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TV’s starring role in exposing health disparities for Black women

TV’s starring role in exposing health disparities for Black women

Empowering historically excluded people to lead in the media industry means bringing their talent—as well as their lived experiences—to the forefront. Telling their unique stories often means opportunities for audiences to connect more deeply with the characters or headlines that represent their own path; one that may have otherwise gone unseen. A perfect recent example that emerged as a critical health issue impacting the Black community took center stage late in 2021—and I don’t mean COVID-19. 

For those that haven’t binged Amazon Prime’s new show Harlem, episode seven, aptly titled “The Strong Black Woman,” hits a little too close to home. 

[Spoiler alert: this paragraph contains spoilers from Harlem.] The Harlem crew’s resident boss Tye, portrayed by Jerrie Johnson, is trying to push through crippling abdominal and back pain until finally she ends up having emergency surgery. The diagnosis? A ruptured cyst. And the suggested treatment? A hysterectomy. From the doctor’s hesitancy to prescribe appropriate pain medication to the dismissive approach to a potentially life-altering course of treatment, this episode was tragically a very relatable portrayal of disparities in Black women’s health care. 

In 2013, I was diagnosed with a similarly painful and common condition: uterine fibroids. My personal experience centered around a six-hour surgery to remove multiple benign tumors, varying in diameter from golf ball to grapefruit size. I remember the flippant advice to “just have a baby” before getting the surgery, known as a myomectomy. I remember the stress and anxiety before and after the surgery. And I remember the local pharmacy not filling the full prescription of pain medication after my surgery—and my doctor’s outrage at my post-op appointment when he learned I’d been recuperating at home with only a three-day supply. 

While Tye’s case demonstrated the disruptive impact of ovarian cysts, her story was also closely relatable to me—and the 26 million women between the ages of 15 and 50 that develop uterine fibroids, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. For Black women in particular, reproductive health conditions and the ongoing obstacles to compassionate, informed and effective treatment that too often accompany them, are a common part of life. How common? Nielsen Scarborough data shows that Black women between the ages of 35 to 49 are nearly six and a half times more likely to have been diagnosed with fibroids. 

And the percentage of young Black women impacted by fibroids is staggering—especially considering the emotional toll of the diagnosis along with the physical symptoms. A recent study in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that the stressors related to a fibroids diagnosis can be just as debilitating as a diagnosis of heart disease, diabetes, or even breast cancer. Groups like The White Dress Project have been working for years to raise awareness, advance legislation and provide a support network for those living with fibroids and seeking treatment. But the power of representative storytelling in both scripted television and news content ensures an even greater reach on this topic; one that remains largely silent outside the Black community and Black media. 

Nielsen’s recent Being Seen On Screen report revealed that programs with Black women in the writer’s room delivered content that not only centered Black women on screen, but also offered different context in how they were portrayed. On a program like Harlem, that’s created, led and mostly written by Black women, it’s no wonder the impact of this pervasive health crisis and the obstacles many of us face seeking treatment became a centerpiece of a character’s story. But their program wasn’t the only one to boldly confront key issues facing Black reproductive health last year. Tiffany Cross, host of MSNBC’s Cross Connection, revealed she underwent the oft recommended hysterectomy to end her years-long battle with fibroids. It was the first time I’d seen the details of the condition, let alone this course of treatment openly discussed by an anchor on TV. 

So little about how these conditions develop—and why they impact Black people at higher rates—remains unknown. But television can play an important role in raising awareness as well as empathy. Importantly, Black women are twice as likely to seek out TV content where they’re seen on screen. This means  there’s an opportunity to amplify the need for research, prevention, and less invasive procedures—as well as normalizing consultative and nondiscriminatory care. 

As you likely saw throughout this Black History Month and the focus on Health and Wellness, there’s a long way to go to address inequities in our healthcare. But my hope is that we continue to see Black women highlighting disparities and inspiring change as meaningful diversity continues to infiltrate the media industry.

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How marketers can successfully leverage social media influencers in their campaigns

How marketers can successfully leverage social media influencers in their campaigns

With marketers planning to increase their social media spend more than any other channel, influencer marketing is a ripe opportunity for B2C brands to more effectively connect with consumers while increasing engagement rates across platforms. A growing desire for interpersonal connections with the brands consumers engage with means that audiences are increasingly receptive to influencer campaigns. This validates the brand being promoted in the eyes of the influencer’s followers.

Many marketers are already seizing the engagement opportunity social media influencer influencer marketing presents. In 2020, nearly 75% of U.S. marketers leveraged influencer marketing–up from 55% in 2019. However, before launching an influencer campaign, brands need to first develop a sound strategy for the campaign to drive the strongest impact and optimize their marketing spend. Here’s how marketers can best leverage social media influencers in their campaigns. 

