British Heart Foundation
Online PR drives the Help a Heart campaign to new heights
Date: July 2007
Objectives
- To raise the profile of the annual ‘Help a Heart’ campaign and drive targeted traffic to the British Heart Foundation main website
- To generate additional sign-ups to related fundraising activities and events
- To increase the number and value of online donations
"helped the campaign become the second highest referrer site to the official British Heart Foundation website, with 35% of visits from first-time visitors"
Background
- The British Heart Foundation is the UK’s foremost heart research charity
- For the last 45 years they have played a vital role in funding pioneering research
- June’s ‘Help a Heart’ campaign goal was to push national fundraising to support further research
Online strategy
- Online PR activity to maximize reach and engage with a wider audience – driving traffic from the campaign microsite to the main British Heart Foundation website
- Creation of a dedicated ‘Help a Heart’ blog; fostering a sense of community and involvement
- Frequent blog updates, creating synergy and uplift with search engine optimisation activities
- Using the blog to engage and build greater awareness amongst journalists and PRs
- Gain feedback and market research from blog interactions
- Supporting the BHF internal team and project managing online PR activities
- Integration with offline PR activity to reinforce key messages
Results
The ‘Help a Heart’ blog:
- Attracted over 3,000 visitors during the campaign
- Was the second highest referrer site to the official British Heart Foundation website, with 35% of visits from first-time visitors
- Formed a rich source of information about activities taking place during the campaign
- Daily fresh content ensured a regular flow of engaged users
- Networking with relevant organizations to spark media interest e.g. online press coverage of a photo shoot with a popular football club
- Quality inbound link creation, with backing from companies like Virgin Media who placed links to the blog on their intranet
- Viral campaigns to spread awareness and create greater word of mouth
Visit Website: www.bhf.org.uk/hahc/
