Colorectal cancer marketing is hard. The typical call to actions (screenings) are not a pleasant thought for anyone — even though they can save your life. That said, it is more important than ever to figure out effective marketing tactics for this condition.

1. Take Advantage of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

With March being Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, you can leverage the messaging other organizations are doing. Consider it a free boost, or an echo chamber to amplify the outreach you do. We all know it takes significant repetition for consumers to respond. So any time they are hearing the same thing from multiple sources can only help. Health awareness months are one of the few times the background noise coalesces into a megaphone for good.

So take advantage of the synergy. Furthermore, a quick Google search can help turn up free resources (like these and these,) to aid with your promotion of cancer screenings.

2. Use Humor for Effective Colorectal Cancer Marketing

Another tip? Consider injecting a little bit of humor into your campaigns. This can be especially effective for sensitive subjects like this one. One of my favorite campaigns from my days as a hospital-based marketer was simply a shiny red Corvette with the tagline: Time for routine maintenance on your tailpipe. This approach can work because consumers see themselves as people, not patients.

Also, images of shiny, happy people sitting at a computer, on the golf course, or walking their dog are overdone. Appropriately-placed humor with a solid call-to-action, can be make your message stand out. It’s not about making light of cancer—it’s about alleviating the heaviness of what is a potentially scary procedure.

Here are a few more our team came up with:

3. Provide Online Tools to Help Motivate Screenings

Early detection is key to surviving this cancer, and that is done through screenings. But many people are unaware that they are at a high enough risk that they should be screened. A Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment like ours works great for those consumers interested in learning more about their risk but who are not ready to schedule a screening otherwise. Some people just need to see it in black and white before they take action.

Even better, the HRA personalizes the recommendations so everyone is getting the advice that is right for them. Plus, as this is a sensitive topic, they can digest the recommendations in privacy, at their convenience.

Furthermore, the HRAs are a perfect match for Facebook and Google promotions during the awareness month, as the call-to-action links in posts. We see huge spikes in completions when our HRAs are paired with effective social and digital marketing campaigns. Also, in the included follow-up emails sent out by our system, you can include valuable secondary content. For example, doctor profiles, misconceptions about screening procedures, information about preparation, and even scheduling links. Plus, the included Follow-Up Strategy Guide has additional recommended messaging to help you make the most of every completion.

Three Bonus Tips to Help You Make a Difference in Peoples’ Lives

• Encourage employees to get screened
• Share information on types of tests that are available
• Share stories of early detection, survival, and hope

BTW, if you don’t have our Colon Cancer HRA, there is still time to get one before March. Contact us if you want to know more. If you already have it, let us know if you want help in optimizing it. We’d love to talk strategy with you!

Hope these tips were helpful! Thanks for reading!