Identify influencers that fit the brand’s personality and purpose

When marketers enlist an influencer to increase brand awareness and boost a brand’s credibility, it’s important these campaigns feel authentic to audiences. Fifty-nine percent of consumers consider influencers who don’t seem authentic to be “annoying.” Worse than falling flat, campaigns with the wrong influencer can actively repel potential buyers from the brand the influencer is promoting.

Authenticity starts with marketers identifying an influencer whose own audience aligns with the brand’s, which will bring a greater level of receptiveness from viewers. Similarly, an A-list celebrity isn’t always a fit simply because they have a large following. Nielsen Scarborough found that only 19% of Americans make product purchases based on celebrity endorsements. More often, consumers want to hear from relatable voices, with 42% of Americans seeking the advice of others for purchase decisions. Shoe brand Aldo successfully noted this consumer preference when it enlisted influencers who aligned with the brand’s persona to promote its #StepIntoLove social media campaign. Targeted at Gen Z shoppers, the campaign encouraged viewers to create and share videos of themselves dancing along with the campaign hashtag for a $5,000 prize. The campaign generated 5B+ views and raised Aldo’s brand awareness by 2.5%, according to Nielsen InfluenceScope data.

The first step in identifying an influencer who audiences will perceive as authentic is looking at potential influencers’ content. If the products or services the influencer already enjoys using aligns with what the brand offers, the influencer’s audience will find it more natural to see the product promotion in their feed and therefore are more likely to engage with it. Marketers should also consider how followers interact with the influencer’s content (e.g., how sincere are followers’ comments?) to see how engaged their audience is and if the influencer is therefore worth the spend.

Leverage a mix of social media platforms

The platforms where marketers collaborate with influencers can also impact campaign performance. This is because different demographics engage with the platforms differently, and influencers can experience varying levels of engagement across the platforms they use. Reflective of these variances, influencers typically charge different rates for different platforms. Marketers may be inclined to choose the cheaper offering when just starting the relationship with an influencer, but this can sabotage the campaign’s impact even for an influencer whose personality and following aligns with the brand’s.

Against sharpening media fragmentation, marketers need to pinpoint the platforms that their brand’s target consumers are actively engaging with, instead of the platforms that boast generalized high engagement rates. Many influencers experience impressive engagement on channels like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, though there are nuances between audience demographics even between these platforms that could impact the results of influencer campaigns. For example, Nielsen research found TikTok’s engagement rate to be the highest across social media platforms, largely driven by a younger, female-weighted average demographic. If this isn’t the prime audience for marketers’ brand, then TikTok might not be the best platform to run a campaign on because the consumers that marketers hope to build more personal connections with may not be there.

Marketers can achieve impressive results when the influencer, messaging, and platform mix is right. e.l.f Cosmetics recently seized the buying power of TikTok’s Gen Z user base by developing the original song “Eye, Lips, Face” for a campaign on the social media platform. The campaign, which challenged TikTok users to use the song in their own videos, had one billion views within the first six days of launch, according to Nielsen InfluenceScope data. Now, the campaign has 6B+ views and has inspired 5M+ user-generated videos. Beauty influencer James Charles, known for his widely viewed makeup tutorials across platforms, was among the top influencers to promote the brand, with his posts on TikTok driving an impressive 12.88% engagement rate.

Prioritize continuous measurement to glean insights about influencer campaigns

Brands should approach influencer relationships as a long-term tactic to maximize the relationship’s impact. When an influencer regularly promotes a product or service, the influencer’s followers grow more faithful that it is something the influencer truly believes in.

Robust marketing measurements help marketers optimize their relationships with influencers. Monitoring how consumers engage with an influencer campaign shows marketers where there is opportunity for improvement. By looking at the posts alone, marketers may inaccurately judge the campaign’s effectiveness if audience members interacted heavily with the posts, such as liking the video, or following the brand’s handle. Without the ability to see what those audience members did next—the outcome of the engagement, such as whether viewers clicked through to the brand’s website to make a purchase—marketers may not realize that the influencer campaign showed little returns. Likewise, with marketing tools that reveal which campaigns are drawing the highest ROI, marketers can be confident they are using their social media spend wisely.

Influencer campaigns are one of the hottest trends in marketing today, but like every other promotional tactic, they need to be carefully considered before going live. Marketers must be judicial in who they leverage and how they leverage influencers if they want to make an impact on social media. 

This article originally appeared on Toolbox Marketing. 

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