Using Social Media for a Competitive Advantage 

​

Category: B2C

Type: Social Media

Channel: Social Media

Industry: Healthcare

​

Challenge:

​

With the rise of seniors online, KelseyCare Advantage, a Houston-area Medicare Advantage provider plan, needed to establish a stronger online presence. Since Medicare restricted any kind of gifts or financial incentives for generating leads and referrals, KelseyCare Advantage needed to find a solution that allowed them to connect with local aging boomers while overcoming budget limitations and government regulations.

 

Solution:

 

DMN3 coordinated a partnership between KelseyCare Advantage and a respected local charity that aligned with KelseyCare Advantage’s brand. Interfaith Ministries’ Meals on Wheels of Greater Houston is the largest meal provider to homebound seniors in Harris County, Texas. Since over 50% of boomer and senior Internet users were on Facebook (according to 2013 Pew Research Center study), DMN3 focused on Facebook to build KelseyCare Advantage’s online community through this charity partnership.

 

KelseyCare Advantage encouraged people to “like” their Facebook Page for a $5 in-kind donation per “like” to Meals on Wheels (up to $5,000/1,000 meals). Addressing the growing senior hunger crisis during the December holiday season provided further relevance for this campaign. DMN3 created a Facebook tab for the campaign, which included a tab thumbnail and a campaign-specific cover photo, and drove traffic to KelseyCare Advantage’s Facebook Page through:

• A “1,000 Hot Meals for the Holidays” email sent to existing KelseyCare Advantage members, encouraging them to “like” their Facebook Page.

• Organic posts on KelseyCare Advantage’s Facebook Page.

• Sponsored posts on prospects’ Facebook news feeds.

 

Meals on Wheels supported the effort on its blog and Facebook Page. Interfaith Ministries also cross promoted the program in its general newsletter distributed to a large and diverse audience of Houstonians, including many minority groups.

 

To follow-up with KelseyCare Advantage’s online community, DMN3 captured photos of KelseyCare Advantage Medical Director, Dr. Donnie Aga, personally delivering hot meals to homebound Houston area seniors and awarding the $5,000 “big check” to executives at Meals on Wheels. Follow-up posts on Facebook showcased these photos to the online community that helped feed area seniors via their “likes.”

 

 

Result:

​

• KelseyCare Advantage’s Facebook Page began with 286 “likes” on December 1, 2013 and ended with 2,017 at the end of the month – an increase of 1,731 “likes” (an increase of 605%, exceeding our goal by 255%).

• KelseyCare Advantage received numerous positive comments on Facebook about their charitable donation to seniors in need.

 

This outreach enabled KelseyCare Advantage to broaden its social graph and establish a larger reach for 2014 marketing communications. Since KelseyCare Advantage was awarded a 5-Star rating by Medicare, they had a unique opportunity and competitive advantage in marketing to prospects for early 2014. Leveraging the “likes” from the Meals on Wheels campaign positively impacted lead generation and referrals. The Houston chapter of AMA recognized the campaign with a Crystal Award in Spring 2014 for best social media campaign entry.