Online Program

325234
Why Tobacco Smoke Sucks: Content Analysis and Insights from a Last Minute Social Media Campaign


Monday, November 2, 2015

Laura Ricks, MPH, Louisiana State University School of Public Health, Louisiana Cancer Prevention and Control Programs (LCP), New Orleans, LA
Kaelen Medeiros, BA, MS Student, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
Donna Lisa Williams, MS, MPH, DrPH, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
To engage with members of our community about the reality of lung cancer and its associated risks, Louisiana Cancer Prevention and Control Programs (LCP) ran a daily “quick fact” in November 2014 on its social media page about tobacco smoke/smoking and its effect on the human body, connection to lung cancer, plus its negative effects on others’ health. This was LCP’s first extensive campaign with custom original content, which targeted young people in the Southeastern region of Louisiana in time with Lung Cancer Awareness Month and the introduction of the New Orleans Smoke-Free Ordinance. After the conclusion of the campaign, coded post interaction demographics were used to conduct a content-based analysis using linear regression to determine if certain aspects of the posts reached targeted groups better than others. Primary findings demonstrated significantly larger post reach of number of men in November versus October 2014 (p=<.0001), more male engagement with posts featuring pictures versus illustrations (p=.0279), and an increase in the number of people who “liked” the page (1088 “likes” to 1140), increasing LCP’s audience for all subsequent posts. Content analysis of public health social media data allows for tweaking of future post’s content to engineer them to do more specific targeting of desired groups, plus brings opportunity for expansion both to other social media platforms and other geographic regions.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Analyze the effects of boosting, content, and type of post on public health social media reach and engagement. Demonstrate techniques for increasing social media engagement with cancer and health-behavior related posts. Explain the need for more custom content health-related campaigns in public health.

Keyword(s): Social Media, Social Marketing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Master of Science (MS) student in biostatistics solely responsible for the design, implementation, and conduct of statistical analyses of social media data related to the public health campaigns of Louisiana Cancer Programs (LCP). My Bachelor of Arts (BA) research and employment directly related to effective marketing and communication strategies, which I am applying to statistics and public health in pursuit of my MS.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.