Develop content that can be delivered in a range of formats - Try to develop posts that utilise questions or polls, photos, graphics, and videos. As an example, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) developed a multitude of social media cards with clear messages and graphics on a variety of COVID-19 topics.

Staff social media initiatives sufficiently - Make sure to allocate sufficient staff to your social media work to ensure that your organization can properly interact and respond to your target audience. This may include moderating and removing offensive or inaccurate content.

Develop a plan for engaging people in your content - At a relatively low cost some social media platforms provide the opportunity to do paid or promoted posts. These can be useful for reaching large audiences. However there are other ways of grabbing people’s attention on social media. For example, WaterAid Eswatini engaged a local comedy troupe to share COVID-19 prevention messages. The comedy element of videos like this helped to draw more people to their COVID-19 content.

Differentiate your posts from misinformation - Many rumours or misinformation often start on social media. It's important to think about how your content may be perceived and to actively differentiate your posts from other misinformation shared on social media. This might include stating the source of where information comes from, using consistent colours or branding, including multiple perspectives and opinions, fact-checking and correcting common misunderstandings and depicting situations which reflect the local situation. A recent study also showed that if you remind people to think critically about the information they are receiving then they will be more likely to distinguish between accurate and fake information.

Make social media sharing participatory - Think of ways that your population can create and share content based on their experiences of the pandemic. For example the World Health Organization (WHO) began a #SafeHands Challenge on social media. This encouraged people to record videos of them washing their hands. Strategies like this are effective because they help to normalise and celebrate preventative behaviours. The Vietnamese Health Ministry created a COVID-19 video and song recommending proper hygiene behaviours and limiting contact with crowds. This song and its messaging also became part of a popular TikTok handwashing dance challenge.

Develop content that can be delivered in a range of formats, including written content, photos, graphics and short videos.

If you are setting up a new online group chat, make sure it has a clear goal or purpose based on a) who is eligible to be a part of the group, b) how you would like people to use the group (e.g. ask questions, share ideas or experiences) and c) what types of content should not be shared.

Carefully consider whether to publish the links to groups chats as this may expose the group to hackers who may post offensive content and may undermine the legitimacy and trust in the group.

Carefully consider how frequently you post in the group. Some people may leave if posts are too frequent.

Decide which format/s are most appropriate for your context - Your decision should factor in things such as literacy, mobile access and the type of mobile phone that people typically have (basic phone vs smartphone). Also consider what you would like to achieve through sharing phone based messages. IVR allows for more creativity for engaging populations. For example a COVID-19 campaign in Cambodia used IVR to ask users how they would behave in different scenarios, and in India IVR was used to capture and share real experiences from communities.

Design messages based on behavioural theory - Information alone is often not sufficient to change behaviour. When developing the content of phone-based messages try to think about how these can be shaped by behavioural theory. For example, think about how phone-based messages can be informative but also allude to social norms, aspirations, common barriers, planning and intention, and rewarding people for doing the right thing. This list of key behaviour change principles in relation to COVID-19 might be useful developing more creative phone messages, while this blog summarises key lessons from the Behavioural Insights team who used SMS messages to reach audiences in the UK.

Think about how to position messages as legitimate - Some previous work on phone-based messaging has suggested that messages may be more effective if they are seen to come from a character or persona rather than a general messaging service. For example in a study in Bangladesh they used the persona of a friendly medical professional to encourage preventive behaviours during a cholera outbreak and found that this was acceptable and seen as credible. In India they used an audio recorded message from a Nobel laureate to persuade people to seek care if they had COVID-19 symptoms and found that this was much more persuasive than standard government guidance.

Adapt and develop messages over time - Try to engage people through multiple messages spread across time. Where possible make sure that messages are iterative and reflect major concerns at that stage of the pandemic. If you are able to establish two-way interactions via your messaging platform consider trying to personalise or tailor messages to the individual (or to a group of individuals).

Build on formats that already exist - Lots of organisations are already sharing text and audio messages for COVID-19 prevention. For example, the WHO has an SMS message library of messages that can be translated and adapted to deliver by SMS or audio message. UNESCO also has some examples of audio recordings to combat misinformation about COVID-19.

What are delivery channels and how should response actors choose which are most appropriate in their context?

What should be considered when using mass media to communicate about COVID-19?

What should be considered when using interpersonal communication to communicate about COVID-19?