No one envies the challenges the CDC has faced over the last two years. On top of undertaking critical actions to stop a global health crisis, the organization also must communicate its findings and guidance to the most politically divided public in US history. Consequently, the CDC has had its fair share of missteps, with public approval for their communications dipping as low as 25% for multiple stretches.
For an organization charged with motivating the public to take action based on the best science available, these ratings represent a significant failure. To turn this around, the CDC needs to rethink its approach. They’ve got the information, they just don’t know how to deliver it in a way that motivates action. In other words, they have a marketing problem — and this article outlines how they can fix it.
Let’s jump in.
Know the entire audience
While the CDC believes poor health literacy and complex language are the core enemies of successful health communications, misunderstanding its audience is probably the most significant barrier.
As the Pew Research Center’s data illustrates, the political divide in this country has become a chasm. This development means that a significant portion of the US simply does not trust institutional authority. It’s not so much that this group of people can’t understand mainstream science. Instead, they fear being misled and are looking for holes in the official narrative.
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In other words, they are actively working against understanding it.
Their anxiety is not entirely unfounded, as even a casual scan of the Wikipedia page on unethical human experimentation in the United States provides some historical support for this perspective. This distrust makes it essential for the CDC to own up to any mistakes and address these fears directly. As communications expert Trey Watkins notes, “One of the key things, particularly when we think about communications in the context of the pandemic or any real kind of public health emergency, is the importance of transparency and trust. Without those two pillars, we probably fuel a cycle of confusion and mistrust.”
By directly addressing the public and owning up to their mistakes, the CDC may reclaim the trust of some of their most skeptic critics.
Clarify marketing partnerships
The CDC is dealing with a crisis of information, as a widespread lack of institutional faith has driven many to get their pandemic guidance from independent sources. Concerned about creating confusion, tech platforms have countered by removing the content outright or flagging it with links to official sources, like the CDC. Warranted or not, many people have felt this approach to information management is authoritarian.
While this response is out of the CDC’s control, the organization can directly address its partnerships to waylay the fears. As the quote from Watkins emphasizes, authentic, open communication is key to creating a positive working relationship with the public.
The CDC is helping to solve an immense and complex global health crisis in real-time while simultaneously countering harmful misinformation. It’s a tricky business, and they are bound to make mistakes, so creating a campaign that humanized their efforts and illuminated their tactics would build some much-needed trust.
Carefully deploy influencer marketing
While we’ve seen influencer marketing working to spread public health information throughout the pandemic, the audiences targeted are often largely already aligned with official guidance. To reach the vaccine-hesitant, the CDC should consider partnering with creators they trust.
As politicized as the public discourse surrounding COVID has become, many influential voices across the spectrum see the pandemic as the human tragedy that it is. Sure, Tucker Carlson is not the right partner, but Ben Shapiro could be. For many, the CDC simply isn’t a source they’re ready to trust. So, to overcome that hurdle, the organization needs to partner with creators that they do.
The importance of empathy
What is sorely lacking in the public discourse surrounding the pandemic is a healthy degree of empathy. This deficit isn’t unique to this issue, but this issue is unique. If we allow misgivings or misunderstandings to get in the way of effective communication here, a lethal virus will continue to destroy lives and derail progress.
To mitigate this disaster, the CDC needs to clean up its approach communications. It needs to understand where skeptics are coming from, give people an insider perspective on their process, and work with influencers across the political spectrum. If they can do that, then they can help transform a toxic debate into a healthy conversation.