Mediaboss Marketing

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

In 2021, businesses continue to market themselves in new ways trying to reach untapped audiences. There are new methods emerging every day, and lawyers should be keeping pace to make sure theyre focusing their marketing in the right direction.

Although many traditional forms of advertising are still effective, youd be doing yourself a disservice not to stay up to date with new methods that could put you at an advantage ahead of your competitors.

Regardless of how effective you are as a lawyer, your marketing will still play a significant role in how well your firm does. Stay hip and stay up to speed with todays marketing tools by familiarizing yourself with these essential marketing tools for lawyers.

If you haven't introduced a customer relationship management software (CRM) to your firm yet, then it's time to seriously consider it. Known as a CRM, legal customer relationship management software is the cornerstone of running an efficient practice.

You can attract and retain new clients from anywhere at any time, keeping all of your important contact information in one centralized cloud database. Instead of manually carrying out the bulk of your marketing tasks, software makes it effortless for you. You canautomate tedious marketing tasksby inputting contact information directly from your CRM, and set up powerfulautomated email workflows for law firmsto engage and delight leads and clients. Your clients can even self-schedule thanks toautomated appointment schedulingwithout you having to stop what you're doing to find a time that works best for an appointment.

All of this is found on one single convenient platform making it easy to access whatever you need at any time. Choosing aCRM for lawyerslike Lawmatics means you'll have client intake software built-in, automating the entire intake process. You can create custom intake forms so clients' information goes directly into your database without having to manually type it in yourself, losing time and risking errors.

Automated follow-ups make staying top of mind easy, and take the complexity out of figuring out what action needs to be taken next with a client.

Built-inlegal reporting softwaregives you insights into what marketing efforts are working best Giving you the maximum ROI. Easily identify who your best leads are, where they're coming from, and figure out what's working and what's not, all with one single easy-to-read dashboard.

Once upon a time, lawyers could get away without having a website. In 2021 this isn't acceptable. If your website doesn't show up on Google, then you're missing out on an enormous pool of potential leads.Statistics showthat over half of Google's users use it specifically for finding businesses. So when someone is searching for a lawyer in your area, your law firm should show up.Your legal websiteis your primary tool for showcasing your credibility as a law firm, because in today's consumer market, people expect to find a website for any lawyer that theyre considering hiring.

Having a website alone isn't enough, however. It'll have to be optimized in order to show up as high as possible on Google search results. With increased visibility comes more leads, so prioritize visibility by doing whatever it takes to be seen on the first page of Google search results.

Optimizing your website involves a process of using the right strategies and tools to improve your website's performance. To perform its best, your law firms website should have the following:

Call to action is a popular marketing buzzword. Essentially, it means inviting leads to take the next step towards becoming an actual client. As a lawyer, some ideas of calls to action to include on your website are:

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Fill out a contact form

Schedule a consultation

Start live chat

The purpose is to encourage people to take steps towards hiring you as a lawyer before they leave your website.

People should be able to tell exactly who you are as a business the minute they land on your website. The overall look and feel of the landing page should reflect what kind of lawyer you are. If you're a criminal defense lawyer, then you might choose to have bold colors and fonts. If you're a medical malpractice lawyer, perhaps you want to come across as nurturing and compassionate.

Make sure that your branding clearly states the kind of message you want to convey to your potential clients. Most importantly, you should clearly display what your area of practice is so people know whether you can help them on their case or not.

When a client is considering you to represent them in quite possibly one of the most difficult periods of their lives, people want to be reassured. Social proof is a powerful marketing tool that shows people you're the right person for the job. Your website should have several client testimonials clearly displayed that demonstrate you're a good lawyer and you can win their case.Statistics showthat over 90% of clients read reviews before deciding on a lawyer, so if your website has plenty of client testimonials, you'll have a much better chance of website visitors calling your law firm to schedule a consultation.

