1. Raising Stroke Awareness
Marketing 101:
Raising Stroke Awareness

2. Why Raise Awareness?
Stroke is under-recognized and not well-understood
among general public
Stroke is third leading cause of death
May is National Stroke Awareness Month
Awareness is important year-round
Can be done cost effectively

3. Why Don’t People Know More?
Not enough public awareness campaigns
Don’t recognize symptoms
Think one voice won’t make an impact
Assume stroke only happens to older people
Many people don’t recognize stroke symptoms. A 2001 National Stroke Association survey reported that many older Americans could not identify stroke symptoms. A 2009 study revealed that despite numerous national stroke public awareness campaigns, public knowledge of stroke symptoms and risk factors has not improved over the last 5 years.
People don’t want their fear of stroke to be confirmed. Stroke is one of the most terrifying medical emergencies. Yet quick confirmation of stroke is the best way to receive the treatments that are proven to greatly reduce disability after stroke.
One voice doesn’t matter, but I’m here to tell you that one voice is so important because awareness can be raised by simply raising your voice and telling another person to memorize the warning signs of stroke.
Age: a lot of people think stroke only happens to older people. But this isn’t true. Stroke can happen to anyone at any age at any time.
References:
National Stroke Association. Survivor Survey
Kleindorfer D, Khoury J, et al. Temporal Trends in Public Awareness of Stroke Warning Signs, Risk Factors, and Treatment. Stroke. 2009;40:

4. National Stroke Awareness Month
May is an opportunity to educate your employees,
friends, family and community about stroke
In honor of this special time, we provide free tools to
raise public awareness
Anything helps: the more people we reach, the
better

5. “I’d Love to, But I Don’t Have Time”
Raising awareness can be manageable
No boundaries
Participate as an individual, hospital, organization or business
We design awareness tools to make it easy
Social media makes awareness easy and fun
s, e-cards
Community presentations

6. Social Media Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media
spaces = viral awareness
Join our Facebook and Twitter pages to repost or
retweet
Create a set of posts ahead of time and post
throughout May or the year
Encourage others to repost or retweet
Watch the dialogue unravel

7. Get Inspired What can I do to raise stroke awareness during May
or another time of the year?
How can I hold an awareness fundraiser?
What can I do in my workplace?
What can I do in my community?
What can I do for my hospital’s stroke team?
What can I do to educate my fellow rehabilitation
colleagues?
What can I do for my stroke support group?

8. Get Started: Communications 101
Messages: Determine what you want to communicate about stroke (warning signs, advocacy opportunities)
Audience: Decide who you want to tell (family, colleagues, a community or church)
Delivery: Based on what, who and your personal/financial commitment, determine the ideal delivery model to raise awareness (5k, silent auction, personal webpage, community presentation)
Don’t forget your story – it’s powerful!
Next, Identify:
What resources do I need?
Who can help?
Timing?

9. Messaging Tips: Calls to Action (CTA)
Something to talk about: so many choices
We recommend:
Personal story: tell others about why you are a
stroke champion
Identify audience CTAs or takeaways (memorize
FAST and tell others about it; commit to better
risk factor management)
Interweave stroke facts to support CTAs

10. Resources Community education PPT Email tips and samples
Sample press release
Image files
Support group discussion guide
Paycheck stuffer
Sample flyer
PSAs

11. Ideas!

12. Individual Ideas Send email Tell you stroke story – online
Tell your stroke story – in person
Media
Blog
Tweet
Post on Facebook
Send you can Sign up with NSA to receive regular tips for ways to spread awareness or make up your own. Then, tell your friends by forwarding. Sign up with us today at
You can tell your stroke story online through our online personal fundraising tools on that allow set up of a personalized webpage to talk about why you’re a stroke champion. The key is that you can raise funds at the same time.
Another idea: You can tell your stroke story in person at local community venues such as churches, schools, social clubs, support groups or local firehouses.
You can reach out to Media, by approaching local media outlets about profiling your stroke story during May or in sync with an event.
Or, you can blog or post on Facebook or Twitter.

13. Groups Ideas Schedule a stroke champion lunch n’ learn
Organize a risk factor screening
Speak at church, community center or school
Video contest
Wallpaper the community
education campaign
Schedule a stroke champion lunch n’ learn by asking a survivor to speak and showcase the community education PPT that can be found at And, remember that lunch n learns don’t have to just happen in the workplace – they can be at church, school or at a club meeting.
Organize a risk factor screening at a local supermarket or in the break room/cafeteria at a large corporate office building. Talk to local hospitals about partnering on this.
If you’re a school teacher, you might set up a video contest on YouTube for your students. We’ve had this successfully done in the past and we featured the videos on our website.
You can organize a wallpaper the community flyer drive to post educational flyers/distribute educational materials to community centers and libraries around town. You can also try to wallpaper shopping areas by talking with local shop owners.
And there’s always if nothing else. An Education Campaign can be successful if done right. I recommend that each of you sign-up for regular NSA s at and use our educational s to build your own campaign or get our stroke prevention tip of the week templates online also at

14. More Group Ideas Post on group blog, Facebook and Twitter pages
Paycheck stuffers
Media
Host a fundraising event
Tell individual or group stroke story online
Consider posting on your company blog, Facebook and Twitter pages. Talk to your PR or marketing departments about this, because they’re likely the gatekeepers, but they can probably help you get guest bloggers, too
Paycheck stuffers are a great way to partner with local businesses in your community to promote stroke awareness in their workplaces. Find a free stuffer online at
Media: Contact local media and ask them to cover stroke awareness month activities and profile stroke survivors. Customize a sample press release to gain their attention (find it at Submit a prewritten stroke awareness month article to be included in community/organization/business newsletters.
And, finally, be a host. Take the plunge and host an in-person fundraising event. There are tons of types of events you can host, from setting up a restaurant nights to trivia night to spaghetti nights. Lots of ideas. Get the tools to carry out your event on We have an online platform for personal events that allows you to set up an event to benefit NSA and easily notify friends and family and garner their participation.

15. Promote Yourself!

16. Promotion Tips: Brochures
Get Microsoft brochure templates at The most important items to include in any brochure are:
Basic event information
A catchy design
Date, time, location, Web site
A call to action: what should people do to participate and why?
Any fee information
Contact information for organizer or organization
Other important information people should know to participate
Recognize any sponsors in your printed materials when possible.

17. Press Releases
A press release is a notification of important information surrounding your event that should be distributed to local media. It should include the same virtual information as you would include in a brochure or flyer, but media especially enjoy the personal story behind an event. Make sure to include any personal stories that media can highlight in articles or TW news stories. Additionally, it is important to identify at least one spokesperson who is an event organizer. This person should be quoted in the press release and be available for follow-up media appearances or interviews after the press release is issued.

18. Press Release Cont.
How do I issue a press release? If you are only issuing to local media, take time to research reporters from local newspapers and TV stations. Often, many Web sites for newspapers or TV stations have easy ways to directly a press release to specific reporters.
When do I issue a press release? Send the release four to six weeks prior to the event and again two weeks before as a reminder. Follow up with a phone call.
How can I identify who will be a spokesperson? The best spokespeople are often the people who are most knowledgeable about the event. This person might be an event organizer or someone else involved with the event, such as an honoree who is comfortable talking to press.
Visit to find a press release template.

19. Learn more at stroke.org