Interview with Natalya Demina

Tell us about the project «There is a contact». What social media are used in the project? Describe the strengths of the various media platforms.

The project «There is a contact» is the promotion of the idea of regular donation of blood and bone marrow through various sites. Among them - the state public of the District Blood Transfusion Station in social networks «Vkontakte», «Odnoklassniki», as well as Telegram.

The very first source of interaction was the Vkontakte group. It was created in April 2015. Today, the community has over 10,000 subscribers.

The next way of communication is the Telegram channel (1350 subscribers). It was introduced just three years ago, but has great interest among our audience. Very convenient, easy to use.

And finally, the third direction - «Odnoklassniki». Its audience as a rule is people of the older generation. These are those who still donate blood, and those who have been coming to the blood transfusion station for many years. Due to age people stopped donating, but continue to contribute to the donation, sharing their experience and knowledge to the younger generation.

Each channel has its advantages. «Vkontakte» has long been a familiar social network. Users can easily control the information that enters the feed. For example, many subscribers add notifications about group to avoid missing the most important news. Also, our donors (and those who want to donate blood for the first time) can contact the private community on any issue that concerns participation in the donation - learn the donor code for the application «Blood Service», clarify the information on the appointment for donation and even warn, if they are a little late for the blood drive. In addition, the group has more than a dozen photo albums from the events. Everyone can check memorable photos from significant events.

Telegram is for communication with donors who are not members of social networks. Although, as a rule, our donors belong to all our communities. They do not want to miss interesting videos, surveys and news from the station.

Working in all directions, we have a great opportunity to reach as many target audiences as possible - potential and existing blood and bone marrow donors.

How do different types of content help you communicate the idea of regular blood and bone marrow donation to the target audience?

It is not easy to make everyone thinks - «How can I help?». We do it well because we use different kinds of content.

We educate subscribers on the topic of donation with posts about medical defences, blood groups, chiles and many more interesting and useful information. We regularly mention the staff of the Blood Service, tell about their work, how they got into the profession. We do not forget about the memorable dates of the institution. We tell about events from the life of the Blood Service, donor actions, destroy myths about donation and much more.

As part of reputational content, we share the achievements of the District Blood Transfusion Station, publications about corporate events, congratulations on city-wide holidays.

Involving content is one of our favorites. The morning is not good, unless you answer the daily question from the «Donor Interactive». With the help of this interesting format we broaden the horizons of subscribers. In a fascinating form we bring important knowledge in Ugra residents.

More than a thousand donors took part in our competitions and raffles. The format is diverse. Best photo vacation, best donor story. We have already made over 100 donors happy with cool gifts from the institution and sponsors.

Regular heading - «Eyes of the Donor from KMAO». Donors take photos at donations and post on social media, thereby introducing friends with donation. We often repost them to our page. The subscribers, seeing the activity of their fellow citizens in a good cause, take an example and also post about donorship. This is an inextricable chain, uniting strong and courageous people!

Video format. One of the most popular today. In videos we tell about the events that take place at the station: excursions, corporate actions. We share general information about the donation. We also publish video from donors. One of the traditions - congratulations from subscribers on holidays: happy new year, 8th of March and others.

How do you create effective communication between donors and blood workers? What are the criteria for effectiveness?

Our main principles for effective communication with donors are sincerity, communication, quick problem solving. We are ready to answer questions, support, consult 24/7. We enjoy communication with donors and they reciprocate us.

What is the importance of feedback for the blood service? What important information do you get from it?

Feedback is an important link in the chain of interaction. Through feedback we learn what our subscribers care about, what they would like to know more, analyze what they like of our content.

We get a lot of positive feedback about the work of the institution’s employees. This is the reason for them to become better, to grow in the professional sphere.

We respond to all comments by subscribers, whether positive or negative. We end up turning negative to positive, solving the problem raised by the donor. We always try to become even better, even more interesting.

What are the results of the project «There is a contact»? What are the plans for its development?

The results of the project are amazing! Due to various types of social media, diversity of content and maintenance of feedback with subscribers, we actively promote blood and bone marrow donation in Ugra.

Every day, communicating in personal messages, in comments, subscribers send us simple magic words «Thank you». For us, this is the highest performance evaluation! This is the greatest motivation to be even better, even more interesting and to continue to develop important social direction.

Our work was noted at the district level. Last year, the Ugra Blood Service community became one of the flagship publics of the Okrug and took the second place in the ranking, among the existing 150 state public in various fields of activity (culture, health, sports and others).

The community in «Vkontakte» and the Telegram are the most numerous among 98 medical organizations of Ugra.

We try to involve not only donors, but people interested in healthy lifestyle.

Your brochure «ABC of donation» was appreciated by the jury of the All-Russian competition of professional skill of the Blood Service. Tell us how this idea came about.

Each of us from the school bench had one, the first and the most important book - ABC. It was the foundation on which we laid further knowledge. It is the same with our «ABC of donation». The purpose of the brochure is the foundation of knowledge about donation in the younger generation, answers to the most important questions - what is donation, why it is important in our lives, in the lives of every person. This knowledge must be laid down from the school bench. Therefore, our book is made in a simple format, accessible to children.

Tell us about the authors, about those who participated in preparation, created text.

The idea of creating a donor ABC came to me. Our talented colleague from Surgut - Yana Sergeyeva - made it a reality. We work very closely. We always discuss events, publications, share tips. Thanks to the tandem work, it’s possible to create such unique things.

Where will it be distributed?

The brochure will be distributed on excursions in the institution of the Blood Service, and during lectures for schoolchildren and students.

Our traditional question: what would you wish donors and those who are going to join the donor program?

I wish donors the most important - good health and good mood! Let them continue to delight us with positive attitude and save the lives of Yugors.

Those who are considering whether to join the donor path, we invite to join our friendly community! We’ll tell you that donating is important, it’s necessary. And if you have such a unique opportunity (which is not given to everyone) to share your precious blood, do not miss it and join us!