Kaiser Permanente

Cutting the cost per lead by 40%.

Struggling to meet lead goals due to rising costs and low engagement, Kaiser Permanente turned to Crow to find efficiencies and unlock scalable growth. Through testing of both messaging and formats, we increased response rates while reducing the cost per lead by more than 40%. The savings freed budget to explore new digital banners — delivering 3x the client’s average online leads.

The challenge

To help establish themselves in the Mid-Atlantic region, Kaiser Permanente leaned heavily on direct mail to drive leads. Existing messaging — focused primarily on price and cost savings — was failing to capture attention or drive continued and meaningful engagement, while rising print and postage costs made it difficult to scale campaigns effectively.

Insights

Small business decision makers are pressed for time and eager to find a health insurance solution that makes sense for both their employees and their businesses.

The solution

We implemented a data-driven testing program to identify which messaging resonated most with business decision makers, as well as using format testing to identify the most efficient way to share that message:

Tested value driven messaging — shifting from competitive price messaging to highlight the positive impact of healthy employees on a business’s bottom line

Explored new, cost-efficient formats — using a/b testing we identified champion formats that drove the highest response at the most efficient price

Refined and improved — continuing to monitor response rates, we optimized creative, call-to-actions, and mailing strategies

Utilized savings to maximize other channels — reallocating the money saved on direct mail into digital tactics, our new messaging turned a traditionally low-performing medium into a successful lead-generation channel