facebook — 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

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

Facebook ads vs. Malaria: Using Social Media Campaigns to Promote Health-Seeking Behaviors of Households

Facebook ads vs. Malaria: Using Social Media Campaigns to Promote Health-Seeking Behaviors of Households

Upswell supported all aspects of this project, from helping manage the creative team to ad-management. Our team also worked closely with Virtual Labs to implement M&E for the project. Don’t get us started on Virtual Lab, they are fantastic!

The campaign and research study measured the effectiveness of a social media campaign against malaria. Full-scale advertising campaigns were run on Facebook, and outcomes were measured using survey responses from incentivized respondents. Results showed increased use of mosquito nets in certain subgroups and increased preventative behavior for individuals who were shown ads. The study concluded that ad campaigns can change behavior, but advanced targeting may be needed to reach subgroups of interest.

-August 7, 2021case study, advertising, facebook, Malaria, india, Malaria No More

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

Addressing Anemia Among Women in India: An Informed Intervention Using Facebook Ad Manager

Addressing Anemia Among Women in India: An Informed Intervention Using Facebook Ad Manager

Upswell took the lead on this project and partnered with three in-country organizations to create and deliver the treatment content to our target audience in Northern India. We used rapid feedback from content tested on social media to continually improve the quality and impact of the content and overall campaign.

-October 15, 2020Project Spotlight, BMGF, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, facebook, Anemia, case study, Report, IFA, advertising

Reaching People With Real-Time Facts During an Outbreak

Reaching People With Real-Time Facts During an Outbreak

Upswell helped the WHO use Facebook Live to quickly and efficiently reach people during outbreaks of yellow fever, Zika and other diseases, enticing its fans, media outlets and partner organizations to share important—and accurate—information in real time. This was just on of the amazing project that WHO implemented using social media during this time.

-September 26, 2019Zika, WHO, World Health Organization, facebook

Combatting Zika in Brazil

Combatting Zika in Brazil

Upswell worked with UNICEF and Facebook to help Brazilians protect themselves and their loved ones from Zika. The campaign was the first time Facebook data was ever used to inform a public health campaign. Did we mention the fact that UNICEF has amazing people?! This is one of the most remarkable examples of tapping social media data to improve and protect lives we have ever seen.

In 2015, the Zika virus began to spread widely throughout Latin America. By February 2016, the Brazilian chapter of UNICEF was running fast to build awareness and increase prevention.

With help from Upswell and Facebook, UNICEF used insights from aggregated, anonymized Facebook data to learn about the audience most actively spreading information about Zika. They used this information to create content for the audience.

-April 25, 2017Project Spotlight, case study, unicef, brazil, social listening, zika, facebook