TikTok is already one of the most important social media platforms, especially when it comes to reaching a younger audience.
That’s why several NGOs and administrative institutions from all over the world are using this channel to release important information about how to cope with the coronavirus.
From huge NGOs such as Unicef and Red Cross to Vietnamese, Dutch or Thai public administrations, everyone is pitching in to fight the pandemic.
Whether deciding to discuss social distancing or simply sharing information about how to properly protect yourself from the virus, all efforts are going towards informative and educational content.
Here’s how 25 Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations created their social media campaigns on TikTok⇣
How NGOs create TikTok Campaigns
1. Non-profits on social media: NGOs are mostly talking about COVID-19 on TikTok
2. Campaign strategy: Half of the TikTok NGO profiles talk about social distancing
3. Engagement proves TikTok strategies right
4. Top 10 NGOs and institutions on TikTok
- World Economic Forum is the most active profile
- Unicef has the highest engagement
- World Health Organization (WHO) has the most followers
5. The Window - TikTok’s coronavirus fight
No time? Here’s a PDF version of this research so you read these TikTok strategies later on. 👇
Non-profits on social media: NGOs are mostly talking about COVID-19 on TikTok
From October until the beginning of April, NGOs and administrative institutions have shared 519 posts on TikTok on the topic of coronavirus and social distancing.
But the main focus has been, by far, on spreading responsible information about the virus.
Here is a breakdown of the posts:
- 512 posts on COVID-19
- 52 posts on social distancing
- 45 posts on both COVID-19 and social distancing
Information about how to wear masks, washing your hands, how the disease works, how to protect yourself is what constitutes the message in an overwhelming majority of posts.
Campaign strategy: Half of the TikTok NGO profiles talk about social distancing
Only 12 of the 25 profiles have posted messages about social distancing. Most NGOs that are on TikTok don’t even mention it.
Moreover, even most of the few posts about social distancing include COVID-19, with 45 posts touching on both subjects, out of a total of 52 posts on social distancing.
The strategy is clear: TikTok is used by NGOs to share educational information on the pandemic to a younger audience - as TikTok is known for having teens as primary users (37%), according to Statista.
Engagement proves TikTok strategies right
The extensive educational campaigns both governmental and non-governmental organizations are conducting on TikTok are bringing in great results, as the engagement rates skyrocket to an average of 33%.
Simply put, information about the virus and how to protect yourself from it is reaching young generations and, moreover, they seem to be taking in the right messages.
One big reason behind the great engagement is that these pages are trusted sources, on a quest to debunk fake news and misleading information with straight-forward facts, presented in an appealing matter.
On the other hand, messages about social distancing aren’t too well-received on TikTok.
Despite the fact that anything that has to do with social distancing is a great strategy for platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, as shown by a study on how brands communicate about COVID, it’s simply not the case on TikTok.
Another logical conclusion that is unveiled from this data is that the power of NGOs and public administrations lies with practical information, rather than motivational messages.
Top 10 NGOs and institutions on TikTok
All of these non-profits have set up clear social media strategies on TikTok, and each of them comes with their own strengths and weaknesses.
To better understand what they’re doing right, we took a look at the most active, profiles, the ones with the most engaging posts and the ones with the widest audience.⇣
Looking at how much NGOs have communicated on the matter, the World Economic Forum has a clear lead, with a total of 211 TikTok posts during these last 6 months.
In the second place, the Red Cross Bizkaia, a province of Spain, is also very active in this fight, with a total of 105 posts on coronavirus, closely followed by a profile called “Thai knows how to fight COVID”.
When it comes to the leader of this podium, World Economic Forum, their most engaging post is about the importance of washing your hands, describing how the virus is transmitted.
@worldeconomicforum Wash your hands to stop coronavirus ##covid19 ##coronavirus ##coronavirusspreading ##flu ##health ##handwashing ##hospital ##soap ##clean
♬ original sound - worldeconomicforum
The second most engaging video is also extremely educational, debunking some false information through a “true or false” structure.
@worldeconomicforum How much do you really know about coronavirus? ##covid19 ##coronavirus ##coronavirusspreading ##quarantine ##health ##hospital ##flu ##handwashing
♬ original sound - worldeconomicforum
The third most successful video from The World Economic Forum talks about what habits you need to change in order to keep yourself safe.
