Introduction
To attain the goals and objectives set, organizations need to develop appropriate ways to set these goals. They can accomplish this by either advertising or boosting their products to increase sales. The health sector is one of the many sectors switching to social media influences as a marketing and awareness method. Talking about their accomplishments is a good way of reminding their employees about their fulfillment.
One of the many ways organizations are using influencers is by collaborating with social media influencers. Social media influencers have built a reputation for a specific topic and discuss it online (Djafarova & Trofimenko, 2019). To substantiate the question, a specific instance regarding using strategic communication campaign methods to reach and inform citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic will be studied (Pöyry et al., 2022).
The essay will first discuss how influencers were used to discuss COVID-19. It will then outline how they helped spread facts about the illness. Finally, it discusses how companies can collaborate with social media influence to accomplish their objectives, how they were used during COVID-19, and some of the limitations experienced in using influencers.
The Role of Social Media Influencers in Public Health
Public health organizations are using social media influencers to promote their campaigns. Influencers have a wide range of followers, many of whom are from the young generation. If an organization has a health campaign that interests and engages the youth, it can use an influencer popular with them to pass the message (Kostygina et al., 2020).
During the coronavirus pandemic period, influencers were used as messengers. Healthcare providers advocated for the influencers to use their platforms to discourage youths from going to public places. Since they are considered role models by the younger generations, influencers used their platforms to set an example by showing how they were not going to public places to avoid spreading the disease. Learning about it from someone they trust means they will be eager and ready to know about the disease and help curb the lies and myths spread about it (Andreani et al., 2021). They also advised the youths about breaking the COVID-19 safety and regulatory measures.
In cases where an organization wishes to communicate a public health message, social media influencers are the most effective. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and organizations mostly used influencers to educate on the matter (Gupta et al., 2021). During the pandemic, they provided more information about the disease, precautionary measures, and effective management.
According to Pöyry et al. (2022), Finland was one of the first countries in the world to include social media influencers in the urgent COVID-19 communication as part of a communication campaign that encouraged influencers to share reliable information about the coronavirus, combating the spread of misinformation, and reaching citizens who were outside the reach of legacy media and public organizations’ communication channels. This proved to be a successful method to effectively spread the message and achieve the goal of communicating the public health message.
In cases where governments want to boost a certain campaign, they approach social media influencers for help. For example, in the United States, the government used influencers to encourage people to get a flu vaccination (Bonnevie et al., 2020). The influencers were asked to create unbranded original content encouraging people to get the flu vaccination and post it on their social media pages. This led to an increase in the number of people vaccinated in the campaigned regions.
This was also used after the discovery of COVID-19 vaccines. Many people were skeptical about getting vaccinated due to false information. In this case, influencers helped spread the news on the importance of being vaccinated. They also educated people on the facts about the disease and how getting vaccinated was vital for the nations to fight it (Pöyry et al., 2022). Some created content that helped differentiate the facts about the diseases from the myths that were and are being spread.
Influencers and Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns
Organizations can also use social media influencers to enlighten the public on some of their corporate social responsibility projects and initiatives. According to Chen et al. (2021), CSR activities include donating money to nonprofit causes, reducing any damaging effects on the environment via business processes, and developing a lively and safe workplace with diversity and respect for human rights. Influencers use their platform to talk about initiatives the organization they are endorsing has (Chen et al., 2021).
After the coronavirus pandemic hit, many organizations were closed down and could not operate. However, some of them changed their operations and started initiatives to help those affected by the disease. Organizations started projects such as the spreading of personal protective equipment. Influencers were seen promoting the use of masks and sanitizers or washing hands. This type of content emphasizes to the public the importance of safety and cleanliness in the fight against COVID-19.
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of social media health influencers. Health influencers are social media influencers who focus on health-related topics and capitalize on social media platforms for educational, financial, or political purposes. They play a unique role in health communication and education, including disseminating health messages, arousing emotional resonance, and facilitating behavior changes (Zou et al., 2021).
During the coronavirus pandemic, many nations were on lockdown, and cessation of movement was imposed in many cities. This meant that many people were stuck at home with social media as their only means of entertainment. Apps such as TikTok became famous and gathered many new followers. Health influencers such as doctors and nurses use the platform to communicate and provide information about the disease. They engaged their followers, updated them on the progress made in finding a cure or disease, and helped them understand the facts of the disease.
By promoting health campaigns on their social media platforms through influencers, companies can get feedback from their followers about the niches being discussed. Organizations in the health sector can use this information to tailor their specific cultures and health-related perceptions and leverage conversation dynamics (Lutkenhaus et al., 2019). According to Lutkenhaus et al. (2019), tailoring is an effective method for increasing the relevance of health communication programs in that it adapts messages to audiences’ knowledge, beliefs, circumstances, and prior experiences on specific health issues.
