Check your balls!

How to write for social marketing:

Insights from copywriting for testicular cancer awareness website itsinthebag.org.uk

Not content with having a rare cancer, my dad had to go one step further…

Find out more at: itsinthebag.org.uk/available-support/survivor-stories/peters-story

It’s in the Bag’s key awareness message:

1) Check your balls once a month 2) If you notice a change, go straight to your GP for advice.

How do you write copy to convince people to take action for their health?

How do you persuade young men, at the age of peak health/fitness, to change their

attitude and behaviour?

A 3-step action plan for writing to change behaviour…

Step 1

Identify your audience, their needs and the barriers to their taking action.

Target audience for itsinthebag.org.uk:

20- to 40-year-old men, living in South-West England.

(Visitors to the website are likely to have had some prior contact with IITB, e.g. through outreach activities or social media.)

Research: ‘Talking Bollocks’ with UWE Bristol social marketing centre

Male students were surveyed to find out:

•  What they knew about testicular cancer •  What their attitude was towards Testicular Self Examination (TSE) •  How they felt about visiting the doctor.

The research showed a need for:

•  A greater awareness of testicular cancer symptoms (beyond the obvious ‘lump’)

•  A greater awareness of the need for Testicular Self Examination (TSE), and how to do it

Barriers

Research (Talking Bollocks, plus online research and anecdotal evidence) identified the following barriers to young men’s taking action on IITB’s key messages:

•  A lack of engagement in/open discussion of health issues

•  Forgetting to carry out TSE/not treating it as a priority (for those who are aware of how to do it)

•  A reluctance to visit the GP

Fear of cancer along with embarrassment and a ‘wait-and-see strategy’ were identified as barriers to men visiting their GP with testicular cancer symptoms.

STEP 2 Tackle the barriers head-on.

Barrier Solutions

Men's traditional lack of engagement in health issues

•  Raise awareness of TC in an upbeat and appealing way, using accessible language and humour

•  Employ 'social proof’

Forgetting to carry out TSE •  As part of 'Pledge to Check', men are given the option to sign up for a reminder  

Reluctance to visit GP •  Break this down into individual obstacles – fear of cancer, embarrassment and waiting to see if the problem will go away – and deal with each explicitly on the 'Found Something' page

STEP 3  

Write for your audience.

What tone of voice would work best to engage our target audience in testicular cancer awareness?

Style Description Examples

Accessible Natural, conversational language that's relevant and easy to understand

•  ‘balls’; ‘stat’; ‘cure’ (rather than ‘testicles’; ‘statistic’; ‘remission’)

Upbeat/fun Content that’s enjoyable to read  –  to promote a positive attitude rather than a fearful one

•  ‘the battle of man vs cancer’

•  ‘boost the cure rate’

•  ‘wouldn't that be incredible?’

Informative/trustworthy Including facts and stats –  to educate and reassure that this is a reliable information source.

‘More than 96% of men who get testicular cancer will be cured.’

Example page: ‘Check your balls’  itsinthebag.org.uk/ball-checking/why-check

Opening paragraph of ‘Check your Balls’ page features:

•  Accessible language   Short sentences/very short paragraphs (1-2 sentences) for clarity and

impact

•  Attention-grabbing headline (‘Testicular cancer: The life-saving lowdown’)   Headline includes reader benefit, giving incentive to read on, i.e. ‘this info

could save your life’   Playful tone achieved via alliteration (‘life/lowdown’) and informal vocab

choice (‘lowdown’)

•  Intrigue   First sentence designed to hook the reader in, and encourage them to

keep reading

‘You’re about to discover the single most important fact about testicular cancer that you (probably) didn’t know.’

This begs two questions: 1) What is the fact? 2) Did I already know it?

This encourages the reader to read on to find out the answers!

Framing (1 of 4):

Another copywriting technique that’s useful to consider when you’re writing for health awareness is framing, i.e.:

‘What’s the best way of presenting this information, in order to make it compelling for my audience?’

Rather than using scaremongering techniques (‘don’t think this won’t happen to you’, etc.), the Check your Balls page frames the issue of testicular cancer in a way that’s positive.

•  'This fact is good news.’ •  ‘We’re all a lot stronger than we might think.‘ •  '96% of men who get testicular cancer will be cured'

Framing (2 of 4):

The decision to use positive framing was not straightforward.

There was a difficult balance to be struck between:

a)  Being so reassuring that men are given the impression that ball-checking is unnecessary, and

b)  Reinforcing the fear that could cause men to delay going to the doctor

On balance, addressing and mitigating fear was felt to be a more effective approach because:

•  Fear of cancer is powerful and widespread (a 2010 Cancer Research UK poll identified it as ‘the nation’s biggest fear’)

•  Visitors to the site may well have been prompted by a current concern or because they know a testicular cancer patient/survivor

•  Positive framing is in keeping with the fun, sociable approach IITB uses to encourage a change in attitude/behaviour.

Framing (3 of 4):

The ‘Check your Balls’ message is one of empowerment:

We're not powerless victims of fate in the face of cancer; we can have an influence on our prognosis

Framing (4 of 4):

As part of this positive approach, ball-checking and seeking medical advice were framed as becoming part of an ‘anti-cancer’ movement – using words such as ‘we’ and ‘together’:

-'we're all a lot stronger...' -'together we'd have the potential to boost the cure rate...'

  Creates a sense of a social trend that guys can become part of   Points out that taking action to protect yourself against testicular cancer

could have an impact beyond yourself as an individual – collective action could help boost the cure rate

Summary   When you're writing to change behaviour (e.g. to persuade people to take action for their health), remember these 3 steps:   •  Step 1. Identify your audience, their needs and the

barriers to their taking action   •  Step 2. Write copy that tackles these barriers head-on   •  Step 3: Write for your audience – in a style they'll engage

with, and with content that meets their needs

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” Martin Luther

Your words have the potential to improve people's health – and could even help save a life!

Itsinthebag.org.uk is brought to you by:

Danielle Styles Copywriter

Andrew Styles

Digital designer/developer

capocopy.com adstyl.es

… in collaboration with:

It’s in the Bag – a part of Above and Beyond charity