Supporting State Health Departments in equitably addressing food and nutrition security is integral to the work of NACDD’s Center for Advancing Healthy Communities. In March 2023, five states implementing the State Partnerships Improving Nutrition and Equity (SPINE) program – Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oklahoma – were selected to participate in the tailored dissemination and promotion of a digital ad campaign developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that focused on infant and toddler nutrition.

In partnership with Rocket Camp and Propellant Media, each state ran a custom digital ad campaign with messaging focused on connecting Black mothers and caregivers to information and local resources regarding nutrition and feeding for their baby or toddler. The campaigns ran from March through June 2023 and utilized custom datasets, locations, and behavior insights to reach the audience of focus across both web and social media platforms.

The campaign performed very well, delivering over 20.3 million impressions and generating almost 57,000 visits to the respective state campaign landing pages. The campaign included multiple sets of messaging and visuals, and the display ad click-through rates were all above industry standard. At the end of the campaign, each state received a full report with ad performance and zip code data as well as key learnings and recommendations for future campaigns. Lessons learned include leveraging multiple datasets and media partners to allow for increased reach across different platforms and ensure maximized marketing return on investment (MROI); and using a combination of organic social media, paid social media, and local partnerships to expand reach and elevate the overall performance of the campaign.

The Center is thrilled to be implementing this campaign again in partnership with SPINE states, Rocket Camp, Propellant Media, and the CDC.

The “State Partnerships Improving Nutrition & Equity” program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,755,901 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.