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Using Emotion to Build Clinical Trial Website Awareness
A long list of barriers can prevent patients from participating in clinical trials. But a website with strong emotional appeal can inspire them to look beyond those barriers.
By Jonathan Eilberg
Digital Marketing Consultant/Principal at Boston Web Partners
Attracting patients to enroll in clinical trials is crucial for the advancement of medical science and the development of new treatments, not to mention the success of most biotech firms. But too many trials fail to draw the participants they need. In fact, 80 percent of trials are closed or delayed because of a lack of enrollment.
Various barriers can make patients unwilling to sign up for trials. For example, taking part in a trial can take time, especially if it involves regular trips to a clinical center. Trials may also require travel, time off from work, childcare, and medical testing.
Fewer than 10 percent of Americans enroll in clinical trials, and those rates are even lower among low-income people and others in traditionally underrepresented groups.
That's the bad news. The good news is that
most patients say they believe in the importance of clinical trials, and many would consider participating. But how can biotech companies help patients overcome the barriers that stand in their way?
"Stories help potential trial participants to connect with others on a deeply emotional level and to easily envision the people that their trial participation may help."
Tapping into Positive Emotions
Many people who take part in clinical trials consider it a positive experience. They think of it as a good way to take an active role in their own care. And they appreciate knowing that their participation will help others with the same disease or condition.
Those positive emotions are a key to successful trial recruitment. Biotech companies can boost trial enrollment by connecting potential participants with the positive emotions that will result from taking part in a trial.
Boston Web Partners, a leader in biotech clinical trial website design, understands that positive emotions can be a powerful driver for clinical trial participation, and we keep those emotions very much in mind as we create clinical trial websites for our biotech clients. We design biotech websites that resonate with patients on an emotional level and lead to robust clinical trial participation.
Our website design makes it simple for potential participants to connect clinical trial participation with their own personal values, such as concern for others and a desire to contribute to society even if it requires small sacrifices on their part.
Harnessing the Power of Emotion
If you're biotech firm is looking to increase enrollment in your clinical trials, we can help. Here are some of the ways the web design experts at Boston Web Partners use the power of emotion to improve clinical trial participation for our biotech clients:
· Exceptionally clear design: Complex design leads to frustration that drives patients away. Clear design, thoughtful photo choice, and easy navigation create an atmosphere of calmness and confidence. When users feel comfortable on your website, they're more likely be open to your calls to action.
· Patient-focused language: Patients want to feel that they are heard and understood. The right tone of voice and point of view communicate empathy and help build a foundation of trust.
· Effective storytelling: As storytelling expert Robert McKee says, "Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world." That is true in every sphere, but especially in medicine. Stories are one of our most effective tools for inspiring clinical trial subjects to take action. Whenever possible, we encourage our biotech clients to include patient stories for your website visitors to view or read. These stories help potential trial participants to connect with others on a deeply emotional level and to easily envision the people that their trial participation may help.
· The right amount of information: Too much information can overwhelm patients; too little can exasperate them. Optimal design presents information in a way that allows patients to easily access and consume as much or as little information as they want.
· Multimedia content: A combination of print, infographics, illustrations, and video allows patients to take in information in ways that best suit their comfort levels and their healthcare fluency.
· A commitment to diversity: Participation in clinical trials is low for all demographic groups. But it's especially low among people in certain groups. We make content and graphics choices designed to appeal to demographic groups on which you wish to focus.
· TrialAMPlify™: Boston Web Partners is more than just a web design firm; we are a full-service digital marketing agency. As such, we employ our own unique method of spreading the word about your clinical trial across multiple channels using our own TrialAMPlify™ methodology. TrialAMPlify™ encompasses diversity-conscious search engine optimization (SEO) and usability best practices for targeting demographic groups to ensure high Google search rankings along with Google paid search ads, retargeting banners and social media.
· Multiple calls to action: Patients considering a clinical trial are at varying levels of readiness. A well-designed website offers multiple calls to action that meet patients at any stage of emotional and medical readiness.
Creating a successful clinical trial website requires a web design agency team that understands how patients feel, as well as how they think. Let's have a conversation about your clinical trial web marketing project. Contact us for a FREE Consultation.
