social media platforms young people were using and where misinformation was spreading, such as TikTok. Traditional public health communications can sometimes be stiff and inaccessible, especially for young people. Team Halo’s Guides short, snappy videos reflect our young audience’s preference for cool, authentic content and definitely caught their attention.” – Lisa Chau, Associate Director on Team Halo

Social media is one of the primary ways people get information globally, and, in order to meet people where they are, we need to make sure our content is compelling in an online context. To create content that engages your audience and compels them to change their attitude or behavior, center the voices and experiences of your target audience, tailor your content to the social media platform you are using and use storytelling to engage your audience.

Our target audience of young people were increasingly using TikTok as their social media platform of choice. To help our doctors create compelling content, we had training sessions with social media influencers who shared best practices, including tips on how to shoot videos, keeping content short, using subtitles and hashtags, engaging with trends and directly replying to people’s videos and comments. 

From upbeat explainers to live Q&As, Team Halo’s Guides created videos in their own style to highlight their personalities. In one video, Dr. Mazzella visualized the risks of getting COVID-19 versus getting the vaccine while walking and balancing on a tightrope, while Dr. Siyab, confronted the grave realities of the pandemic through direct explainers and myth busting videos. Combining humor, striking visuals and emerging trends (such as dancing to viral pop songs), with a specific message about COVID-19, helped them make their life-saving information more engaging. We told our guides to embrace what worked for them, rather than telling them which specific trends to use, and to center their authentic personality in their communications.

Team Halo has reached over 40 million people online with COVID-19 related content (one video has had 16 million organic views!). Among our target audience of 18-24 year olds, a brand lift study suggested that Team Halo content increased likeliness to take the vaccine by 12%, and belief in the vaccine’s effectiveness by 7%.