TD warns Covid messaging missing younger people as HSE focuses spend on Twitter

Emer Higgins, TD, says the HSE need to re-evaluate their whole advertising strategy on Covid-19 and how it's communicated. Picture: Moya Nolan

The HSE's social media posts on Covid-19 have focused overwhelmingly on Twitter, with one TD saying this strategy must be rethought.

The executive has spent around €150,000 in advertising on social media during the pandemic along with its regular output, it told Dublin Mid-West TD Emer Higgins.

Of those posts, 1,316 were on Twitter, with 265 on Facebook, 471 on Instagram, 47 on Linkedin, and just 10 on TikTok.

The HSE's response added that social media continues to drive queries from the public.

"Social media continues to drive a large volume of traffic to our dedicated Covid-19 website content," the HSE said. "We are continuing to see increasing audiences across all our channels." 

The social media team also provide a customer service element and respond to an average of 150 social media queries daily across our channels in relation to Covid-19

The executive noted that Irish social media use is among the highest in Europe, and that platforms such as YouTube and TikTok can provide access to a younger audience.

However, Ms Higgins said that the focus on Twitter and not, for example, on TikTok, meant that younger people, who have accounted for a large portion of cases in Ireland's second wave of the virus, were not being reached. 

She said she was worried that advertising around the virus had become "stale" and "background noise".

"They really need to re-evaluate the whole advertising strategy and how it's communicated," said Ms Higgins. "This would probably mean a look at the overall strategy. 

"While I'm very glad that they're using social media, they have to be targeting the right platform."

If you're only on Twitter, for example, you're not going to hit the right audience — younger people in particular. They're not seeing the ads. They have to invest in the other platforms.

Ms Higgins said that she would like to see ads around the virus similar to those used for road safety and anti-smoking campaigns.

"The message hasn't changed substantially. I would like to see harder-hitting ads that stop you in your tracks. 

"It's very much focused on the basics. If you haven't done those things by now, you're not going to be swayed by the same ads."

A HSE spokesperson said that the social media focus is "evenly distributed" and said that Twitter represented organic posts.

"The HSE’s Social Media team utilise their budget on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to target specific demographics and to ensure that relevant advertisements and targeted messages appear in people’s timelines/feeds for a designated length of time. 

"This allows us to target specific messages to specific demographics – ie we have Covid-specific content being targeted to younger audiences, and have been doing this for a long time.

"We do not use budget on Twitter. It is a fast-moving platform and we post a number of times per day from @HSELive Twitter account so that our public health messaging features regularly on people’s feeds.

"So, while the number of posts is larger on twitter, the spend and associated impressions are larger on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Therefore our social media focus is evenly distributed."