*Purpose: Testing and examination of media campaigns focused on deceased donor transplant abound. Fewer studies examine the effectiveness of different media strategies at increasing not only interest in living donation, but also strategies that increase actions towards becoming a living donor or getting a living donor transplant.

*Methods: We conducted a 6-month digital media campaign to assess the relative effectiveness of video and banner ads about living donation. Media content for this campaign was derived from the LD Storytelling Project, a digital library of diverse living donor kidney transplant (LDKT) recipient and donor stories. Banner ads were varied by including different slogans (e.g., “Meet others like you”, “Help your patients find a donor”, “Hear stories of Hope”, etc.) targeting the unique audiences. Video ads varied by story type (e.g., donor, recipient, and kidney patient seeking a kidney). Audiences included potential donors, patients seeking a kidney, kidney recipients, and kidney donors. Campaign success was measured using engagement (i.e., impressions and click-through-rates (CTR)) and traffic to the ELD website via Google Analytics.

*Results: For most audiences, the difference between banner ad and video engagement was minimal and not significant. Despite being at or near industry benchmarks, neither banners nor video content resulted in a significant influence on inspiring LD behaviors. However, the video campaign resulted in more website visits (166 video vs 99 banner) indicating a greater likelihood to navigate to the ELD website organically following exposure to the video campaign. Both past recipients and those seeking a kidney resonated most with the “Hear stories of Hope” banner ad. Kidney donors identified closely with the “Meet others like you” banner ad while potential donors identified most with “One person can change a life”. Potential donors most frequently accessed a kidney recipient video wherein a woman received a kidney from her mother. A donor story from a young man who donated a kidney to his aunt was most effective with patients seeking a kidney. The top performing video for kidney donors showcased a father who’d donated to his young daughter. Kidney recipients most frequently viewed a story from an incompatible donor.

*Conclusions: Video message strategies are more effective at driving website traffic than banner ads. Commonalities can be seen between those who have experienced living donation (i.e., kidney donors and recipients) and those who are exploring living donation in the types of banner ads and video stories they view most frequently. More needs to be explored to uncover the specific message features that make different ELD messages more engaging for different audiences and drive more action towards learning about living donation.

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