How Digital Marketing Helps Overcome Challenges in Donor Recruitment
Digital marketing is a powerful tool for recruiting blood donors. In fact, using a digital-first approach can help you overcome some of the main challenges that prevent new donors from donating at your blood center. Read on, and see how the right digital marketing strategy can help you overcome common pain points and boost recruitment.
1. Eliminate Misconceptions About Blood Donation
Digital platforms – and social media in particular – are great for eliminating common misconceptions about blood donation. Educational videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels can be used to set out the facts about blood donation, how it works, how it helps people in need, and so much more. This is really important, especially in today’s era of “fake news.” Unfortunately, the popularity of social media means it’s easy for misconceptions to spread around.
This was the case in 2022 when a viral post claimed that only $0.09 of every dollar collected by the Red Cross goes to people in need. This is obviously untrue – in fact, around 90% of the money collected by the Red Cross is directly spent on delivering care to people in need.
But this shows how important it is for blood centers to “get ahead” of fake news and false claims about blood donation. Using social media properly can help promote transparency, break down misconceptions about how blood donation works, and recruit more donors to your blood center.
2. Educate Potential Blood Donors About the Donation Process
Does blood donation hurt? Can I exercise after I donate blood? How many times can I donate blood? Will I feel sleepy after I donate? These are all examples of questions that you can answer for potential donors. Fear of blood donation and past negative experiences are the top barriers to donations.
Digital media and social media in particular can be very useful for donor education. For example, you could create a TikTok walkthrough of the entire donation process – providing a potential donor with a first-person POV of what to expect. This makes it seem much less intimidating and breaks down the “fear barrier” that makes it harder for first-timers to donate blood.
3. Appeal to LGBT Donors Who May Not Have Qualified in The Past
It’s an unfortunate fact that, in the past, the FDA did not allow gay or bisexual men to donate blood if they were sexually active. But thanks to a new blood donation screening program that rolled out in August 2023, it’s much easier for both gay and bisexual men to donate blood.
As of 2023, more than half of the members of the Alliance for Community Transfusion Services have rolled out these new screening programs, with more to follow in 2024. This is great timing, since the percentage of people who identify as LGBTQ has doubled over the last decade.
Modern digital marketing tools are extremely powerful and include lots of demographic information. So with the right ad campaign, your blood center can reach out directly to gay, bisexual, or non-binary people who may previously have been barred from donating blood – and encourage them to make a donation.
4. Stay in Touch Easily and Get More Recurring Donors
Ideally, blood donation isn’t a “one and done” affair. To continue building your donor base, you need recurring donors who come back and give blood regularly. Digital marketing tools give you more options when it comes to staying in touch with past donors and encouraging them to come back:
SMS lists and email marketing, for example, are both great options for keeping donors updated about blood supply needs in their areas. You can even use audience segmentation to send different messages to different types of donors.
For example, if a donor has visited and given blood recently, you could send a “thank you” message – as well as a reminder that they can donate again as soon as two months after their last donation.
Or, if you’re sending a message to a past donor who hasn’t given blood in a while, you could try to get them back to your donation center by offering a donation incentive. Sweepstakes, free gear like t-shirts, and low-value gift cards are all great options!
5. Get Actionable Feedback About How You’re Doing – and How to Improve
Digital marketing is inherently data-driven. And with today’s marketing tools and platforms, it’s easier than ever to send out surveys to both current and past donors and learn more about how your facility is doing.
With digital surveys and feedback forms, you can get honest answers about each donor’s experience. These insights let you understand the areas where your blood center is excelling – and the areas in which you could use some improvement.
DEMYSTIFY DIGITAL MARKETING FOR BLOOD DONATION – CONTACT INCEPT TODAY
Digital marketing is an exceptionally powerful tool for growing your donor base and your blood donation center. However, we know that it can also be tough to get started and implement an effective digital marketing strategy. With so many different platforms, marketing tools, and platforms, where do you begin?
We recommend starting with a consultation with one of our marketing experts at Incept. Digital marketing is our passion and our area of expertise, and we specialize in working with blood donation centers. Schedule your consultation today to learn more about how digital marketing can help you overcome the most common challenges in donor recruitment.