Event Marketing

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Dec 8, 2023 5:19 PM

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Files & media

AEP Event Marketing Guide

Understanding the Essence of Event Marketing in Medicare

In Medicare, events are important to connect with prospects to either educate them or loved ones of beneficiaries on Medicare and their options to hopefully use you as their trusted agent. It is a great way to meet in person, establishing a relationship. As well as spread awareness of your agency and your business to expand your connections with beneficiaries, community members, medical groups or carriers.

Educational Event:

During a Medicare educational event, you will be able to provide information about Medicare parts A,B, C, and D for Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers. This event is not to sell but rather only educate beneficiaries about their options.

During a Medicare educational event, you can present the Medicare 101 presentation provided by Spark. Use your QR code from the sources page on the Platform with your permission to contact to capture lead data in our Spark platform. You can also hand out business cards or informative resources for your attendees.

Sales Events:

Formal Sales Event: In this type of sales event an agent can present a carrier-specific presentation to invited attendees.

Informal Sales Event: In this type of sales event an agent would offer plan-specific information only by request while at a table, booth, or kiosk.

For both types of sales events, agents must submit their presentations or talking points for approval to CMS and the applicable carriers.

Setting Clear Objectives:

Goals:

• How many attendees do you want to have at your event?
• How much marketing outreach to do you want to do for event promotion?
• What group do you want to work with and establish a long-term partnership with?

Knowing Your Audience:

Unraveling the demographics, interests, and pain points of your target attendees.

Own your market and territory:

• What states are you licensed to sell in?
• Get involved with community groups and other small businesses
• tax, accountants, financial advisors, lawyers, and realtors you can partner with to cross-promote your business with
• Who are you targeting?
• t65, SNP, DSBP, LIS, or 65+
• Where is your target audience located, is the location of your event reasonable for your audience? Do you have a virtual option for those who cannot make it?

Event Budget:

Make the most of your resources while delivering an exceptional event experience. Anywhere from $250-2500, you can create a great event and drive attendance. You can partner with a medical group or provider or carrier for event sponsorship to help with the cost.

Example Event Budget breakdown:

• Marketing for your event:
• Social Media posting $0
• Direct Mailer $1000
• Flyers to hand out locally $50
• Location:
• Event location - $0 (if you partner with a local org or do the event at a medical group office you incur no venue cost.)
• Marketing materials at your event:
• Medicare 101 brochures $100
• Medicare 101 presentation $0
• Snacks and beverages $50
• SWAG giveaways $100
• Total cost: $1,300

AEP Event Benchmarks

You should book two events before AEP

Reach for 20+ RSVPs

Reach for 10+ attendees for your event

Reach for 5+ sales to be conducted at the event

The Power of Partnerships

Building trust with community members or individual businesses you can partner with to cross-promote your businesses.

Example: A Medicare agent working with a financial advisor,  Medicare agent sends anyone looking for financial assistance and promotes this business in their office while the financial advisor can help send people that are turning 65 in their clientele to you for Medicare assistance.

Where to find how to host an event:

Spark Marketing Maps

Ideas:

• Local providers
• Veterans organizations
• Churches
• Libraries
• Retirement homes
• Foodbank

Why use community groups to partner with for your events?

Community involvement is crucial for shaping a positive brand image for several reasons. In today's interconnected world, consumers not only expect companies to offer quality services but also to be socially responsible and actively engaged with their communities.

