How We Built A Groundbreaking First Aid Chatbot For The British Red Cross

chatbot

When working with a charity, for us it’s not just about creating content or managing paid ads – it’s about making a difference – helping to put a smile on the face of users and making social feeds a place of hope and inspiration. 

At Social Republic, we’re proud to shout out about our extensive work with charities and non-profits over the last six years, including The British Red Cross, a long-established charity who has helped millions of people all over the world and in the UK to get the support they need when crisis strikes.

One piece in particular being the world’s first, Facebook Messenger first aid chatbot for the British Red Cross, also known as a “quizbot”, which launched to help parents learn life saving, first aid skills with their children. 

In the following blog we outline the process involved in creating this incredibly exciting and important campaign, a step-by-step guide on how ‘flows’ worked, as well as highlighting what the chatbot helped to achieve. 

Interested? Then carry on reading.

The Process Behind Creating The Quizbot

In order to create this innovative new way of learning, our teams utilised the platform Chatfuel, a leading chatbot platform for Facebook Messenger. 

Our creators worked alongside the British Red Cross’ internal teams to produce  a series of questions and answers for each section.

chatbot

The Process Behind Creating The Quizbot

In order to create this innovative new way of learning, our teams utilised the platform Chatfuel, a leading chatbot platform for Facebook Messenger. 

Our creators worked alongside the British Red Cross’ internal teams to produce  a series of questions and answers for each section.

chatbot ad

In order to create the quiz, we designed relevant ‘flows’ which would take users through a certain skill, for example explaining what to do if someone has a burn.

So, what is a ‘flow’ you may ask?

A flow is also referred to as a conversational scenario users can go through on Facebook Messenger, for example when a user asks a specific question, the flow will generate the answer suited to the keywords used.

Below we have outlined a step by step guide on how our flows worked: 


Step 1: A user would select the option to send a message to the British Red Cross Facebook page, where they would be introduced to the quizbot.

chatbot question

Step 2: The quizbot would then ask the user what skill they would like to learn, with choices including: bump to the head, burn or broken bone. Once a user had completed those three skills, they would then unlock more skills to try.

Step 3: The chatbot would then ask the user a series of questions with a choice of three answers.

chatbot question

Step 4: The journey for each user through the chatbot could be different, depending on if they selected the right or wrong answer. For example, if they were incorrect, the chatbot response would inform the user they had selected the wrong answer and provide the correct option so they could learn and progress through the quiz.

Step 5: Once a user had completed all the questions for that specific skill, they would then be rewarded a badge which they could share with friends. Users would also have the option to try another skill or head over to the First Aid Champions website, where they could learn in greater detail any first aid related information. 

chatbot question

And from there, we partnered with the charity’s external paid social media agency to develop a plan to retarget website visitors with ads to encourage activity on the chatbot as well as the call to action to download the first aid app.

What Did The Quizbot Help With?

The first aid quizbot provided, The British Red Cross, with a solution that allowed social media users to learn first aid skills in under a minute.

This quiz was accessible from a mobile device, desktop or laptop, allowing users to  improve their skills whenever, wherever in a short amount of time.

It has provided users with the confidence, knowledge and reassurance that if any first aid incident was to happen, they would know what to do. 

This groundbreaking solution was utilised by thousands of users, and increased the British Red Cross’s First Aid app downloads by 23%.

The Benefit Of Having A Bespoke Social Media Chatbot For Your Charity

By creating a chatbot tailored for your charity and the needs of your audiences,, you are able to connect with your supporters in a new, fun and educational way. 

Why you should be using social media chatbots:

  • Reach new audiences by allowing users to share their chatbot activity.
  • Educate your supporters in a fun and entertaining way.
  • Instantaneous responses, anyone with a Facebook account can take part anytime anywhere, from a mobile device or laptop.
  • Direct users to a specific landing page, ensuring your supporters get the answers they are looking for quickly and easily.

The possibilities are endless with a chatbot, so whatever your goal as a charity we can help you achieve that. 

We enjoyed turning this idea into a useful and interactive tool, that not only helped people expand on their first aid skills but also and proved that ‘bots’ can be extremely intuitive. 

With the opportunity to create a unique chatbot, suited to any scenario and with the influence of the limitless intelligence technology retains, there are many avenues chatbots can be suited to.

So what are you waiting for?

Get in touch with us today and let’s make social media history.