Roy Weiss, PBI'S Managing Partner, answers some of our client's most pressing questions.
A LOOK BACK
AT 25PY
AND PREDICTIONS
FOR 26PY
What stuck out to you this plan year? When you go into 26PY discussions in Q1, what is one learning from this past AEP season you’re eager to share with folks? Well for one, the N2M opportunity pipeline. We know sales strategists tend to focus on the “all or nothing” timing of AEP season, but we see incredible value in concentrating additional media spend on the early birds. There is ample market share to acquire, but it’s not guaranteed in this era of conglomerate corporate insurance. Hammering something out mid-June isn’t going to cut it when players like CVS and UHG are busy all-year round. Whether it’s a long-term nurture campaign, locking in those T-65’ers, or finding those January switchers, it would be a huge miss to think all those folks will still be around for your AEP mailers come fall.
Why do you think consumers still like speaking with a broker on a phone call versus converting all directly online? We look closely at the overall behavior and ideological patterning of the MA audience from national to hyper-local, so we know this to be the case. That has not changed and to be honest, I don’t see that changing for a while. Now it is also true that the younger MA consumers are becoming more tech-savvy, which is great for digital marketing efforts, but with that emerging skillset comes unique challenges. The informed MA consumer of today needs the trust building more than ever. The burns from a bad plan experience will never leave these people – nor will a horrific self-driven digital onboarding experience. Across our entire client base, we still see the highest volume of conversion happening on the phone. It’s the experience of talking with a person, exchanging information. This is the generation of folks who value industry expertise and relationship building when it comes to their consumer behaviors. That’s how a curious lead overwhelmed by the menage of MA marketing, becomes an informed enrollee and loyal plan holder.
Which certainly reinforces why direct mailing campaigns remain so powerful, wouldn’t you agree? Absolutely. DM is still king amongst older folks and as compelling as the digital space can look in the new age of AI, nothing is as effective at driving a lead as a standard piece of mail. For this demographic especially. I am always interested to hear about what some of our clients are doing to reconcile both spaces - pairing CTV and socials with DM. That’s where you’ll get the lift and the edge. Our team has been excited to get into the CTV space and get more involved with how our audience profiling can complement the opportunities in the ether. The convergence of CTV, direct and digital really has arrived, it’s not just talk.
Any advice for those providers with fewer members or new players in the MA space? How to avoid getting eaten alive, you mean? It’s true the big fish have an insatiable appetite, and we don’t see this changing based on our in-house predictive forecasting. It’s only getting tougher for the smaller plans who want to remain independent in their markets. This is one of the reasons why your broker strategy is more important now than ever. And should you expand your internal sales team? Across the board my answer is always, YES, do it today!
Last question, what is the universal key to figuring out a plan’s future and influencing its success? The answer is determining the LTV of your members. Depending on what you can afford to acquire a member for and not lose money (tweak). Profiling your current membership is how you get there. It’s an investment. The intelligence you’re inadvertently collecting on your audience and enhancing with third-party data will tell you everything you need to know. “Hope” can’t be your only member acquisition strategy. You need to ask the right questions. Otherwise, you’re always going to fall short of your goals.