Using Website Analytics to Measure Community Engagement

Chicago is a diverse and divided city. Composed of 77 community areas, there are significant differences across community areas that are related to race and ethnicity. To focus on the needs of adolescents, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) prioritized adolescent health in its public health agenda, Healthy Chicago, and established the Office of Adolescent and School Health (OASH) in late 2011.

A primary focus for this office is to reduce the number of teen birth rates. As of 2009, Chicago’s teen birth rate is 57 per 1,000 (ages 15-19). This is 1.5 times higher than the national rate. Most teen births occur in low-income areas and to Latina and African American teens. In May 2013, OASH launched the “Unexpected” teen pregnancy prevention campaign. Bus shelter and transit ads, strategically placed near public high schools in Chicago and select transit lines, captured worldwide attention.

In November 2013, the campaign moved to Pandora Internet Radio where Chicago teens between the ages of 13 and 17 years were selected to receive an “Unexpected” audio message and pop-up image. A 500x500 pixel ad displayed when the thirty second audio spot played. Once the audio message ended and the music resumed, a 300x250 pixel banner remained on screen. The campaign ran on smartphones, tablets running apps, and on desktops.

Listeners who clicked the image were redirected to BeYouBeHealthy.org (BYBH) where they could sign up to order an “Unexpected” safer sex kit. 700 kits were requested and mailed. BYBH earned 10,000 new visitors and 25,000 new page views. The campaign delivered 1,731,471 audio impressions, 3,462,942 display impressions, and 29,936 recorded clicks on the ads. The average click through rate for the banner was 1.8%---11% higher than Pandora’s internal benchmark.