How-To: Conducting a Grassroots-Based WOM Campaign
5 Tips from The Prostate Net's Virgil Simons
Virgil Simons, founder of the Prostate Net, wanted to use word of mouth to deliver an important health message in underserved communities. The message urged men to get tested for prostate cancer. But he knew that for any outreach to be successful, he had to start at the grassroots level and find a source that men would consider trustworthy and credible.
Here, Virgil shares tips he learned from that experience in creating a grassroots-based word of mouth campaign.
Tip #1. Know your audience
Early on, Virgil knew he was really speaking to two communities: the medical establishment and the public. First, he needed the medical establishment to understand that what they had done in the past hadn't worked. Second, he had to convince men in the underserved communities to listen to the health message.
Tip #2. Identify your influencers
Knowing that barbers have historically played a role as influential communicators, Virgil worked with the medical community to identify barbers who could pass on the health message. Hospital employees were asked to bring their barbers in for an orientation that explained the importance of prostate cancer screening. The barbers were given brochures, videos, and other tools to help them spread the message. Every barber who went through the orientation received a plaque giving them recognition and status within the community.
Tip #3. Bring in other partners
Virgil then reached out to others in the community who had a vested interest in the community healthy. He brought in local food stores, radio stations, and local banks as partners to help spread the word.
Tip #4. Integrate with other media
Virgil looked for opportunities to involve local radio and television stations in the campaign. He sent out news releases and articles, and soon, the national media picked up the story with continuing articles that talked about the disease.
Tip #5. Replicate
Virgil provided a how-to manual for medical centers around the country that led them, step-by-step, through the process of creating a similar program. His public service announcements that were sent to media included information on programs taking place in cities around the country.
To date, the campaign has resulted in more than 300 barbers volunteering to help. So far, 10,000 of their customers have been screened, and 452 cases of the disease have been detected.
More about Virgil:
Read Virgil's WOMBAT presentation (PDF download)
