Health care providers are acutely aware that millennials represent an ever-growing segment of potential customers. After all with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, this demographic is required to purchase insurance. Furthermore, the law was constructed such that young and healthy policy holders will help pay the way for their older counterparts. Without their participation, the whole system falls apart. But challenges abound.
Marketing Towards the Millennial Demographic
First off, despite what Uncle Sam may say, many millennials don't think they need health insurance — and so they need convincing. And how do health care providers effectively reach this demographic? Many health care marketing firms remain entrenched in an outbound marketing world. They rely on strategies like print advertising, brochures, and mailers to reach customers. This isn't a bad approach, but the rise of the millennial underscores the need for health care marketers to expand their strategy by mixing outbound with inbound tactics like social media and digital marketing. Which brings us to Health Plan of San Joaquin (HPSJ).
Health Plan of San Joaquin: A Palmer Case Study
HPSJ is a newer client for Palmer. We were brought in to set up their social media campaign and to develop a campaign that would speak to millennials — particularly those that don’t think or realize they need health insurance — and generate leads that would ultimately convert into new members.
Our solution? The Palmer Process to develop a branding/lead generation campaign. We implemented outbound and inbound marketing tactics consisting of outdoor, mall presence and several digital tactics consisting of Pay Per Click, Facebook, Twitter, Retargeting and a Web Network.
For example, our hanging banners included imagery that resonates with this demographic, including a bicyclist and a skateboard. Each banner was then linked to a unique landing page. For example, viewers of the bicyclist banner were directed towards SignUpRideOnNow.com. The copy, meanwhile, was, "For every bump in the road." Our intent was to subtly suggest that unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen. (Millennials don't like being told what to do.)
Millennials also like choice, and so a complementary set of ads included the copy, "More people choose the plan with more choices." Taken in total, these ads appeared in places where millennials tend to hang out: inside shopping malls, on the side of buses, and inside buses.
Of course, as we all know, it takes more than just an ad to generate a high quality lead, which bring us to HPSJ's landing pages. Viewers who, for example, visit the aforementioned SignUpRideOnNow.com site get taken to an intuitive and simple site where by they immediately see a "Get help" button and a telephone number. On the left-hand column, viewers can click on one of four pages: "Do I need health insurance?", "Am I eligible?", "Where can I get help," and "FAQs."
What About the Results?
This approach, which blends inbound and outbound marketing techniques that target the unique behaviors, demographics, and preferences of millennials, has thus far yielded substantial results. The campaign has been live for three months and through our tracking methodology we have realized over 250 leads that are resulting in conversions.