@worldeconomicforum ♬ original sound - worldeconomicforum
Put together, these posts uncover a well-rounded strategy that covers the issue from all angles.
The average engagement per post shows that people following the Unicef are extremely active: a staggering 63.66% engagement rate.
Moreover, Unicef and Unicef Vietnam both have high average engagement rates for their posts, surpassing 63%.
Unicef centers its top message around keeping yourself and your loved one safe. Loyal to the brand, their typical messages about “love” are also spread on TikTok.
@unicef Five ways to protect yourself and loved ones from ##coronavirus ##covid19.
♬ Please Don't Go(Snap Your Life) - Joel Adams
In Vietnam, Unicef’s winning post shows an extremely catchy dance about hand washing. In plain English, it says: ” Thanks to Quang Dang's extremely meaningful hand-washing dance repelling Covid-19”.
@unicefvietnam Cảm ơn điệu nhảy rửa tay cực kỳ ý nghĩa của Quang Đăng đẩy lùi Covid-19 🧼💙🧼 ##quangdang ##unicefvietnam ##ghencovid19
♬ nhạc nền - UNICEF Viet Nam
In third place, the Ministry of Education and Culture Indonesia is a pleasant surprise, with an average engagement rate per post of 62.47%. They often post informative messages coming directly from the Minister, Nadiem Makarim.
The young generation knows how to pick their sources of information, as the World Health Organization TikTok profile is followed by no less than 1.3 million people.
The main actor in the fight of coronavirus seems to also be the most followed TikTok account among all NGOs and public administration institutions.
Their top post is an educational message about how to properly handle and wear a mask.
@who ♬ original sound - who
In second place, their most engaging post shows an animation of 7 simple steps to prevent the spread of the virus.
@who These are 7 simple steps to protect yourself and others from ##COVID19. ##coronavirus
♬ original sound - who
The Window - TikTok’s coronavirus fight
With all the misinformation circling around ever since this pandemic started, social media platforms also joined the fight to make sure only accurate information gets through.
While Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube have been in contact with WHO and have started a thorough screening of the content posted on their platforms, TikTok took it a step further, with an even more direct approach.
The company created The Window (@a_window_to_the_world), an official account of the coronavirus global campaign organized together with IGV group. Their main goal is to support the World Health Organization in order to combat vaccine misinformation.
The profile has a total of 43 posts, with the first one dating March 3rd, which makes this one of the most active profiles from our list.
Their first post is also the most engaging one, with over 79,600 engagement, which translates into an engagement rate of over 431%.
This is a video about when to wear a mask, designed as an infographic with information from the World Health Organization.
@a_window_to_the_world ♬ original sound - theWINDOW
Besides the instructional videos on wearing and discarding masks and how to properly clean your hands, the page also posted videos that combat misinformation such as cold or hot weather affecting the virus.
@a_window_to_the_world The facts about COVID-19 Ep5 ##coronavirus ##safeyou ##igvgroup ##ict_anti_ncov ##kienthucphongdich Created by @igvgroup
♬ original sound - theWINDOW
It also has posts that have a motivational approach, posted as a series called “Together we win”.
@a_window_to_the_world ##coronavirus : Together We Win 🌍🌍 Ep05 ##igvgroup ##ict_anti_ncov ##kienthucphongdich
♬ original sound - theWINDOW
Methodology
We analyzed 519 TikTok posts from 25 profiles run by NGOs and public administration institutions from all over the world. We looked at a time frame between October 1st, 2019 and April 6th, 2020, although most posts were published since the beginning of 2020.
We targeted those posts that contained keywords related to COVID-19 and social distancing:
Coronavirus keywords and hashtags:
- Coronavirus
- COVID
- Covid - 19
- Pandemic
- Quarantine
- corona medicine
- wuhan coronavirus
- other spelling and wording variations
Social distancing keywords and hashtags:
- social distancing
- flatten the curve
- stay at home
- social distancing now
- social distancing works
- and other spelling and wording variations
Insights have been extracted from TikTok public data.
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