DONOR Recruitment and Retention in the Digital Era Ms Zali Mbombo Marketing and Communications Executive South African National Blood Service (SANBS)

DONOR Recruitment and Retentionin the Digital Era

Ms Zali MbomboMarketing and Communications ExecutiveSouth African National Blood Service (SANBS)

BACKGROUND

• SANBS A SECTION 21 NON PROFITSANBS A SECTION 21 NON PROFIT ORGANISATION ORGANISATION

• SANBS Labs and Donor Clinics Accredited bySANBS Labs and Donor Clinics Accredited by SANAS (South African accreditation system) SANAS (South African accreditation system)

• 750 000 UNITS OF BLOOD Collected annually750 000 UNITS OF BLOOD Collected annually

• 3000 units collected daily3000 units collected daily

• 2 Testing stations and 7 Blood Processing2 Testing stations and 7 Blood Processing centers centers

• 80 Blood banks serving 450 hospitals80 Blood banks serving 450 hospitals

Challenges facing donor recruitment duringthese difficult economic times?

• SANBS has faced many changes and challenges in its mission ‘to provide all patients with sufficient safe, quality blood products and medical services related to blood transfusion in an equitable, cost effective manner’.

• As it is, the decision to become a regular blood donor is a hard sell in our time-deprived, self-centred community with increasing risk due to the high HIV prevalence rate.

• 2008-Global Economic Climate has exacerbated the problem

• Media Reports state that 4mil people in SA cannot pay their debts, this makes it impossible for the service to recruit and retain Voluntary donors as blood donation moves to the bottom list of priorities.

• Ageing Donors have resulted in the reduction of retained donorsAgeing Donors have resulted in the reduction of retained donors

• Venture into Recruiting Young eligible donors and Retain them

• A need to look at the Business Strategy differently

• Growth in Customer Segmentation with focus on Tailored Marketing

Challenges

• To confront the single biggest factor that can impede or accelerate growth (increase /decrease in collections) : Transformation , Changes in Donor’s Lifestyle

• To Retain and Motivate Staff!

• The only form of competitive advantage that SANBS have is the staff’s ability to adapt immediately to changes in our Social environment

• Unleashing a culture of people at work to change faster than the environment we find ourselves operating in – It is a Digital World!

Donations by Age Groups: Interpretation

In 2006 and 2007

• Most blood was collected from donors between the ages of 31-40.

• The second most blood donations were collected from donors between 41-50.

• There were more donations from the age group 16-19 than those who were between 20-30.

• In other words, there are more donations which were collected from school learners than those from young people who are either at tertiary/college or working.

• SANBS have to continuously make use of the Traditional media in order to continuously retain the Donors between 31-50 years

• Where as for young donors there is a need to explore other New Media like Facebook, Mxit, etc.

Blood Donations by Age Groups(Past Two Years)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

2006 2007

16-19

20-25

26-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

New SANBS Strategic Focus

• Increase and Enhance our Social Networks Increase and Enhance our Social Networks across the agesacross the ages

• In SA, online marketing has been slow to take off, with Internet penetration lagging behind world average (Management Review :2008)

• Majority of South Africans do not have access to Computers, thus relies on word of mouth and media for information

• SA has 5 million internet users less than 10% of the population

• Strong reliance on Traditional media i.e. Radio, face to face recruiting etc

Source: Management Review 2008

Strategic ObjectivesPeter Drucker ”Business has only two basic functions- Peter Drucker ”Business has only two basic functions-

marketing and innovation”marketing and innovation”

• Enhance brand digitally and reinforce SANBS’ corporate presence online Increase current Donor confidence, loyalty and satisfaction and attract a new donor base.

• Get more donors to register online

• Enhance Relationship Management between SANBS , Donors and other stakeholders

• Facilitation of Dialogue by enabling user generated dialogue

• Utilisation of tools to enable audience to engage with each other and collaborate to the benefit of SANBS

Excerpts from our Social Media Strategy

Use of Social Media Strategies to increase visibility of the South African

National Blood Service (SANBS), motivate youth to donate, monitor, participate,

and guide online conversations about SANBS.

