It’s no secret that health insurance can be costly. For young people, or anyone living on a tight budget, this can be a challenge. Foregoing health insurance is a scary option, leaving the uninsured left to wonder how they’d financially cope with a medical catastrophe.
Because of this very real problem that young, healthy, uninsured North Dakotans are facing, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota responded by developing an inexpensive health insurance plan: AffordaBlue.
What the research showed
Through in-depth focus groups of males and females ages 26-39, Flint Communications discovered consumers’ reasons for not purchasing health insurance.
Research showed cost was the primary reason for focus group participants not having health insurance.
The research also revealed low awareness of the lower cost options available but seldom purchased.
How research influenced communication strategy
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota took this research into consideration and responded to our target audience of 18- to 29-year-olds. The simple-yet-direct message:
To reach this demographic, BCBSND used a two-pronged marketing communications approach, including a mobile text campaign and online promotion.
For the mobile text campaign, traditional media including newspaper print ads, radio spots, signage at the Fargodome and shopping malls, and bus wraps encouraged potential customers to send a text to get a quote. After sending a text, they received a reply directing them to a mobile landing page, which asked them to fill in their information to get a quote or contact an agent. Prospects’ email addresses were also collected at this time.
For the online promotion, banner ads geotargeting North Dakotans and a Google AdWord campaign drove prospective customers to get a quote on the AffordaBlue product page.
Did it work?
Yes! The marketing communications tactics worked exceptionally well. Our key metrics greatly outperformed industry averages:
Research often leads to the truth, which leads to smarter communications strategies, which leads to successful campaigns. Would you agree or disagree with this causal pattern? How has research helped your marketing efforts succeed?
For the online promotion, banner ads geotargeting North Dakotans and a Google AdWord campaign drove prospective customers to get a quote on the AffordaBlue product page.
Did it work?
Yes! The marketing communications tactics worked exceptionally well. Our key metrics greatly outperformed industry averages. [a1]
[a1]Do we want to provide more insight into the specific results? Or leave it vague, so we don’t give away too much to competitors, etc. Please do include key metrics.
@sohath ReallyVirtual
By granting your agency access to any and all information it needs to be successful, you will most likely achieve better results. Why? It allows them the ability to truly measure the effectiveness of their efforts, make tweaks and changes to marketing activities as they need, and most importantly, have a clear idea of how your marketing objectives relate to the long-term goals of your organization. All the while, building trust that you are going to let them do the job you hired them to do, and not treat them like a vendor.
The hardest thing to do as a business is to obtain new customers. It requires a huge financial investment, a great marketing strategy, time and effort. So why would you pour a majority or all of your money into this at the expense of ignoring those who already know you – and more importantly, like you?
