Strategies to Build Trust in COVID Communications

U.S. Digital Response (USDR) interviewed 80+ individuals from throughout the U.S. and surveyed 1,500+ more to help understand sentiments, habits, and gaps for how people may think through choices and information. The research also reveals how government and organizations can best support trusted community leaders (“translators”) who act as critical nodes of communication amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The shared findings from this research can help guide your thinking as you develop and execute your communications strategy.

Public trust has eroded with governments because information is not transparent and open. This work provides a communication trust diagram to show how information flows from and to key sources. We’ve also provided tangible to-dos for trustworthy communications, including implementing best practices for design, partnership and outreach recommendations, and tips for making communications more accessible.

Grounding communications work with the views and experiences of at-risk and vulnerable* communities helps make the work more accessible for all. We’ve provided strategies that  focus on leveraging trusted community leaders (teachers, church ministers, restaurant owners, etc.) to share information, re-examining tech and language barriers, contextualizing information, and considering the tonality of the info.

Trusted community leaders, also known as messengers or influencers, act as critical nodes of communication amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Our recommendations help you identify your community’s influencers and deliver clear, customized and shareable messaging with them to better reach the broader community.