Tailoring was extensively used to combat COVID-19 vaccine side effects rumors. Many people believed the vaccines would cause adverse side effects or even death. This was, however, disregarded by influencers who showed themselves taking the COVID-19 vaccine shots and talking about their experience after the exercise. Internet influencers interact with their followers through a direct channel of communication that can promote engagement and social dialogues (Vrontis et al., 2021). This provided a platform for the public to talk about their vaccination exercise and even encourage each other to get vaccinated.
Influencer Marketing and SEO Benefits
Partnering with social media influencers can help improve the company’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy and search engine ranking, thus helping endorse the organization’s brand (Astari, 2021). If they mention the brand on their blogs or social channels, it can significantly aid in SEO and drive more traffic to the firm’s website. Influencers are a significant ranking factor; thus, naturally, they get links back to the firm’s website from their social media accounts or blogs (Shan et al., 2020). Health bloggers used the COVID-19 pandemic as a chance to grow their readers and following.
Organizations and hospitals used influencers and creators to attract new influencers. This was achieved when influencers talked about coronavirus on their platforms and where they got the information from. Social media influencers are believed to provide credible and quality information, thus significant components of persuasive messages that positively affect individuals’ attitudes and intentions (Kostygina et al., 2020). Once a website or a blog post is mentioned, the followers are most likely to visit the site, thus increasing the traffic to the organization’s website as they believe it to have authentic and credible information since the influencer uses it.
Companies may leverage social media influencers to endorse their store. Promoting an online store is currently the most common way that e-commerce brands use to create influencer marketing (Hermanda et al., 2019). In the fight against COVID-19, people are expected to wear masks or other protective gear, and organizations selling these products use influencers as their marketers. When an influencer is seen using a certain type of sanitizer or protective mask, their followers are likely to purchase it, too, especially the younger generation (Andreani et al., 2021). These boost the sales of certain products because of endorsement from an internet influencer.
The organization’s brand reputation can be enhanced by advertising its products and services through influencers who give positive reviews about them. They are viewed as experts in their specialized niches. Their opinions are not only trusted but also valued by their followers (Taillon et al., 2020). This means they boost the company’s reputation and sales when they advertise a product or service and respond well or give good reviews and star ratings (Andreani et al., 2021). This was experienced when certain brands of sanitizers increased their sales and even ran out of stock due to high purchases.
Challenges and Limitations of Influencer Health Communication
Social media influence can help organizations conduct their campaigns, but they also have disadvantages and limitations. Popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are potential sources of misinformation. There is a continued spread of false claims as well as conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 (Germani et al., 2022). According to Andreani et al. (2021), followers view influencers as ordinary and trustworthy individuals who can function as opinion leaders. However, some influencers take advantage of the position and misinform their followers (Harff et al., 2021). Most people learn about things from social media blogs and posts, and if an influencer gives the wrong information, it is most likely that the follower will believe it. This makes it difficult for credible sources to be considered enemies in case they contradict the influencer. This leads to increased mistrust in official sources for respondents and other credible sources.
Another limitation is the altering or faking of information. There was a strong belief that eating or drinking a ginger concoction would heal someone of COVID-19 when used as an antioxidant (Wannaprasert & Choenkwan, 2021, p. 130). This myth was spread over social media pages, and some people even believed it (Harff et al., 2021). Voiceovers, audio alterations, and photoshoots are various ways to alter information. Therefore, organizations had to develop and agree on a universal site accessible to all who need the information. Additionally, organizations had to deal with influencers who focused more on growing their platform than campaigning for the COVID-19 fight. This happened when influencers accepted a campaign initiative job, only not to provide credible information and talk about the disease for a short period without giving further explanation.
The provision of poor-quality information is another limitation of using influencers. Many influencers create content for themselves, meaning they write their own script. This can lead to the provision of low-quality information as the influencer lacks enough knowledge on the health matter (Harrf et al., 2021). Due to the lack of knowledge of the healthcare system, social media influencers may expose patients or clients they are working with. This may cause a breach of patient privacy, leading to a lawsuit.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social media influencers play a significant role in the information network as they have the most direct link to people as their followers. They update their followers on new offers, advancements, and even breaking news. They effectively broadcast facts about COVID-19, vaccination, and even preventive measures and regulations. People have a positive attitude towards social media influencers’ sourced health-related communication. Moreover, individual influencers’ information is genuine and trusted, unlike commercials aimed to inform.
As social media networks continue to tailor their offers to people’s interests and tastes, many users interact with them, providing a massive range of possible supporters for marketers to draw. It is also growing drastically, making internet influencer marketing prevalent in firm strategies. Businesses and healthcare providers now have access to a much broader audience and more targeted demographics and should select an influencer that best suits their business. This will help promote their business, promote sales, and achieve the set goals and objectives. Even though they have their own cyber limitations, social media influencers are the better option when providing public health messages.
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