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Background: Engaging bloggers, partners, and health organizations termed "influencers" to participate in Twitter Chats, health messages delivered on social media channels can be amplified. When influencers tweet their thoughts about different health topics during a Twitter chat, their authority is leveraged by sharing health information/messages with their Twitter followers. The reach of the health information is increased through peer-to-peer sharing of health information in the form of retweets and modified tweets that occur during the chat. Twitter chats using influencer outreach can increase engagement opportunities, gain new fans and followers for various social media channels by introducing followers to health content, and creating additional channels to disseminate information and engage with audiences.
Program background: To take advantage of the authority that influencers have with their followers and to begin to develop relationships with influencers on various health topics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) social media team piloted influencer engagement through four different Twitter chats on various CDC Vital Signs and CDC program content. The four chats covered the following health topics: breast cancer disparities, cervical cancer, binge drinking, and safe healthcare. The social media team attempted various influencer outreach tactics observing and recording results.
Evaluation Methods and Results: The CDC social media team used targeted influencer engagement to help increase the reach of four different CDC hosted Twitter chats. Of the four Twitter chats, influencer participation varied from 14%-57%. It is hypothesized better influencer participation resulted from longer lead times and promotion of the chat, interest levels in the different health topics, and by sending reminder emails and Twitter chat participation tips. A shorter lead time of 3-5 days resulted in fewer influencer participants (N=7, 23%, N=4, 10%) when compared to chats with longer lead time (N=9, 60%, N=5, 33%). Potential reach of the four chats ranged from 3M—37M. Retweets from influencers ranged from 8—124 and mentions ranged from 82—160. Reaching out to influencers is worthwhile for tweets sent by influencers contributed to the total reach of the chat from .4% all the way up to 67%.
Conclusions: This pilot resulted in numerous lessons learned including: free tools to use to identify influencers; components for building an influencer list; optimal timeframes for sending email pitches and reminders; and elements to include in email pitches and reminders. Shorter lead time was found to negatively impact the number of influencers participating and longer lead time positively impacted the number of influencers participating.
Implications for research and/or practice: Twitter chats are a promising health communication tool for influencer participation and engagement on priority health topics involving minimal time commitment from the influencer, while providing extensive reach of health messages. More research is needed to determine whether it is the health topics that encourage better engagement from influencers or tactics used. CDC’s lessons learned from influencer engagement can inform health communicators’ social media strategies and extend the reach of health messages. By including influencer outreach in social media strategies, not only can the health communicator start a relationship with a significant influencer to engage for future health messaging, but also learn about topics they care about and on which they want more information.