Implementing a social media marketing strategy to engage African American young adults in an online intervention to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections

Background: In Flint, Michigan, the rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (HIV/STIs) for African American residents aged 18-24 are among the highest in the state. The HOPE Project is an evidence-based intervention that combines in-home parties with an online social media component to promote healthy sexuality and prevent HIV/STIs. Using social media for HIV/STI prevention within this population holds great promise. Yet, engaging young adults to discuss sexual health online presents many challenges. In this presentation, we discuss a social media contest to increase engagement in an online HIV/STI prevention intervention. Methods: We used popular social networking sites to promote website content and communicate positive sexual health messages. We implemented a 60-day text messaging and social media contest to encourage party participants to engage online. We tracked participants' activities and awarded points per activity. All participants received a $10 gift card when they earned 50 points. The two contestants with the most points received $50 gift cards. Results: We saw a 35% increase in the number of followers and a significant increase in engagement. The majority of new followers posted multiple times over the contest period and responded to other participants' comments online. Conclusions: The contest was a successful strategy to increase engagement in the online intervention. Incentives and group competition increased participation rates and level of engagement. Structuring incentives to reward multiple points of contact, as well as ongoing participation, was essential. Using common social media marketing strategies to increase engagement can be successful for health promotion programs.