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Background: Act Against AIDS (AAA) is an initiative launched in 2009 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House to combat complacency about HIV and AIDS in the United States. AAA focuses on raising awareness among all Americans and reducing the risk of infection among the hardest-hit populations, including gay and bisexual men, African Americans, and Latinos.
Program background: To further expand the reach of the AAA initiative and enhance its social media presence, the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) launched the first CDC campaign-branded Instagram account (@actagainstaids) in June 2015. Instagram is an ideal platform to reach key campaign audiences due to its rapid adoption, particularly among young adults and people of color. The AAA Instagram was utilized to showcase professionally created content from five HIV prevention campaigns. In 2015, two AAA campaigns hosted “Instagram Takeovers” during two national HIV prevention conferences in a novel effort to increase engagement. Campaign managers collaborated with an advocate and an actor who had strong social media fan bases to guest post on @actagainstaids. The “Instagram Takeovers” were promoted prior to each conference and provided followers a more personal “day in the life” experience.
Evaluation Methods and Results: Using Simply Measured and Sysomos, CDC regularly performs quantitative and qualitative analysis of user engagement and activity on its social media channels. This includes monitoring the number of followers, total engagement, engagement per image, likes and comments per photo and video, and hashtag use. In the seven months since @actagainstaids launched, it earned nearly 1,500 followers, 5,314 post likes, and 123 comments, averaging 24 engagements per post. During “Instagram Takeovers,” @actagainstaids gained more followers and had more engagement than average. Specifically during the advocate takeover, 124 new followers and 947 engagements were gained, whereas 111 followers and 611 engagements were gained during the actor takeover.
Conclusions: Relative to traditional media strategies, Instagram is a low cost means of disseminating campaign messages and may serve as cost-effective communication tactic. By adding Instagram to the suite of AAA social media channels, the initiative has been able to expand the reach of important HIV prevention messages. Hosting “Instagram Takeovers” by well-recognized campaign participants is a compelling and novel strategy to further engage with Instagram users.
Implications for research and/or practice: The activities conducted through AAA are easily replicable for other organizations and governmental entities. Specifically, account takeovers offer a unique opportunity for followers to take a peek into the lives of recognized personalities in the HIV prevention arena.