SEO keywords are the breadcrumbs that tell Google where to go when a user types in certain search terms. it's important to familiarize yourself with what kind of keywords are associated with the search terms you'd like your website to be associated with. Make sure that these words show up throughout your website in order to get noticed by Google.

A blog is a fantastic marketing tool on your website because it establishes yourself as in authority. When a lead types in a specific legal question and your legal blog comes up, they are that much more likely to consider hiring you as their lawyer. Offering valuable and free knowledge can be a powerful marketing tool and a great way to promote your practice.

The best part is that every time someone subscribes to your blog, they become a lead. Their information goes straight into yourlaw firm CRM, and you can continue to send themdrip email marketingto keep them engaged with valuable legal content.

When it comes to designing your website, blurry or amateur-looking photos dont cut it. Make a point of only using high-quality images to convey that youre a pro.

Having a social media account for your law firmisn't a question of choice. In today's consumer market, clients expect to be able to connect with their favorite businesses, including their lawyers. Social media users spend about 2 hours a day on average online, so that's an enormous window for you to connect with your ideal customer.

Building a presence on social media is more than just shameless self-advertising. The secret is providing sharable and interesting content that builds a following. If you can manage to build a following for yourself on social media you'll increase your website traffic, generate more sales, and increase referrals.

Marketing your firm can be incredibly expensive. One of the greatest parts about social media is that it's totally free to set up your profile and build a following. In other words, social media can often mean better results for a lower cost, which can be especially appealing for smaller firms with smaller budgets.

Some of the best social media platforms for your law firm to be on are:

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

Twitter

Each of these social media platforms is valuable in its own way and can be a fantastic tool for increasing your visibility, connecting with your audience, and ultimately generating more revenue.

A recent surveyconcluded that out of 200 participants with a legal problem over the last year 30% turned to a legal directory defined representation. This shows that people still find legal directories as reliable source to be found by clients.

There are many different legal directories for you to choose from, however, the most reputable ones include:

Avvo

Find Law

Nolo

Super Lawyers

Justia

10 years ago the idea of putting your law firm on YouTube or TikTok may have seemed absurd. However, today, video is one of the fastest-growing forms of marketing content on the planet. People love video, and legal clients are no exception. A recent survey showed that over 80% of people were convinced to buy a product after watching a businesss video.

Recently,lawyer Rod Pontonconnected to a virtual court session, only to find that Zoom had placed a cat filter over his face. Instead of him appearing in front of the judge, a grey kitten with cute eyes and a pink nose spoke on his behalf. He can be heard saying Im here live. Im not a cat.

The judge found it so humorous that he shared the video on social media, advising others to ensure filters are off before attending a virtual hearing. The video went viral, and the lawyer was an overnight sensation.

This is an example of how powerful video can be for visibility. While attending virtual hearings with funny filters may not have necessarily been in Ron Pontons marketing strategy, it certainly worked! Something as simple as recording a free weekly legal tip with your selfie cam can be incredibly effective. Scrolling customers are more likely to stop and watch a video than they are to read an ad. At the very least, video marketing may be something that your law firm should give a try. You may be surprised to find that it's extremely effective.

Setting up a Google business profile is completely free and is one of your greatest tools for making your business visible on search results. Google tracks your law firm's ratings, and depending on how many good reviews you have, they will boost your visibility.

People trust Google, so make sure that you encourage your clients to leave you reviews on Google as much as possible. Its important that you respond to good and bad reviews, in order for it to be an effective form of marketing since Google pays attention to active responses.

Online reviews of all kinds are beneficial for increasing your online visibility, however, Google is unique because it's what leads the search engine to your business first. According to arecent Harvard study, if you can manage to increase your star rating on Google, you could see a boost of up to 9% in your sales. Not only does creating a business profile increase your visibility within the search engine, but it also adds your physical location to Google Maps. That way, customers can go there to find your location, ask questions, read and leave reviews, add photos, and you can even link to a page where they can schedule a free consultation directly from your Google business profile.

