How Can Blood Centers Use User-Generated Social Media Content To Improve Recruitment?
Want to attract more donors to your blood center? Of course you do. And if you have a social media presence, making proper use of user-generated content (UGC) is one of the best ways to get more donations without breaking the bank. Want some examples on how you can use UGC to grow your organic social media following? Let’s get into it.
1. Encourage Organic Content Generation
First, you’ll want to make sure that you set yourself up for success. If nobody is generating any UGC, you won’t be able to share it! You can encourage donors to create content about your blood center in lots of ways.
For example, you could create a photo booth or an area where a donor can record a small video about their donation experience after they're finished. You could also offer additional rewards/perks to donors who post about their experiences and tag your organization.
Speaking of which, creating a hashtag or asking donors to tag your blood center is also essential. This makes it easier to find user-generated content and highlight it on your own pages – which brings us to our next point.
2. Show The Best Content On Your Own Social Pages
Retweeting, reposting, or linking to the best UGC on your own social media pages helps drive more engagement (like the post we included from Stanford in our July post roundup). It also allows you to keep up a steady stream of organic posts without requiring your marketing team to constantly create their own content.
Also, highlighting a particular donor’s contributions is also rewarding in and of itself. When someone creates a great post about their donation experience and you share it on your page, they may get more exposure or even some new followers.
3. Highlight Content That Helps Overcome Donor Objections
If your main goal is to bring in more donors, it’s a good idea to focus on user-generated content that helps overcome common objections about blood donation, such as:
Not understanding the donation process
Concerns about eligibility
Fear of pain or needles
Worries about side effects/donation safety
Long process/inconvenience
For example, if a donor makes a short TikTok video or Instagram Reel about their experience and discusses how the process was fast, simple, and non-intimidating, this is a great thing to highlight on your own social pages! Seeing the experience of a real donor will help other potential donors learn about the process and overcome common objections.
4. Share Powerful Blood Recipient Stories
One of the most impactful ways to use user-generated content to improve blood donor recruitment is by sharing blood recipient stories. These stories provide a powerful, emotional connection for potential donors, helping them see the real-life impact of their donations. When people can associate a face, name, and personal story with the act of donating blood, it makes the entire process more tangible and meaningful.
Encouraging blood recipients to share their stories can be a game-changer. A recipient may talk about how a blood transfusion saved their life after an accident, during surgery, or in the treatment of a medical condition, like cancer. Hearing these firsthand accounts from those who have directly benefited from donations humanizes the donation process and emphasizes just how critical it is.
To help generate more blood recipient content, you can create campaigns that feature “before and after” stories—highlighting recipients before they received the donation and how their lives have improved afterward. These kinds of personal narratives can be shared across platforms like Instagram Stories, TikTok, Facebook, or Youtube for longer videos (like this one from The Blood Connection), and can be accompanied by a call-to-action encouraging followers to donate.
Need To Recruit More Blood Donors? Incept Health Can Help!
When properly utilized, user-generated content helps you increase your organic social media reach, builds trust in your brand, and can help you recruit more donors to your blood center. Not sure how to get started, or what best practices you should follow when implementing UGC into your social media strategy?
Incept Health can help. We’re experts in digital marketing for blood donation centers – and that includes social media. Get in touch for a free strategy session today, and see how we can help you bring in more donors and keep your blood bank full.