Driving Awareness and Donations by Building a Community in the Social Media Space

ADRP 2009 Annual ConferenceMay 14, 2009

AGENDA•the INTRODUCTION•the INSIGHT•the IDEA•OUR EXECUTION•THE SEEDING EFFORT•THE PAYOFF•LESSONS LEARNED

THE INTRODUCTIONCANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES MEETS RADAR DDB

CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES• National charitable organization responsible

for Canada’s blood system outside of Quebec• Operates 40 permanent collection sites and

more than 20,000 donor clinics annually• Operates the OneMatch Stem Cell and

Marrow Network

RADARDDB

• Experts at inserting brand messages into the daily lives of consumers

• Operates in the Web 2.0 social media environment and guerrilla marketing tactics

• Combines the skill sets of news gathering organizations, advertising agency and more

THE INSIGHT SEEING THE LIGHT

MOTIVATIONS• The need of a family member or friend• The desire to express gratitude to donors• The power of a story told directly by a recipient• The need to gather stories to inspire more

people donate• Social media is neat

MISSING PIECES• Because blood donation is an anonymous

process, recipients need a way to give their thanks to donors

• People do not have a place to share their stories about how these anonymous donors have touched their lives

• We need a way of bringing these together

THE INSIGHT• Inspiration is a motivator to act• Illustrating impact is as good as gold• The online space is an increasingly fertile spot

to create influence and drive people to act

THE IDEAGETTING TO SOMEWHERE

WHAT IF WE COULD…• Create an opportunity for blood recipients to

share their stories and have them brought to life by photos, videos and text?

• Make these stories and these recipients available for Canadian Blood Service’s future marketing & donor recruitment efforts?

• Raise awareness and bring to life the need for blood donations?

THANKYOURDONOR.CA WAS BORN

THE EXECUTIONMAKING IT HAPPEN

GETTING IT OFF THE GROUND

•Determining social media tools:– Popular video & photo sharing websites

•Building the site:– Hosting and shareability– Managing content and feedback

WHICH TOOLS…•Were the most widely used by our target? •Had a large enough audience? •Would serve our intended purposes? •Would allow us to share the content that we

would have? •Would be robust enough to meet our

reporting needs?

AND THE WINNERS WERE…

SITE CONSIDERATIONS

• Well Designed• User generated• Functional• Supported• Shareable

WELL DESIGNED

WELL DESIGNED

• Site designed to resemble cells flowing in the blood stream

• Each large cell represents a recipient’s story

• Easy and intuitive navigation

USER GENERATED

USER GENERATED

• Recipients can tell their stories by writing a posting

• They can show their gratitude by uploading pictures

• And share their experience by embedding a YouTube video

FUNCTIONAL

FUNCTIONAL• Recipients can easily

submit their stories using the site’s form

• Visitors can preview stories by hovering over a cell or read the full story by clicking on it

• The stories may be searched for returning visitors and referrals

SUPPORTED

SUPPORTED

• The site is supported by:– A YouTube channel– A flickr photo group– Blood.ca– CBS YouTube channel– CBS and affiliated

facebook groups

SHAREABLE

SHAREABLE• Stories may be

“passed on” using StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg, and facebook

• Visitors can send an email to Canadian Blood Services commenting on the stories

THE EFFORTAPPLYING THE ELBOW GREASE

‘TRADITIONAL’ SOCIAL MEDIA• Post it• Cross your fingers• Hope it “Goes viral”

THE RADARDDB MODEL• Host the content or create a place to host the

content• Identify engaged communities of interest• Participate in their conversations• Provide relevant content• Take a deep breath• Repeat

CBS RELEVANT CONVERSATIONS• Survivors• Transfusion requirement diseases• Hospitals• Support groups• Altruists/Optimists• Supporters of Canadian Blood Services• Designers

CONVERSATION SITES• Social networks (General and niche) • BLOGS• Chat rooms• Forums

BEYOND BLOOD• Building awareness outside the blood

community:– Designers– Teachers/learners– University students

THE RESULTSHOW WE ARE DOING

DEFINING RESULTS• ENGAGEMENT• INTERACTION• ACTION

TRACKING PROGRESS

• The site’s performance was measured using Google Analytic’s suite of web tools

• YouTube’s “Insight” web measures were used to track the activity on the YouTube channel

KEY ACTIVITIES• An initial push on June 9th leveraged World Blood Donor Day and drove an

initial influx of stories to the site• RadarDDB participated in blogs, forums, and discussions with like-minded

groups driving stories to the site until November 2008• Messages to Canadian Blood Services supporters increased traffic to the

website.• Interest from a key blogger resulted in a traffic spike in July 2008• Marketing Magazine picked up the story in July 2008 resulting an mores stories

added to the site• A story in Reader’s Digest resulted in a nominal increase in traffic• Web banners on blood.ca continue to drive stories and consistent traffic to

ThankYourDonor.ca

TO DATE• 60 stories shared• 10 900 visits to the site• Approx. 4 stories viewed per visitor• Visit time 4-6 minutes per visitor

LOOKING AHEAD• We are planning a Spring push to drive additional stories to be

added to blood.ca. Activities will include:– The development of in-clinic materials– Collateral to be distributed to partners, hospitals, and supporters– Re-engaging organizations and key individuals supporting

Canadian Blood Services– Further leveraging current social media initiatives such as

Facebook and YouTube– Editorials in Canadian Blood Services newsletters– Engaging our volunteer community– Integrating ThankYourDonor.ca into select clinic materials– Recipient speeches to include the promotion of

ThankYourDonor.ca

LOOKING AHEADCollateral is in production for in clinic and stakeholder (hospitals, organizations, etc.) distribution:– 11x17 external poster– 8.5x11 external poster– 11x17 in clinic poster– Z-fold card

LESSONS LEARNEDWHAT WE KNOW NOW

THE RETURN

• We now have a continually updated collection of stories to support marketing and donor recruitment programs

• A tool exists for recipients to share their stories and thank donors for their saving touching countless lives

• Prospective donors have an inspiration source to encourage them to donate

THE AUDIENCE

• Recipients are enthusiastic about sharing their stories, as long as we make the ask

• Individual attention to recipients proved to be the most effective means of collecting stories

• Donors are equally, if not more, engaged in the site

• Canadian Blood Services staff are actively engaged in the site searching for stories

PRIVACY• Separate privacy

documentation is necessary for web 2.0 sites

• The site’s owners are responsible for its content, even though it is user generated

• Prompt action must be taken for inappropriate content

TRANSPARENCY

• Transparency = credibility• Play by the rules of social media

IN SUMMARYWE’RE ALMOST DONE

THE SHORT OF IT• Started with a problem• Realized there was an answer• Dove into a new space• Garnered some great key learnings• Moving forward and evolving the program

THANKS FOR YOUR TIMELET’S TALK

Jeff MoatDirector, Marketing and Recruitmentjeff.moat@blood.ca