After putting plenty of thought and energy into your marketing, it's crucial that you can live up to what you promise with a powerful legal intake experience. Once you startattracting leads to your firm, you must deliver a top-notch client journey, by tracking leads from the minute they first contact your firm.

Follow this link:
6 Best Marketing Tools for Law Firms - The National Law Review

So, your focus should be on creating high-quality, evergreen content. Try to create content that stays relevant for a long time. It will help keep you within your budget and generate leads too.

If you create content based on trending topics such as movies, web series or memes, its unlikely to stay relevant for long. In the long run, you may have to shell out more to make new content, which can blow your budget.

So, your focus should be on creating high-quality and evergreen content for your marketing strategy.

Are you planning to outsource? If so, it can become harder for your marketing campaign to stay within budget. Instead, you can ask some of your employees to manage multiple roles at the same time.

Say one of your companys finance executives is good at digital marketing as well. You can use his or her talent instead of outsourcing the job.

In return, you can incentivize your employees to keep up the good work and motivate them.

If you calculate, this idea will cost you much less than outsourcing employees.

It is proven that customer loyalty increases business growth. The first full-scale loyalty program of the modern era dates back to 1981, when American Airlines launched its Frequent Flier program. Now the program boasts almost 50 million members.

Offering a customer loyalty program is a strategy to grow and retain existing customers through incentives such as free gifts and discounts, which helps increase return on investment, provide customer insights, increase sales and revenue and improve brand affinity.

Once you establish your brand loyalty through customer loyalty programs, your next step would be to set up a referral program.

A referral program is a system of rewarding your customers who recommend your products or services to their friends and family. This means your customers can market your brand for you.

You can reward these customers with freebies or special discount vouchers upon reaching a certain number of referrals. But make sure that rewarding your customers for referral programs doesnt blow your budget.

Most people use search engines when they need to find any service or product. So, if your business doesnt show up on the search engines, how will your target audience know your brand exists?

Thats why its important to be optimized for search engines and also for local searches. By doing so, your company will show up on the search engine results if anyone is looking for any local products or services.

You can launch flash sales that offer discounts exclusively to your brands social media followers. It can encourage your customers to buy more products to get discounts. This will eventually help to increase your business revenue.

Dominos shares exclusive offers for its social media followers. Dominos has implemented AI in its app where the software will scan each pizza or slice and members can collect rewards points in the loyalty program.

Why is digital presence so important now? Consumers want to know what your business has to offer and learn about your company profile. It helps to create your companys brand credibility.

So, the first thing you need to do is launch a website for your brand. Design your website in such a way that it caters to your target audiences needs. It will help to come up in the search engine results so that your business can be better found.

Also, you should start a blog for your business. Its an inexpensive way to drive traffic to your website and unlikely to hurt your budget. Try to post regularly and share those posts across all your social media profiles. Visit other relevant blogs where consumers usually frequent so that they can know about your business, too.

Newsletter marketing refers to sending informational and product or service-based content to existing customers through email. A few people may think that newsletter marketing has become obsolete but it is still a great way to improve business revenue.

The average ROI for email marketing is approximately $42 on every dollar a brand invests. Use a mobile-optimized template for your newsletters, as most people read email on mobile devices.

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Continue reading here:
8 ways to build an effective marketing campaign on a tight budget - AdAge.com

Joe Wade, founder at London ad agency Dont Panic, reflects on Cop26 and why it highlighted that social purpose cant be led by marketing departments.

Projections by the University of Melbourne have shown that although Cop26 didnt go far enough to limit the world to the targeted 1.5C temperature rise, we may now be on track to an increase below 2C for the first time. So, along with being grateful for a milder apocalypse, we know we need to do more.

I was in the Green Zone at Cop26 and it was absolutely heaving with companies trying to make the case that they were already all over climate change. The implication was: Please politicians, dont regulate us to save the planet, it sounds costly and were already invested in this flashy but futile eco scheme.

A bit like that billionaire couple who recently bought a vegan helicopter, theyve missed the point.

