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Diabetes Screening Campaign

Creative Lead | Senior Copywriter

TL;DR

Cityblock needed a new diabetes/A1C outreach approach that moved beyond clinical reminders and instead helped members feel supported, capable, and ready to take action. As Creative Lead and Senior Copywriter, I built the campaign’s voice, structure, and storytelling system—transforming a historically low-engagement topic into a simplified, emotionally safe experience across SMS, email, and direct mail.

Highlights

  • Reframed A1C screening from “clinical compliance” to supportive, real-life momentum
  • Delivered a 91% message reach and helped drive ~1.6k scheduled appointments across all channels
  • Priming SMS unlocked immediate action, including re-engaging a member who hadn’t connected since 2021
  • Campaign supported a 67.7% kept rate during the reporting period
  • Developed simple, human-centered messages clinical teams now use as a model for metabolic health outreach
  • Crafted the copy + creative across SMS, email, and direct mail to reduce fear, shame, and overwhelm around diabetes care
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Challenge

For members managing diabetes—or worried they might be—the A1C test can feel overwhelming, intimidating, or tied to past experiences of judgment. Cityblock’s existing clinical outreach didn’t reflect this emotional reality.
 The result: low response rates, stalled care plans, and members who disengaged altogether.

Cityblock needed a campaign that made A1C screening feel doable—not clinical or punitive.

My role: Creative Lead and Senior Copywriter

I led the narrative development, behavioral framing, copywriting, and creative direction for SMS, email, and direct mail. I partnered closely with clinical leadership, behavioral insights, and design to ensure the messaging was accurate, empathetic, and easy to act on.

Strategy

I built the messaging framework around four behavioral principles:

1. Remove shame and replace it with momentum
  • Diabetes communication often triggers fear, guilt, or avoidance. Our voice instead emphasized:
  • “You’re not behind. This is one simple step you can take right now.”
2. Normalize the experience
  • We stripped away medical jargon and made the process feel familiar and doable—no technical terms, no “shoulds,” no moral language.
3. Keep the call-to-action singular and simple
  • “Schedule your visit.”
  • Not: schedule → prepare → follow up → understand results…
  • One step. Clear. Achievable.
4. Use a priming sequence to spark early engagement
  • A soft “we’re here to support you” message primed members before the direct CTA, reducing friction and increasing the chance of response
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Creative Assets

  • Priming SMS
    Warm, judgment-free message designed to set expectations and build trust.

  • Direct SMS CTA
    Supportive, behavior-informed language paired with a clear, action-oriented CTA.

  • Email Series
    Short, simple messages focused on reassurance, clarity, and next steps.

  • Direct Mailer
    Designed to feel more like a check-in than a medical notice, using friendly icons, a calm color palette, and a single clear next step.

  • System-level approach
    All assets worked together to reduce cognitive load and emotional burden across the journey.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Met with clinical diabetes leadership to validate the educational framing
  • Collaborated with EngOps on the inbound routing plan
  • Worked with design to shape a friendly, non-medical visual language
  • Aligned with Marketing Ops to orchestrate timing across SMS, email, and mail
  • Partnered with Behavioral Insights to incorporate findings into tone, cadence, and CTA structure
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Results & Impact

1. Campaign Performance (All Channels Combined)
  • 84.5% reach across 8,807 targeted members
  • 1,236 scheduled appointments during the reporting period
  • ~1.6k total estimated scheduled
  • 67.7% kept rate, representing 796 completed visits
2. Marketing Channel Performance
  • 91% reach through SMS/email
  • 11% engagement (820 inbound calls, 45 webforms)
  • 6% conversion from inbound scheduling
  • 66% kept rate
3. Care Team Impact
  • 70% conversion from clinical outreach
  • 71% kept rate
  • ~890 completed visits estimated

Qualitative Impact

A highlight story from clinical leadership captured the campaign’s effect:

A member who had never engaged since 2021—and who appeared on Cityblock’s uncontrolled diabetes gap list—received the new A1C priming SMS. Within 24 hours, she responded. Within 48 hours, she consented, discussed her A1C history, had her A1C uploaded, and her clinical intake was finally scheduled.

This story was circulated company-wide as an example of why the new messaging works.

This campaign didn’t just increase numbers— it reopened the door for members who’d been silent for years.

Why This Work Matters

A1C testing is foundational to diabetes management, but the emotional reality behind it is often ignored. This campaign recognized the human side—uncertainty, frustration, shame, fear—and replaced it with clarity, support, and attainable next steps.

We created a member experience grounded in dignity.
 And members responded.

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