Projects / National Gaucher Foundation

Digital Marketing Educates and Connects Rare Disease Community

MARKETING SERVICES

  • Content Planning
  • Content Production
  • Content Implementation
  • Social Media Management
  • Email Marketing Strategy
  • Email Production
  • Email Management

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The Client

The National Gaucher Foundation (NGF) is an independent nonprofit that was established to help patients who have Gaucher disease — a rare genetic disorder — through financial support, educational programming, patient services and collaboration with medical professionals.

The Foundation was established in 1984 by a group of families and is located in Rockville, Maryland. NGF’s mission is to raise awareness about Gaucher disease, educate patients and those who have not yet been diagnosed, and provide financial assistance to patients and their families. The Foundation is run by a small team of professionals and medical experts.

In 2021, NGF allocated $2.1 million in individual grants to patients through their CARE and CARE+ programs, which provide aid to Gaucher patients through a 12-month grant to those who are financially eligible.

The Challenge

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, NGF could no longer host in-person meetings or send out physical copies of their newsletter. With the use of social media increasing during the pandemic, NGF needed the wealth of information provided on their website transferred to social media and email. Pivoting to social media would also extend NGF’s reach to younger segments of their audience, such as patients between 18-35 years of age. The Foundation needed an email marketing plan as well in order to maximize reach to their community members.

Between the global shift to connecting virtually and a need to reach young adults, the Foundation knew they had to incorporate social media and email campaigns into their marketing strategy.

Doing so would support their mission of educating the public about Gaucher disease.

“This isn’t the same old marketing plan as everybody else. Each week, they bring something new to the table.”
NOREEN LAYNE
PROGRAM MANAGER, NATIONAL GAUCHER FOUNDATION

Project Highlights

  • Worked with NGF team to research, brainstorm, and develop digital marketing and education plan
  • Created a six-month content calendar featuring two to three social media posts per week aimed at boosting traffic to NGF’s website
  • Designed and posted educational content on NGF’s Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
  • Created a series of automated welcome emails for new subscribers joining the NGF community
  • Monitored NGF’s social media platforms to engage with users that commented on posts or directly messaged NGF

The Solution

In April 2022, NGF reached out to Digital Ink looking for a strong digital marketing partner.

Together, NGF and Digital Ink created a strategy that would refresh the Foundation’s social media profiles, monitor engagement, plan and produce email campaigns, and transform the existing educational material on NGF’s website into digestible digital media content.

Digital Ink constructed a six-month calendar for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and designed graphics that consolidated complicated medical information into visually pleasing posts. Additionally, a series of personalized welcome emails were implemented for new subscribers to NGF’s digital newsletter.

With Digital Ink’s assistance, new content was posted on NGF’s social media platforms two to three times per week, and emails were delivered on a monthly basis. Additionally, users that engaged with NGF through direct messages or comments on social media were provided with timely responses or connected with a medical authority.

NGF needed the wealth of information provided on their website transferred to social media and email.

Results

Digital Ink’s thorough marketing strategy increased traffic to NGF’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and website. This in turn increased the donations made through NGF’s Facebook page. The revamp of NGF’s online presence, personalized email campaigns, and monitoring of their pages resulted in NGF becoming a more engaging and accessible resource to their entire community.

Within six months of partnering with Digital Ink, NGF saw a 124% increase in likes on Facebook and a 423.5% increase in Instagram followers. They also gained 22% more subscribers to their email newsletter.

In September 2022, Digital Ink and NGF’s work led to a Web Excellence award for social media success in the Health & Wellness category.

With Digital Ink by their side, the National Gaucher Foundation’s important educational work has reached a wider audience than ever. Together, they will continue raising awareness about Gaucher disease and helping those affected by the disease “live a better today.”

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