Getting beyond impressions: an evaluation of engagement with breast cancer-related Facebook content

Abstract

Background Reaching young adults with health messages has been a documented challenge in public health. Public health researchers have initiated studies to assess how social media are changing health communication. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched social media-based health education initiatives on Facebook to increase knowledge of breast health and breast cancer among women under age 45 and those at higher risk for developing the disease. The current study used digital analytics and metrics to describe the impact of these social media efforts on health communication. Methods Engagement rate was calculated by taking the average engagement rate for 574 posts published by the CDC Breast Cancer Facebook page in multiple categories, including CDC campaign specificity, content type, time of day, and year posted. Linear regression was used to model the effect of campaign content. Results Engagement rate (ER) was highest for content shared for the Know:BRCA campaign posts (ER=6.4), followed by the non-campaign related posts (ER=5.5), and the Bring Your Brave posts (ER=4.6). Overall engagement rate decreased from 2014–2016. Photos consistently produced the most significant engagement rate overall. Conclusions We found that users were more likely to click, share, comment, or like the content of the post that had photos. These data suggest that that branded, visual content is more effective in facilitating engagement. These findings will be used to adjust both free and paid social media efforts for the CDC Breast Cancer Facebook page.

Strategies to Increase Latino Immigrant Youth Engagement in Health Promotion Using Social Media: Mixed-Methods Study (Preprint)

“…Results for study aim 1 indicate that social media appears to be a useful tool for engaging Latino immigrant youth in health promotion programming. These levels of reach and engagement are on par with those seen in other studies examining health promotion efforts using social media [58][59][60][61]. Despite the existence of numerous barriers to participation in traditional in-person programming, we were able to achieve a reasonable level of engagement through the Adelante Facebook page.…”

“…Past research has identified some strategies for successful user engagement, including high sustained levels of social media activity [58] and targeted social media campaigns [59], among others. Results from study aims 2 and 3 highlighted that posting during the targeted social media outreach campaign period and boosting posts both resulted in higher user engagement.…”

Social Media and Mobile Technology for Cancer Prevention and Treatment

“…Evaluation of a breast cancer awareness campaign launched on Facebook by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found greatest engagement for posts with photos rather than status/links or videos; posts released in the early morning and afternoon (2:00 PM to 6:00 PM) versus other time periods; and posts shared earlier (2014) than later (2016) in the campaign. 31 Social media also can provide opportunities for truly interactive intervention methods. For example, a study found that participation in cocreating antismoking campaign content on Facebook produced greater information searching and intention to quit than simply viewing the content online.…”

“…37 Research consistently has found that posting photos results in a greater amount of engagement than other post types. 31,38,39 A study of scientific communication with the public across social media platforms by the European Organization for Nuclear Research found that “wow” photographs (i.e., awe-inspiring photographs) produced the most engagement, especially when posted on the photo-emphasizing platform Instagram. 40 Another recurring finding is that users may prefer different social media platforms, making formative research and/or use of multiple channels an important consideration.…”

Introduction to focused issue on mHealth and social media interventions for cancer

“…The article by Theiss et al . (16) in this focused issue of the journal highlights the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Bring Your Brave campaign, which uses targeted, measurable social media to raise awareness of breast cancer among high-risk women younger than 45 years. In low-and middle-income countries, mHealth modalities have been used as adjuncts for the early detection of cervical cancer (17).…”