Social purpose, particularly around the most pressing issue of our time, cant be led by the marketing department and it should hit your bottom line not only because its the right and only thing to do for young people, future generations and people already suffering the impact of climate change in the Global South. It has to be approached in an authentic way because if its not everyone will know youre full of shit. Its like Shell sponsoring the climate change exhibition at the Science Museum while simultaneously appealing against the Dutch court ruling that it needs to cut its emissions.

Our new Get Fit for Purpose report is structured around the ESGs, and so along with an environment section it outlines how to tackle social and governance issues.

You might be thinking, who the fuck are you to tell us about the ESGs? Well, apart from having been doing social purpose since before it was a thing, the report is actually brought to you by over 20 charities, NGOs and advocacy groups. Why? Because who knows better how to tackle issues and causes than not-for-profits, especially Extinction Rebellion, WaterAid, Amnesty International, WWF, Greenpeace, Crisis, Stop Hate UK and Age International? These key individuals have helped us build a framework for businesses to pave the way for incremental change and accommodate a small wins approach that can get bigger companies closer to being truly value-led.

The report kicks off with a foreword by Richard Curtis, whos been encouraging businesses to do better since Ceefax with Comic Relief, Sport Relief and more recently Make My Money Matter. Hes also the person who put the Global Goals on the map, which weve also used to shape the reports recommendations.

The Get Fit for Purpose report is available to download from the Dont Panic website here.

Heres a taster of our dos and donts of Social Purpose:

Social purpose cant be led by the marketing department. Marketing can only kick in after work has driven real change, then it can be shouted about. Otherwise its bullshit, like Gillette or Pepsi, or some kind of initiative the fossil fuel companies cook up involving offsetting. One of our clients has been working for five years on a gender-based initiative and is only ready to talk about it publically now.

When ready, use lead-in or trial initiatives before going full-throttle and rehauling your existing brand.

Make small changes that ladder up to a genuine shift in behavior rather than making one big move, which can make audiences skeptical.

Invest in campaign efforts that make a difference in their own right. Even if youve not got it all figured out just yet, if the execution itself creates real positive change, thats a step in the right direction.

If purpose isnt inherent to your product or service, partner with a non-profit with the relevant experience. This ensures you are supporting existing initiatives (bottom-up) and provides a platform for the nonprofit.

Know your place and dont overclaim. Small steps are great, but they cant single-handedly change the world.

Transparency is key. Its OK to admit youre not perfect, but couple this with the tangible actions you are taking toward change. This is disarming for critics and leaves you with a roadmap for internal and external orientation.

Dont forget to look at your internal processes as well as external ones. Bring stakeholders and employees along for the ride. This will give your team something to be proud of and helps with recruitment.

Spend money. Social purpose will generate ROI but is likely to require investment in the short term. If its not costing you much, you might not be going far enough.

Dont be too worthy with your advertising its easy to get sucked into classic purpose tropes using language like togetherness, but its better to entertain and be memorable.

Become a catalyst for change not only in your business, but throughout your industry and sector. Be an ally by prompting businesses to behave responsibly.

Dont turn back. Commit to longer-term change rather than a one-off sustainability campaign. Real change is made through long-term commitment.

Follow this link:
Cop26 showed us that social purpose can't be led by the marketing department - The Drum

If the online space wasnt competitive enough already, 93M more mobile phone users entered the market in 2020. The need for businesses to stand out got that bit more difficult, and to get ahead of their competitors, many businesses sought to boost their digital marketing strategy. More businesses needing marketing means more agencies needed people. It soon became apparent that the talent pool wasnt big enough to sustain this explosion of growth.

While the need for digital skills spans just about every marketing principle, there are a few that stand out. If you work in the digital marketing world, you wont be surprised to know that paid social the internet marketing strategy that places ads on social media platforms is currently the biggest skill, with demand having increased by a staggering 116.4%. Thats huge pressure on agencies who now need to more than double their paid social to cope with workloads.

