March 19, 2024

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Can Social Media Influencers Boost Vaccination Rates?

It’s no secret that social media influencers are a huge tool in the belts of both business and government. With some influencers having literally millions of viewers and sometimes hundreds of millions of video or post views, they have access to a whole group of people that may not otherwise see vaccine campaigns run by state and city governments alike.

From small businesses encouraging their employees to get the jab, to big companies trying to leverage relationships with thought leaders, influencers, and even government officials, everyone’s trying to boost the country’s vaccination rates. Currently, improving these numbers is the only way that the country and the world can go back to normal and resume their lives.

States Pay Influencers to Campaign for Vaccination

Influencers in a variety of fields, including fashion bloggers, young mums, and religious leaders, are being paid to inform and persuade their viewers that not only is the vaccine safe, but that it is our best chance to eradicate covid.

#PowertheComeBack is a Colorado campaign using influencers to spread vaccine information locally and to persuade viewers to consider getting the shot. It is only one of several movements on both state and city levels to reach those that may not have access to the most up-to date information, or who are in communities that are underserved by the health care sector.

Similar campaigns have been seen running in Chicago, Oklahoma City, California, and New Jersey. Social media giants TikTok and Instagram are also paying influencers to promote vaccination. Government officials have partnered with influencers in a brand new push to promote the effectiveness of the vaccine against the pandemic, as new strains take over globally.

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“Vaxfluencer” campaigns are shown to be effective

Xomad is a digital marketing agency that has compiled data showing virus cases dropping after influencers posted en masse. Rob Perry, the founder and CEO of Xomad, says this: “ We’ve got real life stats and charts, and they show striking parallels that when influencers all post in the same time period, you see vaccination rates go up one to three days later. If influencers are silent, rates come back down.”

At the end of the day, statistics show that vaccinations curb rates of Covid-19. Statistics also show that when “vaxfluencers” (Influencers who get paid to promote getting vaccinated) lend their voices, vaccination rates go up. In fact, a few months ago, when Britney Spears shared that she had received her vaccine on her social media platforms, data showed a significant increase in vaccination rates the very next day. So do kids and young adults listen to government campaigns from the mouths of their favourite influencers? Data says yes!