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Recruiting volunteers for RNID through a multi-channel campaign

Working with RNID, we used paid media to recruit 187 hearing aid maintenance volunteers across a location-specific campaign. With recruitment needs varying across the UK, we continually adapted activity around local priorities while testing a broader mix of channels to inform future campaigns.

Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID)

3 mins read

Related work categories Digital marketing PPC Social media
Two people sitting together at a table, smiling as they look at and interact with a tablet. One is wearing an RNID lanyard, and the other is wearing headphones.

The results

The client

RNID

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) is a UK charity that supports people who are deaf, have hearing loss or experience tinnitus.

RNID works to make life more inclusive and accessible for people with hearing loss, while improving hearing health across the UK.

The challenge

Recruiting volunteers where they were needed most

RNID needed to recruit hearing aid maintenance and general volunteers for specific service locations across the UK. Success wasn't just about the overall number of applications; it was about recruiting people in the places RNID needed them, with those needs varying from one location to another.

At the same time, RNID wanted to raise broader awareness of its volunteering opportunities and explore how a wider mix of paid media channels could support future recruitment.

Our approach

Balancing recruitment with local need

We developed a paid media strategy across Meta, Nextdoor, Google Search and Performance Max, with activity running from January to March.

The campaign was designed to respond as RNID's recruitment needs changed. Alongside CPA and overall performance, we kept a close eye on progress in individual locations. As recruitment targets were met in one area, we could shift investment towards others where more volunteers were still needed.

This gave us a more useful measure of success than campaign-wide performance alone, keeping the paid media activity closely aligned with RNID's recruitment priorities throughout the three months.

Testing new channels

Alongside meeting RNID's immediate recruitment needs, we wanted the campaign to generate useful learnings for the future. Broadening the channel mix gave us an opportunity to understand where else RNID could effectively reach potential volunteers and the role different platforms might play in future recruitment activity.

This was particularly valuable as the paid media landscape for health-related organisations continues to change, affecting the tracking and optimisation options available on Meta. Building insight across a wider mix of platforms gives RNID more options as that landscape continues to evolve.

Learning what drives applications

Creative testing gave us a clearer picture of what encouraged people to apply.

Location-specific messaging consistently delivered lower CPAs, while ads with a direct volunteer recruitment ask generated significantly more applications than awareness-led creative, including video content. These insights give RNID useful evidence to build on when developing future volunteer recruitment campaigns.

The outcomes

Recruiting volunteers and building insight

Over three months, we achieved:

  • 187 volunteer sign-ups
  • £126 average cost per acquisition
  • 97k+ clicks from 4.6 million impressions
  • £83.07 CPA from Performance Max, making it the top-performing channel

Building on our learnings

The value of the campaign goes beyond the 187 people recruited. RNID now has a stronger evidence base to build on, with a clearer picture of how different channels perform and the messaging that is most effective at turning interest into applications.

Performance Max showed particular potential as a recruitment channel and will continue to be tested in future campaigns.

On Meta, lead generation campaigns offer another area to explore as the health-related advertising landscape continues to evolve. This could provide an alternative to website-based conversion tracking and another route for people to register their interest in volunteering.

Working with Torchbox helped us reach potential volunteers where they were needed most, while giving us valuable insight into the channels, creative and messaging that can drive recruitment. It was great to work collaboratively throughout the campaign, with the team continually adapting the activity in response to our changing recruitment needs and performance. The campaign has given us a stronger understanding of what works when it comes to reaching and engaging potential volunteers, and the learnings will help shape how we approach volunteer recruitment in the future.

Becca Costi Social Media Manager

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Danielle Wilkin

Senior Digital Marketing Executive

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