• Building Trust and Credibility: Community involvement demonstrates a brand's commitment to making a positive impact beyond its bottom line. Engaging in charitable activities, supporting local initiatives, or addressing social issues helps build trust and credibility among consumers. Hosting an event with a community group that you care about and want to give back to can significantly help build trust with your target audience, Medicare beneficiaries, and other partners like doctors or additional community groups that you can partner with. When people see a brand actively contributing to the well-being of the community, they are more likely to perceive the brand as reliable and responsible, which are great brand attributes.
• Enhancing Brand Reputation: Positive actions within the community can lead to positive word-of-mouth marketing. Satisfied community members are likely to share their experiences with others, thereby enhancing the brand's reputation and creating a ripple effect of positive sentiment. As we know, word-of-mouth is huge in any service based industry but especially in Medicare. 13% of people soley use word-of-mouth recommendations when making healthcare decisions and drive $6 trillion dollars for the healthcare system, thats right just off of word of mouth! *Visualvybz. HubSpot shows that 75% of people don’t believe the information placed in ads, yet 90% trust suggestions from family and friends, and 70% trust customer reviews.
• Positive Media Coverage and Publicity: Meaningful community involvement initiatives often catch the attention of the media, leading to positive news coverage and publicity. Such exposure can amplify the agency’s reach and create a favorable image in the eyes of potential customers. This is huge on social media and different community groups within Facebook or next door to help continue to promote your brand and events.
• Long-Term Sustainability: Agencies that connect in a meaningful and authentic way are better positioned for long-term success. Building strong relationships with local stakeholders and understanding community needs can help a brand adapt and remain relevant in changing market conditions and continue to hold events that will bring success to both groups.

How to reach out to community groups or businesses to host an event:

Get in contact with business owners, library representatives, church event contact, etc. Once you have the chance to get in contact with the right personnel explain how this can benefit them and their organization or business. You may let them know how you can cross-promote their business to your clients. The event will cause both you and the partnered businesses/organization to also post on social media or team up on marketing materials to promote attendance for the event. Offer to pay for some of the marketing promotion: mailers, social media ads, flyers being printed, etc.

Embrace the Power of Event Marketing

Marketing is vital for both promotion of your event, your business, and building partnerships. Whether your event is educational or a sales event you will want to ensure you have a set budget, are working on cross-promotion with your event partners (community organization, provider, library, etc.), and are utilizing multiple channels to market your event. Your goal should be to maximize your event attendees that will hopefully turn into sales.

Marketing for your event:

Strategy: Gather the most attendees and leads from the event. Ensure you are cross-promoting the event with your partner (community organization, provider, financial group, library etc.) Try multiple methods to market your event, free and at a cost. Be sure to also offer your contact information to call instead of attending the event since some beneficiaries will be more included to do a 1 on 1 meeting in person or have a phone call vs. coming to an event.

Execution:

• Social Media Posting
• Social Media ads
• Mailers
• Flyers
• Large sign in the complex of the event
• Emails

Marketing at your event:

Strategy: Beneficiaries need to leave having your contact information and to use you as their trusted agent once they understand the options available to then. Remember, Medicare can be confusing and they will likely have questions. Therefore, you will want to have your QR code with permission to contact, your contact info on multiple materials. You also want to ensure your logo, website, and social media are viewable that way clients have every avenue to reach you.

Execution:

• Medicare 101 presentation with your contact information and QR code, logo
• Large QR code printed on the
• Banners
• Business cards
• Permission to contact cards
• Printed Medicare 101s or brochures

Best Practices for following up with prospective clients after the event:

• Follow up with a call, text, or email thanking attendees for attending [remember 48-hour rule]

Compliance Overview

Compliance for your Educational Event

• Your marketing materials must clearly label your event as “Educational”.
• Your marketing materials must also contain the disclaimer: “For accommodations of persons with special needs at meetings call <phone number and TTY number>”.

You can:

• Use sign-in sheets that clearly indicate providing contact information is optional
• Provide meals or refreshments with light snacks. (Max $15 combined nominal retail value, when combined with any other gift, must not exceed $15 on a per-person basis.)
• Invite a provider to speak at the event
• Collect lead cards and business reply cards
• Hand out your business card
• Call attendees after the event has concluded, as long as they give you written permission at the event
• Obtain compliant permission to contact that is method-specific and event-specific
• Ask attendees to fill out an SOA form for future appointments, if the consumer initiates the request

Compliance with your Sales Event

With this Event Marketing Guide in your hands, you hold the key to educating and empowering Medicare beneficiaries that will elevate your brand and leave a lasting impression on your clients and partners. Get ready to unleash the power of experiences and unlock a new realm of possibilities for your marketing endeavors!