Unsurprisingly, paid social was the big winner of 2020 that continued to grow in 2021. As lockdown hit, most of us moved online to cure the boredom. There was a whole new market for social media advertising, explaining the spike in need for experienced professionals in the field.

Similarly, content marketing has seen a surge in interest from companies with a 31.9% increase in demand, no doubt related to surging levels of online engagement, and web content writing also rose by 30.3%.

While the demand for these roles is on the rise, the talent pool hasnt grown at the same rate.

More significantly, the need for SEO executives declined in the last year by 12.6%. This doesnt mean that the industry is on a downward trend. Rather, to cope with the competitiveness of moving online, businesses turned to instant gratification with paid media as opposed to the longer-term SEO strategies.

While SEO executives arent in high demand, this doesnt mean that SEO isnt growing. Many well-established brands, decided to focus on SEO during the pandemic as opposed to pushing ads and product launches through paid media to avoid seeming inappropriate or insensitive to the situation. Of course, they had the existing brand reputation and online presence to do so smaller businesses didnt have this luxury.

Other marketing roles such as account executives and account managers, seem to be the job titles that are slipping out of the mainstream. This is because the need for digital skills is now outweighed by that of real-world marketing. Of course, we could see this change again as the world continues to move towards pre-pandemic lifestyles.

The need for digital skills has reached a critical point, and the amount of available work doesnt reflect the number of digital marketing professionals in the market. In previous years digital marketing jobs were hard to find, with agencies receiving hundreds of applications for jobs. Now, with more work than ever, there simply isnt enough talent to fill these positions.

Earlier this year, the BBC reported that the UK was headed for a digital skills shortage disaster. This much is obvious when you consider the idea of remote working. Even outside of the digital marketing world, basic digital skills are essential for any kind of office work today.

Within digital marketing, agencies are also driving up salaries to secure candidates. While plateauing recently, salaries are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic salary levels.

Theyre also trying to incorporate flexible working as a benefit. But while this is certainly an improvement on pre-pandemic working patterns, its a waiting game as to whether these changes are permeant, or whether some agencies are piggybacking on what they see as a recruitment trend.

In the early days of the pandemic, recruitment was a mixed bag. Candidates were either looking to jump a sinking ship, or were too worried to leave a stable job amidst an uncertain job market. This inevitably broke when companies started making redundancies and agencies snapped up those digital marketing professionals looking for work.

Today, the drive for digital marketing is still at full speed but the talent pool hasnt really grown in that time. This means that most agencies are now struggling to adapt to the aftermath of the employment boom.

The recruitment industry is definitely feeling the effects of the digital marketing boom. Every agency out there seems to be hiring for the same roles and finding candidates is becoming more and more challenging, said Sara Smith, Talent Acquisition Manager at Modo25.

At Modo25, were still getting lots of applicants which we think is largely down to our entirely flexible approach to working. Even before the pandemic, we embraced flexible working by allowing our team to work wherever they feel most productive. We also use a 4-day work week model which massively helps considering work/life balance is at the forefront of everyones long-term career plans following the past year and a half.

As we move in 2022, its unclear as to how the market will adapt. New graduates are entering the market every year which should take off the pressure for many agencies. But the need for ongoing training may put some off making the investment.

Morgan Mitchell is senior content marketing executive at Modo25.

See the article here:
How companies are competing for talent in the digital marketing world? - Maddyness

The Biden administration announced today, during the 33rd annual observance of World AIDS Day, its recommitment to end the HIV epidemic by 2030, and renewed the U.S governments bipartisan and decades-long commitment to ending the HIV epidemic at home and around the world.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted every aspect of the HIV/AIDS response, from prevention to treatment to research, the United States is redoubling efforts to confront the HIV/AIDS epidemic and achieve equitable access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment in every community particularly for communities of color, adolescent girls and young women, and the LGBTQI+ community, the announcement states.

