Boosting Patient Outreach for Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials
For Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, let’s take a look at how sponsors and CROs can connect patients to life-lengthening clinical trials.
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and advocacy groups across the globe are shining a light on an often-overlooked disease. Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The American Cancer society projects that it will surpass colorectal cancer to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths by 2020.
Pancreatic cancer develops quickly, so for patients looking for treatment options, every minute counts. Beyond raising public awareness, sponsors and CROs can contribute to Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month by increasing their efforts to connect pancreatic cancer patients to potentially life-saving clinical trials. Here, we examine some of the most effective digital channels and strategies for patient recruitment.
Using SEO and Social Media to Reach Pancreatic Cancer Patients
SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) ads are established, direct ways of connecting with patients. These tools are effective because they reach patients where they’re already looking for treatment. In fact, over 77 percent of Internet users attempting to access medical information online begin with a search engine.
To reach relevant audiences, sponsors and CROs should make use of long-tail keywords. Pancreatic cancer patients often search for particular symptoms or treatments near specific locations, such as “pancreatic cancer treatment in Seattle.” By anticipating their queries, sponsors and CROs can ensure clinical trials show up in patients’ search results.
Patient recruitment strategists can also enhance SEO and PPC campaigns by combining them with social media ads. This is important because ads that are widely shared are more likely to have better search rankings. Social media platforms like Facebook have massive user bases and advanced targeting capabilities, which enables sponsors and CROs to deliver ads to a wide range of pancreatic cancer patients and their friends and families.
Beyond search engines and popular websites like WebMD, chronic disease patients especially rely on online patient groups for support and new information. By engaging with Facebook support groups, sponsors and CROs can reach pancreatic cancer patients on a platform they trust and connect them with relevant clinical trials.
The Importance of Patient-Centric Messaging
When reaching out to pancreatic cancer patients, it is essential to respond to patient pain points. Pancreatic cancer patients will actively seek out treatments with life-saving or life-lengthening possibilities, treatments that help with symptom management, and those that have an impact on quality of life. Demonstrating knowledge of specific pain points indicates to patients that sponsors and CROs truly understand their concerns.
Ad and website copy should also ensure that medical terminology is accessible for patients. Overly technical content can negatively impact patient incentives and steer away interested parties. On the other hand, concise, relevant messaging can increase the number of conversions and improve patient recruitment rates.
Launching a strategic digital recruitment campaign is an effective way to introduce life-lengthening treatments to interested patients. Whatever the approach, it’s important to focus on the target audience and set clear objectives. By targeting pancreatic cancer patients already looking for treatment, sponsors and CROs can boost their enrollment numbers and connect patients with the trials that are right for them.
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