Michael Mathias
It's open season: how healthcare companies can boost their membership
December 25, 2018
By Michael Mathias
Open enrollment season is upon us, and it's a time when millions of Americans will make decisions about their health insurance plans. For healthcare insurance providers, ACA and Medicare represent the best opportunities to grow their ranks.
Just consider the time frames in which healthcare insurance marketers have to attract new members to their brands as well as stem member attrition. Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, while open enrollment for 2018 marketplace health insurance runs from November 1 to December 15. What other sector has such an abbreviated period for customer acquisition?
What's more, competition for members is fierce. Traditional differentiators -- the provider networks, first-call resolution, omnichannel experiences -- are no longer unique. Now that every provider has adopted them as table stakes, these investments are the basic cost of entry. For the majority of consumers, plan costs are the biggest driving factor in their decision-making, particularly in the ACA and Medicare markets.
Meanwhile, medical costs continue to rise. In 2018, costs jumped 5.3 percent and by 2026, healthcare will account for nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy! Despite these escalating costs, reimbursements are on the decline. According to the Journal of Emergency Services, in most states, reimbursement can't keep pace with increasing costs of care, which constrains costs and limits the resources providers have to invest in enhancing the member experience and marketing to new customers.
This time of year, we see insurance companies making significant investments in brand advertising and digital marketing, as well as omnichannel customer engagement. Last year, TV advertising for ACA plans jumped 51%, due to the shorter open enrollment period (this year it's even shorter).
But all the advertising and omnichannel strategies aren't moving the needle for many providers. Why? Let's start with member attrition. Marketers put a lot of effort into making unsatisfied members happy. They engage in targeting them with help messages and sending them mailings, but this isn't particularly helpful. In fact, it can even backfire as consumers wonder why the health insurance provider spends so much on advertising rather than lowering their rates.
Worse, consumers are constantly bombarded with messages from insurance companies, all making similar claims about protection and peace of mind. To break through the clutter, healthcare marketers need to differentiate their message from the rest of the pack, but how?
One way is to focus on Emotional Connection, which occurs when people connect their values, desires, or aspirations to a brand. These are feelings that often reside in the unconscious, and go unspoken.
We looked at the existing customer base of a health insurance company to see if we could spot some meaningful trends. Specifically, we compared people who call themselves satisfied customers with those who feel a deeper emotional connection to the brand and healthcare in general.
What we found is that emotionally connected customers are 23 percent more likely to renew their individual plans, which means there's no need to bombard them with anti-attrition messages. Among Medicare and ACA prospects, 31 percent are more likely to express a high purchase intent to acquire new plans. This is crucial given that these sectors are vital to a health insurance provider's future well-being.
Interestingly, emotionally connected consumers are 27 percent more tolerant of higher prices for plans and copays. They're also 101% more likely to recommend their existing health insurance provider to friends, family or colleagues, and 21 percent more likely to provide high CAHPS scores.
Emotional connection, it seems, provides a path for health insurance companies to grow their memberships. If they can identify the exact emotions that make consumers feel connected to a health care plan, they can use them to create unique messaging and breakthrough the noise of open enrollment season. And, if they can identify which consumers are emotionally connected upfront, they can focus their ad spend on audiences who, once converted, are likely to have a high lifetime value.
About the author: Michael is president of Motista, the pioneer of Predictive Emotional Connection Intelligence solutions for acquisition and growth. He is a senior executive with a broad base of general management experience in high growth companies focused on marketing, software, professional services, big data, analytics and technology.
Open enrollment season is upon us, and it's a time when millions of Americans will make decisions about their health insurance plans. For healthcare insurance providers, ACA and Medicare represent the best opportunities to grow their ranks.
Just consider the time frames in which healthcare insurance marketers have to attract new members to their brands as well as stem member attrition. Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, while open enrollment for 2018 marketplace health insurance runs from November 1 to December 15. What other sector has such an abbreviated period for customer acquisition?
What's more, competition for members is fierce. Traditional differentiators -- the provider networks, first-call resolution, omnichannel experiences -- are no longer unique. Now that every provider has adopted them as table stakes, these investments are the basic cost of entry. For the majority of consumers, plan costs are the biggest driving factor in their decision-making, particularly in the ACA and Medicare markets.
Meanwhile, medical costs continue to rise. In 2018, costs jumped 5.3 percent and by 2026, healthcare will account for nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy! Despite these escalating costs, reimbursements are on the decline. According to the Journal of Emergency Services, in most states, reimbursement can't keep pace with increasing costs of care, which constrains costs and limits the resources providers have to invest in enhancing the member experience and marketing to new customers.
This time of year, we see insurance companies making significant investments in brand advertising and digital marketing, as well as omnichannel customer engagement. Last year, TV advertising for ACA plans jumped 51%, due to the shorter open enrollment period (this year it's even shorter).
But all the advertising and omnichannel strategies aren't moving the needle for many providers. Why? Let's start with member attrition. Marketers put a lot of effort into making unsatisfied members happy. They engage in targeting them with help messages and sending them mailings, but this isn't particularly helpful. In fact, it can even backfire as consumers wonder why the health insurance provider spends so much on advertising rather than lowering their rates.
Worse, consumers are constantly bombarded with messages from insurance companies, all making similar claims about protection and peace of mind. To break through the clutter, healthcare marketers need to differentiate their message from the rest of the pack, but how?
One way is to focus on Emotional Connection, which occurs when people connect their values, desires, or aspirations to a brand. These are feelings that often reside in the unconscious, and go unspoken.
We looked at the existing customer base of a health insurance company to see if we could spot some meaningful trends. Specifically, we compared people who call themselves satisfied customers with those who feel a deeper emotional connection to the brand and healthcare in general.
What we found is that emotionally connected customers are 23 percent more likely to renew their individual plans, which means there's no need to bombard them with anti-attrition messages. Among Medicare and ACA prospects, 31 percent are more likely to express a high purchase intent to acquire new plans. This is crucial given that these sectors are vital to a health insurance provider's future well-being.
Interestingly, emotionally connected consumers are 27 percent more tolerant of higher prices for plans and copays. They're also 101% more likely to recommend their existing health insurance provider to friends, family or colleagues, and 21 percent more likely to provide high CAHPS scores.
Emotional connection, it seems, provides a path for health insurance companies to grow their memberships. If they can identify the exact emotions that make consumers feel connected to a health care plan, they can use them to create unique messaging and breakthrough the noise of open enrollment season. And, if they can identify which consumers are emotionally connected upfront, they can focus their ad spend on audiences who, once converted, are likely to have a high lifetime value.
About the author: Michael is president of Motista, the pioneer of Predictive Emotional Connection Intelligence solutions for acquisition and growth. He is a senior executive with a broad base of general management experience in high growth companies focused on marketing, software, professional services, big data, analytics and technology.