Understanding individual buying behavior and being able to target consumers based on that behavior is a game changer for insurance companies who are doing it successfully.

Despite the financial pressures that some payers are experiencing, the 2016 Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange was successful, with nearly 13 million people nationwide enrolling in a plan prior to the January 31 deadline. This represents an increase of 4 million people enrolled over the previous year.

Understanding who you are targeting

The ability to understand your audience, target your desired population, and create a better buying experience can be difficult, but Deft Research’s 2016 Individual Market Shopping and Switching Study shared how individuals behaved in last year’s open enrollment, revealing how people shopped, switched, and consumed information to make buying decisions in OE16.

Predictions indicate that behavior will be very similar in OE17.

Nationally, 11.9% of our population is still uninsured as of 12/31/15, and non-expansion states are driving the nation’s uninsured rate – which spells opportunity for those Payers approved to market in these states (Gallup, 2015). The following chart shows some key demographics for this population:

The distribution of the uninsured by state, issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation, mirrors where the population is more concentrated. This pattern is in more heavily populated states like California, Texas, and Florida, where there is a higher volume of uninsured constituents.

However, when you look at states like Georgia, which also has the highest concentration of the uninsured, or a highly populated state like Ohio, which has a relatively lower concentration of the uninsured, it begs the question “what is happening in those state marketplaces to drive these types of results?”

It’s an interesting data point and one that should be examined further.

How did consumers in the 2016 Health Exchanges consume content to make buying decisions?

Search has proven to be a top channel for consumers in the market for health care insurance, with 77% of online health seekers beginning the buying process by using a search engine such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo, while only 13% said they began gathering information at a specialized health site.

Why is that? A recent McKinsey study showed that 75% of people say they would like to use digital health care services, with older patients preferring traditional channels such as websites and email, while the younger patients are more open to new channels such as social media.

It’s actually pretty simple: stick with what consumers are asking for —efficiency, better access to information, integration with other channels, and the availability of a real person if the digital service they are using doesn’t give them what they need.

Using data and analytics to know who these people are, how they want to consume content, and what their preferences and hot buttons are, can drive differentiation for your brand. You need to be present across all channels, with content that is compelling and timely.

Here are some additional statistics from Campaign Monitor that show how consumers used all channels available to them to seek out relevant content:

Mobile health stats:

52% of smartphone users gather health information on their phones
Average age = 35
87% have a smartphone (33% own an iPhone)
54% are male
85% use social media for health
30% are caregivers
76% take a prescription

Switching stats (Deft Research, 2016):

Online advertising, TV ads, and word-of-mouth marketing were the most common shopping prompts among the 2016 insured.
Younger consumers were more likely to be prompted by online ads throughout the OEP, suggesting the importance of this channel for driving enrollment with younger consumers.
Agents, family and friends, direct mail, and representatives were most commonly used when shopping.
People in the 19-34 age range were more likely to have used the internet to shop for health insurance than those aged 50-64.
Direct mail readership remained stable throughout the open enrollment period (OEP) and did not differ based on health, utilization, or age.

Buying Behavior and Driver Analysis

We know from studying the Deft Research that younger consumers shop more than older consumers, and for every one new consumer shopping, there are three people shopping to switch.

Sitting on the sidelines and not leveraging data to retain younger consumers means your risk pool is never going to get better.

Over 56% of 2016 enrollees were switchers, of which 24% switched to a new brand and 18% switched within the same brand. The old rule, that it is less expensive to retain a customer that to acquire a new one, has never been more applicable than when you fully understand how this market is behaving.

Not surprisingly, company switchers are the most likely to have encountered coverage issues during 2015, and there is a strong correlation between negative experiences and switching companies:

Negative cost experiences with premiums, deductibles, or maximum out-of-pocket were likely to be experienced by many people, and by many people who switched.
Network experiences (like not including a preferred doctor) were also more likely to occur among company switchers.
For the 19-34 age segment, a medical claim denial is the biggest disenrollment factor, which points to the understanding of benefits as a large remaining opportunity for this population.

What does it all mean as we kick off OE17?

Priority number one for all health insurance marketers should be leveraging the knowledge learned from 2016 to put your brand in a more favorable position to capture switchers and the uninsured.

A holistic marketing strategy that some health insurance marketers have embraced is the concept of people-based marketing. It’s the most effective way to leverage deeper consumer understanding through data and analytics which translate into data-driven, actionable marketing strategies.

Then customized experiences can be created to obtain new members, while nurture strategies are employed to retain existing ones. People-based marketing is defined this way:

CRM best practices for people-based marketing: David Magrini

It is vital that marketers have a keen understanding of customer data in conjunction with ongoing knowledge of buying behavior and motivations — like those described above. These are the imperative tools that can drive acquisition and retention success for your organization.

As we continue to evaluate the successes and learnings of each open enrollment period, it’s important to remember that we are also, as an industry, working together to deliver the promise of affordable health care coverage for all Americans, and a people-based marketing strategy can help you continue to do your part.

Instant Insights /

What consumers did in OE16 exchange market drives decisions for OE17

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