The news comes weeks after South African scientists reported another variant of COVID called Omicron, which has increased cases in the country evidence shows that though reported first in South Africa, the Omicron variant was found to have been in Europe days before. But South Africa is no stranger to leading efforts against epidemics and pandemics. It was one of the countrys most prominent figures, after all, who helped mobilize efforts around HIV awareness.

Winter was approaching South Africa in June 1999 when Nelson Mandela stepped down from his historic post as the countrys first Black head of state. Giving a personal declaration, Mandela said:

Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because the only way to make it appear like a normal illness like TB, like cancer, is always to come out and say somebody has died because of HIV/AIDS, and people will stop regarding it as something extraordinary.

Mandela, a towering figure for human rights, founded the Nelson Mandela Foundation to include a focus on HIV research that same year.

As of 2020, 37.7 million people around the world are living with HIV, according to UNAIDS, with another estimated 680,000 dying from HIV-related illnesses last year alone.

Each year on December 1, since its founding in 1988, World AIDS Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV. It's also dedicated to mourning those who have died of the disease.

Mandela is neither the first nor the last leader to fight the epidemic and the stigma that fuels it.

World AIDS Day is an opportunity for us to remember those we have lost in the epidemic and celebrate the lives of those still living and thriving with HIV, Dr. Allison Mathews tells me.

Mathews has been a force in dedicating her work to HIV and AIDS. She serves as executive director and research fellow in faith and health at the Gilead COMPASS Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest University. She specializes in integrating technology, social marketing, community engagement, and social science to examine the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and religiosity on HIV-related stigma and to innovate clinical research engagement and access to health care for underserved populations. Mathews has spoken about HIV and COVID-19 on both national and international platforms, including TEDxCaryWomen, and cofounded December 14 as HIV Cure Research Day, alongside her colleague Kimberly Knight, to raise awareness about HIV cure research and encourage community involvement in ending the HIV epidemic.

As a sociologist, I have always been concerned with the consequences we experience as a result of inequality and oppression against racial and ethnic minorities, women, and LGBTQ people, she says. The HIV epidemic disproportionately affects the most marginalized in our communities, largely due to societal inequalities that exist. I have experienced my fair share of discrimination and refuse to go down without a fight. I am fighting for those, particularly people living with HIV, who have been relegated to the margins.

Dr. Christopher Irving Mathews, the capacity building and technical assistance manager at Emory Centers for Public Health Training and Technical Assistance, says that World AIDS Day used to be a day of mourning and a day he would spend reflecting on the deaths of many of his friends who have lost their lives to HIV.

I would start [World AIDS Day] having a good long cry in the shower, and then I would go to some event that would only trigger a flood of memories that I was working diligently to avoid, he says. But now it has become a day of celebration. A day I spend with my friends. Friends who are not just surviving their diagnosis but thriving. Theyre living their best lives. Their days are filled with good times and intimate moments.

Christopher Mathews says he uses those treasured memories as ammo to continue to fight.

I fight for the day when my friends will wake up and no longer even have to think of their diagnosis. It is the reason I get up every morning, pull myself together, and join my colleagues at the Emory COMPASS Coordinating Center, where we continue to support the work of eradicating HIV in the South.

The theme of this years World AIDS Day is Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone's Voice. Heres why equity is key: Black Americans and LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly in the South, experience the highest number of cases of HIV due to limited access to support and prevention resources.

According to Wake Forest University School of Divinity, HIV is a social justice and racial justice issue. Black Americans account for more HIV diagnoses (42 percent of the total) than any other racial and ethnic group in the U.S. despite being only 13percent of the population.

These vulnerabilities are systemic and due to structural barriers which are rooted in racist and anti-Black policies and practices, according to Wake Forest University School of Divinity much the same as limited resources within health care, education, employment, and housing. Black gay men, Black cisgender women, and transgender women of color are the most affected by HIV.

HIV is no longer a deadly virus, but should be considered a chronic health condition, says DeAshia Lee, the COMPASS program manager for the Southern AIDS Coalition. Lee makes strategic investments into community organizations that are committed to ending HIV-related stigma in the Deep South.