Big idea

MXit: 6.5 mil in South Africa; 60% between 18-25 years-old

Facebook: 716, 240 13-25 year-olds in South Africa; 1.3 mil total in SA

MySpace: 3,000 18-25 year-olds in South Africa

Twitter: 3,000 citizens on Twitter (newer form of social media platform that has doubled in users over the last 2 months)

Platforms (and number of users by platform)

Excerpts from our Social Media Strategy

MXit: Sponsor Tradepost contest/survey or host chat rooms

Create Facebook Group & MySpace page for SANBS and Club 25

(target users in South Africa)

• Include section of FAQs• Link to “where to donate” page• Provide info on upcoming campaigns• Provide pictures of past campaigns if available• Buy Facebook Ads to promote Facebook page

Strategy Overview

Create a Twitter profile for SANBS, begin “following” those living in South Africa

• Offer facts on blood donation• Answer followers questions on blood donation• Inform followers of upcoming campaigns

Excerpts from our Social Media Strategy

Create a microsite on SANBS’ website to target specifically our Club 25• Microsite will also feature blood stock meter• Will use rich media to create and unforgettable experience• Microsite will provide tools to create communities, and will drive traffic

the SANBS website.

Strategy Overview

Other ideas include:

• creating a Second Life virtual office

• setting up an innovative chatting system on SANBS’ website similar to the one at www.habbo.com

• Possibly link strategy to work started by the IMC in South Africa “it starts with you” campaign.

• Create a series of Blogs that will be monitored to protect the reputationCreate a series of Blogs that will be monitored to protect the reputation of SANBS and establish a communication medium with stakeholders of SANBS and establish a communication medium with stakeholders

Excerpts from our Social Media Strategy

• Encourage staff / managers/ executives of SANBS to create Facebook and Twitter accounts to help promote SANBS Facebook and Twitter

• Encourage Staff / managers / executives to create LinkedIn profiles and create a SANBS group for staff to join.

• Produce 1 or 2 min videos of inspirational or “Good News Stories” to be distributed on Youtube and added to Facebook & Myspace pages.

• Produce an inspirational song to be spread on the internet

• Create RSS feed of SANBS news

• Create a blood donation tracker Facebook application, similar to the Canadian Blood Services’, but take it to the next level.

Strategy Overview - Recommendations

New Generation Marketing Tools

• SA Facebook @ about 750,000 members and growing to 3,000 a day, SA is ranked 6th in the Top 10 (US is leading). SANBS is to explore this social utility that connects the Youth and Club 25 will be marketed through this

• There is a need to penetrate Massive Peer to Peer Audience that can be segmented

• SANBS aims to be a Player in the Digital Arena through its digital Brand Strategy incorporating Social media, Web, Digital Out-of-Home, Broadcast, Multimedia platforms such as Podcasts, Blogging, Mobile, etc)

“Once a Social operating system takes over a country, its like it becomes the native language of that country”

Lee Lorenzen, venture capitalist

Excerpts from our Social Media Strategy

Users are given a persona, an avatar, and the ability to track the numberof times they have donated blood, how many potential lives they havesaved, how many times friends have donated blood and also the abilityplan donation appointments. More and more virtual friends willbecome real friends

The idea here is to make them feel like heroes. “A hero saves lives”. By donating blood and referring more people, users earn points and gaingrades, and ultimately the status of “master” (junior > mid > master).Masters win prizes and get exposure on the radio, SANBS TV (futureonline TV platform), SANBS web, etc…

Facebook Application Overview

Excerpts from our Social Media Strategy

Facebook Application overview

Kids chat to Medical Consultants online

Source: Next Generation Social Marketing

2010 Blood Donor online Project

• Launch of the 2010 Blood Donor online Project will make it incredibly simple for donors to make appointments via the Internet. It will be a simple web-based program that will be easily integrated into SANBS website. Donors will be able to search by fixed or mobile blood donation site name and other criteria to find the donation center that works best for them.

• Donors score points and choose gifts online and are Incentivised :Links to commercial sites (Ananzi.com)

SANBS Strategic Focus• Media Radio is inexpensive and can reach out to a number of people at a time

Introduction of Citizen Journalism Includes running a poll to assess donor opinions, participating in Radio or Television talk shows as part of the PR process and discuss broader issues about blood donation AND use people’s views to change the recruitment and retention strategy

• Use of Pod casts for news

Reach – All Media

93

81

69

4437

7

0

20

40

60

80

100Total Population – 45mil

Source: Rams 2007/3

Unique Connection to a wider Audiencethrough Radio

• Outside Broadcasts : Drawing attention to our brand

• SA Regional Youth FM

Concluding Remarks

• SANBS will strive to be Innovative in its approach to reach out to a wider SANBS will strive to be Innovative in its approach to reach out to a wider audience and making use of Multiple options is keyaudience and making use of Multiple options is key

• Measure Impact of Donor and User Education interventionsMeasure Impact of Donor and User Education interventions

• Digital Marketing has become so powerful that it can transform the marketing Digital Marketing has become so powerful that it can transform the marketing approach overall.approach overall.

• The goal is to stimulate viral activity in order to deliver differentiated brand The goal is to stimulate viral activity in order to deliver differentiated brand intelligenceintelligence

Thank You!