Social media is a great way for blood centers to reach potential donors. But one of the most powerful ways to reach potential donors often goes overlooked – influencer marketing. When done right, influencer partnerships can help you reach a huge audience and do more with your budget. In this blog, we’ll explore how influencer partnerships can help you spread your message and reach more blood donors in an organic, authentic way.
Authentic Content Drives Engagement And Brings More Donors
In today’s crowded marketing landscape, authenticity is a major factor that helps drive engagement. This is especially true among Millennials and Gen Z, who currently make up about 42% of the population.
All in all, 86% of consumers agree that authenticity is a “key factor” in determining which brands they like and support. By focusing on influencer marketing, blood centers can provide new insights into how blood donation works and reach potential donors in a real, authentic way.
For example, you could partner with a local TikTok or Instagram personality to make a video about their first blood donation experience. They could share the process from beginning to end and share it with their followers – allowing them to get a sneak peek and insights into what they can expect if they choose to donate.
Influencers Help Get Your Message To Get The Right Audience
Every influencer is different. A mommy blogger will have different followers than a Crossfitter. A beauty TikToker will have different followers than an Instagram account that focuses on reviewing local restaurants
This is something that you can use to your advantage. By choosing the right influencer partnerships, you can target specific age ranges, income levels, geographic locations, and more.
For example, before setting up a blood drive at a local university, you could reach out to partner with student-athletes, Greek life influencers, and other students who may have a sizable social media presence. This would allow you to quickly reach the majority of students who may be interested in participating in your blood drive.
Influencer Marketing Is Ideal If You’re On A Budget
Influencer marketing is surprisingly affordable, especially if you’re interested in working with smaller local “micro-influencers” rather than people with millions of followers. And in fact, choosing to work with smaller influencers can lead to more engagement – micro-influencers have engagement rates that are up to 3x higher compared to “mega-influencers.”
Another contributing factor is that most influencers are willing to work for a flat fee for each post, Tweet, video, or other piece of sponsored content. This helps keep your costs predictable, especially compared to paid search, social ads, and other PPC (pay-per-click) ad campaigns.
Partnering With Influencers Helps Build Your Social Presence, Too
Sponsored influencer content is a great way to get more followers on your social pages. As part of every post, influencers can share your social pages on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and any other platform you may use. This drives new followers to your own social pages, boosting your audience and leading to more social engagement.
Influencer Marketing Fits In Well Alongside Other Types Of Social Posts
As we’ve outlined above, influencer marketing has some great advantages for blood centers. But it’s not your only option. Influencers work well alongside other types of both paid and organic social media posts, such as:
Recipient stories – Recipient stories are powerful. Every day, someone’s life is changed by the generosity of a blood donor. Whether it’s in a video or text-based post, recipient stories help current, past, and potential donors realize the power of their donation.
Promoting donor incentives – Giving blood is an altruistic act. But people are people! Sweetening the deal a little bit for donors is a good way to get them to take action and donate blood. Limited-time incentives are particularly powerful – they create a sense of urgency and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that can encourage donors to book an appointment right away.
“Urgent Need” messaging – If your center is truly in dire need of blood, these types of posts can be very effective at attracting donors. But at Incept, we have noticed that “urgent need” messaging tends to lose its effectiveness when it’s used too often. Reserve these posts for when they're truly necessary!
Interested In Influencer Marketing? Develop Your Strategy With Incept Saves!
We offer a full suite of digital marketing services at Incept Saves. If you’re interested in the power of influencer marketing and how it can drive more donations to our blood center, our team is here to help. Schedule a commitment-free consultation on our website now, or feel free to give us a call at (330) 649-8000. We’d be happy to discuss our past clients, case studies, and how we can help your donation center reach and exceed its blood inventory goals.