covid-19 — Project Spotlights

Digital public health interventions at scale: The impact of social media advertising on beliefs and outcomes related to COVID vaccines

Digital public health interventions at scale: The impact of social media advertising on beliefs and outcomes related to COVID vaccines

The work behind these 800+ interventions is truly amazing. Upswell directly supported many of the 174 organizations running these experiments. Our team, also supported the fantastic team inside Meta with the setup and analysis of many of the brand lift studies that were used to assess the initial impact of each campaign.

This paper examines the cost-effectiveness of social media advertising in influencing attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines and increasing vaccination rates. A meta-analysis of over 800 experiments conducted by 174 public health organizations was performed, pooling data to obtain more precise estimates of the overall average effect. The estimated average cost per additional influenced person was $3.41, and the cost per additional vaccination was $5.68.

-January 6, 2023meta, paper, research, advertising, facebook, covid-19

Barriers to Maternal and Reproductive Health Care In India Due to COVID-19

Barriers to Maternal and Reproductive Health Care In India Due to COVID-19

Upswell supported all aspects of this project from intervention design through implementation, running Facebook and Instagram Ads, M&E, and final report creation. We honestly can’t get enough of the people who powered this project!

Lockdowns and restrictions associated with COVID-19 had the potential to impact access to healthcare services, including contraceptive, prenatal, and postnatal care for both men and women. However, the extent of its impact, especially in low- and middle-income countries like India, was not well understood. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the use of these services was essential for improving access and use.

A Social Media Based Public Health Campaign Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccination Across the US

A Social Media Based Public Health Campaign Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccination Across the US

Upswell provided technical support to this three-part public health campaign between April and June 2021. It reached 25 million individuals, an average of 6.8 times each.

The campaign was designed to test the use of Facebook for running campaigns to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates and address disparities among racial minorities. The team used a combination of video and still-image advertisements that were designed with their target audience in mind. The campaigns aimed to combat misinformation by disseminating high-quality health information on social media platforms.

-March 4, 2022Stanford, covid-19, facebook, advertising, US

Facebook Ad Campaign to Improve Childhood Vaccine Safety Perceptions in Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Facebook Ad Campaign to Improve Childhood Vaccine Safety Perceptions in Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Upswell served as a sort of extension to the UNICEF Indonesia team throughout this campaign. We were delighted to support all aspects of this campaign, from content strategy to measurement and evaluation. UNICEF has a LOT of amazing people, but in our humble opinion, this team in Indonesia is next level.

UNICEF Indonesia and Gavi partnered to boost confidence in childhood vaccinations during COVID-19, reaching 50% of the population in three provinces via Facebook ads. The five-week campaign improved motivation, reached 6 million people at lower cost, and increased vaccination safety perception by 4.3 percentage points, demonstrating Facebook's value in complementing on-the-ground strategies for vaccine awareness.

-October 28, 2021Project Spotlight, unicef, covid-19, case study, Indonesia

Effects of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaign on Holiday Travel and COVID-19 Infections

Effects of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaign on Holiday Travel and COVID-19 Infections

Upswell supported this team throughout the project. We wish we could take credit for their amazing use of mobile phone location data of Facebook users to measure the on-the-ground impact of their campaign. Amazing!

During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, many health professionals used social media to promote preventative health behaviors. The team behind this work conducted a randomized controlled trial of the effect of a Facebook advertising campaign consisting of short videos recorded by doctors and nurses to encourage users to stay at home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays (NCT04644328 and AEARCTR-0006821).

-August 19, 2021Project Spotlight, covid-19, paper, social media, facebook, US

Public Health Awareness Campaign: COVID Safe Behaviors in India

Public Health Awareness Campaign: COVID Safe Behaviors in India

Upswell supported all aspect of this campaign from the initial strategy development through implementation. As a UW alum, Drew gets a huge smile when he talks about the team that made this project a reality.

Background: In March 2021 the second wave of COVID-19 affected India, and in a few months there were over 30 million documented cases, with a large number of cases remaining undocumented. We rolled out ‘India bane Maskpur,’ a 9-week campaign in India to promote mask wearing, leveraging the social media platforms of India-based nonprofit organizations like Sheroes, Breakthrough India and Arthan Foundation.

-February 15, 2021Restart, University of Washington, Breakthrough, Arthan, India, covid-19, facebook, advertising

Social Media Messaging and Message Testing Campaign

Social Media Messaging and Message Testing Campaign

Upswell provided training, coaching and ongoing support to Restart Partners and their team rom the Communication Leadership Graduate Program at the University of Washington. Did we mention how much Drew loved working with this team?

Restart Partners launched their social media messaging campaign to encourage mask use and other healthy behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

-December 13, 2020covid-19, US, Restart, University of Washington, facebook, advertising