• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 13, 2013

The PKD Foundation wanted to raise awareness of a genetic life-threatening polycystic kidney disease affecting about 12.5 million people worldwide. With help from BLiNQ Media, the foundation has launched a Facebook campaign that raised interaction with the content and foundation by 439%.

The Facebook campaign running in March generated more than 16,000 clicks on posts about PKD, which came in contact with 14,189 more people. The campaign's average click-through rate (CTR) was 5.1%, with the majority of new fans acquired through daily posts about National Kidney Month.

The campaign extended the foundation's reach to about 1,158% more people. The reach is defined as the available audience that has not previously engaged with the content or the page.

The goal of raising awareness has generated donations. Proceeds from the campaign will go toward research for polycystic kidney disease. Almost all impressions -- 95% -- were served on mobile devices, which produced a much higher CTR rate.

The campaign helped to generate 32,220 visits to the PKD Foundation Web site in March, up sequentially from 21,363. It received 238 online donations that month, compared with 125 in February. Of these donations, seven came directly from Facebook, the most the foundation received from the social platform.

The social campaign has also generated leads. Email signup requests rose 309% to 311 compared with the previous month. The Foundation received $540 from its text-to-donate challenge, exceeding the goal of $310.

The BLiNQ Facebook campaign has kick-started awareness, but it's not an anomaly. Luis Caballero, BLiNQ CEO, said other foundations also have begun to use Facebook campaigns to raise awareness.

Facebook retargeting capabilities rely on intent from search and context from social to produce results, which makes the media a powerful tool. "Increasing the likelihood of someone to engage in Facebook means identifying the audience in advance," Caballero said. "We determine the propensity for the audience to engage. It lets us identify Facebook members wanting to have an active conversation about a message."

Erma Bombeck, Neil Simon, and Steven Cojocaru are among those who have died or are living with PKD.

Media company Gannett acquired BLiNQ Media in August 2012.