Improving Member Engagement With Focus and Frequency

Recently, we completed a round of research to help understand why digital tool usage is low in health care, and what people actually want from their employers, health plans and providers. Today, we’ll focus on two findings that can have a significant impact on your health plan marketing efforts: focus and frequency.

WHEN IT COMES TO IMPROVING MEMBER ENGAGEMENT: DON’T THINK ABOUT WHAT’S NEW, OPTIMIZE WHAT YOU HAVE

From a survey of nearly 600 health plan members, we discovered that while many of us love to look at the new shiny objects in communications (Snapchat anyone?), email is still king when it comes to communicating about digital tools. So, get focused on getting more bang for your buck out of your email campaigns. Are you doing the following:

• Are you testing different subject lines to see what works best? How about A/B testing?
• Have you segmented communications by member needs, location, gender or other persona criteria?
• Are you optimizing your send times?

Direct mail is also still a valuable tool in your marketing arsenal. Actually, 28% of respondents preferred that form of communication. We often take the fact we do so much digitally for granted, when some members have an affinity for good old fashioned print communications. Why? Maybe they prefer a reminder they can hang on their fridge for reference, or their job doesn’t have them on a computer all day with access to email. No matter the reason, reminding your members about the value you offer them in the form of digital tools like provider finders, cost estimates and treatment timelines via snail mail can go a long way in improving your member’s usage of those tools.

THE MORE YOU TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THE TOOLS, THE MORE THEY WILL USE THEM

If you’re not regularly telling your members about the benefits you are offering them, they most likely don’t know they have access to digital tools. Yes, something as simple as increasing how often you are communicating with your members about what is available can make a big difference in usage rates. In fact, people who receive communications from their employer or health plan regarding health care tools several times per year are 19% more likely to use health care tools than those who never receive such communications.

The takeaway: Not only should you optimize your emails to have the most impact using segmentation and personalization, you should increase how often you send them. Don’t worry, increasing email and direct mail sends can be fun – allowing you to vary the types of content you include. Try highlighting the timely ways members can use your tools (we’ll talk about developing a content calendar in a future post!). Just remember this mantra: the more you tell them, the more they will remember and use them.

Here’s an added bonus that comes with increased communication about digital tools. People trust health plans more when they hear from them more often.

Want more detail? Watch a replay of the webinar, “Why won’t people use my tool?”