S2013 Social Media Toolkit

For two weeks after activation, SWOG will promote its new trials through its Twitter account. SWOG also encourages study chairs and other members of the trial team to use Twitter to promote their trials – when they launch and while they accrue patients.

This S2013 toolkit will help you promote your trial with ready-made tweets and graphics. All materials were custom-made for your trial. They’re approved by the Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB) for the National Cancer Institute and meet SWOG brand and style guidelines. No need to write or design anything. No need to secure permissions. Just use the posts and graphics as they are. You can also download a .zip file that contains the eight graphics as separate .jpg files.

Here are some tips for using this toolkit:

• Use the samples. All tweets in this kit meet the 280-character count for tweets – and the language has been approved by the NCI CIRB. Graphics are custom sized for Twitter. Using these tools will make trial promotion easy.
• Use hashtags. Hashtags can capture attention, and they’re searchable on Twitter. Common cancer hashtags include #BCSM for breast cancer social media and #LCSM for lung cancer social media. For a full list of hashtags, visit the Symplur website.
• Tag your friends and partners. Using handles will get your posts in front of more people – and the right ones. For example, you could tag @theNCI or @SWOG or tag your home institution, such as @UMRogelCancer. Tag individual members of the trial team, or advocacy groups that focus on the cancer type your trial is addressing. Use the “Search Twitter” feature on the site to find the handles you’re looking for.
• Don’t sell. Educate. Don’t directly sell the trial. Don’t tell patients to “enroll now” or “join to help find a cure.” Posts should inform readers about trial goals and importance. “This trial is testing immunotherapies to see if they can shrink rare tumors” is better than “Ask your doctor today about enrolling on this rare cancers trial!”
• Use a call to action. Send readers to SWOG.org to learn more. Soon, all new trials will have patient-directed information at swog.org/SXXXX and provider-directed information at swog.org/clinical-trials/SXXXX. Or use NCI Contact Center information – 1-800-4-Cancer – or send readers to the Contact Center’s website for phone, live chat, and email contact information.
• Ask for help. Ask your hospital’s communications office to promote your trial on Twitter. Ask your committee’s patient advocate for help, or approach advocacy groups that engage the patients the patients you’re seeking.

Questions? Contact SWOG Communications Manager Frank DeSanto at fdesanto@swog.org.