It is a chronic health condition that is treatable and manageable, Lee tells me. There have been incredible social and medical advances to address the HIV epidemic in the past 40 years, but it is important to acknowledge that we still have a lot of work to do regarding HIV-related stigma, access to equitable health care, and high-quality systems of HIV prevention, especially in the Southern United States.

Lee says that she is continuing a fight that was initiated 40 years ago and bringing attention to HIV that significantly impacts marginalized communities.

There is still a need for resources, education, advocacy, research, and funding to continue the fight to end the HIV epidemic in our communities.

The stigma around HIV continues to be one of the most dominant social issues. According to GLAADs 2021 State of HIV Stigma report, there remains an unfounded fear about people living with HIV, even though those receiving proper medical treatment cannot transmit it. The study found that 53percent of non-LGBTQ+ people surveyed noted that they would be uncomfortable interacting with a medical professional who has HIV, 44percent would feel uncomfortable around a hairstylist or barber living with HIV, while another 35 percent would be uncomfortable with a teacher living with HIV.

Advocates are doing all they can to remind all Americans that HIV is a chronic health condition, not a death sentence. It can be prevented, tested for, and treated like any chronic disease such as diabetes, and people living with HIV and on treatment can be healthy, have children, and not pass on the virus (Undetectable = Untransmittable). In most cases, HIV treatment even means just taking one pill a day.

Another issue the Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest School of Divinity notes is that faith-based HIV stigma hurts, and it helps spread HIV. More than 10,000 U.S. congregations have members living with HIV, which makes it vital for faith communities to take leadership in addressing HIV stigma. Shaming people living with HIV or for being on medication to prevent HIV stops people from seeking the care they need and lets undiagnosed people pass on the virus.

Allison Mathews says she wants community members to know that the HIV epidemic is not over and that we still need to fight for equitable access to prevention, treatment, and eventually cure therapies.

I want people to know that their voices matter in advocating for access to resources to end the HIV epidemic and that all issues, including those related to the environment, transportation, housing, food, education, criminal justice, and employment have an impact on our health and wellbeing, she tells me.

Together we can push our policy makers, scientists, and institutions to be better stewards of our health.

Lee states that the future of HIV activism is through social media and online platforms, where outreach is much greater because your words are not limited to a particular room, locale, country, or even language.

There are often conversations happening online that many people would not have been a part of because they are not in those rooms or at those tables, Lee says. Online, all voices can be equal, and you do not have to pass the mic because everyone has a mic.

Christopher Mathews says he doesn't want the future of HIV activism to look like anything. I hope, pray, and believe that there will be no work in the future, he said. I hope there will only be tales of how we overcame.

Lee says she will observe the day by participating in the Ending the Epidemics SC's Statewide observance of World AIDS Day, in which there will be a series of in-person and online events that promote HIV self-testing, PrEP, and safer sex practices.

Allison Mathews tells me the Gilead COMPASS Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest Universitys School of Divinity is planning numerous activities to commemorate World AIDS Day.

We hosted a worship service dedicated to remembering those we have lost to complications with AIDS and hope and healing of our faith communities to address HIV stigma moving forward, she said.

We are also celebrating 14 days of HIV awareness that starts with World AIDS Day (12/1) and ends on HIV Cure Research Day (12/14), which is a day I cofounded with Kimberly Knight to encourage the public to learn more about HIV cure clinical trials and advocating for health equity as we develop new HIV therapies. Our PI, Dr. Shonda Jones, will be speaking on a panel entitled'The Impact of HIV/AIDS in the Black Community' for the National AIDS Memorial day of events.

Christopher Irving Lee says he will spend the day by having dinner with a few of his close friends while recounting stories of those who brought joy to our lives but are no longer here.

Those who we loved and lost, but who we will never be forgotten. Also, planning new memories with those who live on.

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On World AIDS Day, HIV Activists Say There's More Work to Be Done - Advocate.com