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Editor’s note: In this Q&A, answers are provided by DMW’s Justin Stauffer, Executive Vice President, Marketing Technology & Media.

What’s the difference between multichannel and omnichannel marketing?

Multichannel marketing involves several different marketing channels (e.g., print, direct TV, email, paid search, social media, etc.), but those channels generally have different marketing goals, and the messaging is typically not integrated.

For example, let’s say you receive direct mail about a Medicare plan. The call to action (CTA) is to visit a landing page and learn more about a Medicare plan. Then the same organization also sends you an email about the Medicare plan, asking you to sign up for an upcoming seminar. In this example, the organization is using a multichannel marketing strategy to reach and engage with you.

Omnichannel marketing also involves several different marketing channels. The difference is, those channels are integrated, and they’re working toward the same goal.

Why choose omnichannel marketing over multichannel marketing?

While there are use cases for multichannel marketing strategies, research has shown that people generally want a consistent experience, regardless of which channel they use to interact with your brand. They expect messages across all platforms to seamlessly reflect their current relationship with you — whether they’re loyal members, prospects who are deep in the funnel, or prospects who are just getting familiar with your brand.

Here are some statistics showing just how serious marketers need to be about consistency:

• In 2024, 85% of consumers started a purchase on one device and finished it on another
• Almost 3/4 of all consumers — 71% — want a consistent experience across all channels, but only 29% say they get it, according to recent research
• A recent study found a correlation between high website and/or app satisfaction and Medicare Advantage plan membership renewals, with 89% of satisfied members saying they “definitely will” renew their current plan

When you’re implementing an omnichannel approach, do you have to focus on ALL channels?

Simply put — no! It may be tempting for marketers who adopt an omnichannel approach to want to be on every channel. After all, omnichannel implies “all channels,” right? Perhaps. But it’s not necessary — it’s better to provide a consistent experience on the channels your audience is likely to be on.

For example, seniors age 65+ are more likely to be on Facebook and YouTube than SnapChat — so spend your media dollars accordingly.

What are some key things to do when creating an omnichannel strategy?

• Keep a consistent brand presence. Even if your strategic marketing plan requires you to prioritize certain channels over others, the content you post on every channel should feel like it’s connected to your brand. Use consistent colors and synergistic messaging. Leading your audience to the same landing page can also help ensure consumers have a seamless experience across channels.
• Create a mobile-first experience. Since 89% of those 50+ own a smartphone (according to AARP), it’s key to have a mobile-optimized website and enrollment portal for your Medicare plan. In fact, across all of our clients, we see an average of about 60%–70% mobile traffic and just 30%–40% desktop traffic. Keep in mind, people can call from their mobile devices, too, so make it easy for people to reach a real person by phone.
• Build trust through educational content. Provide educational content that’s appropriate for each of your channels to support your prospects’ desire to learn more about Medicare — for instance, utilize infographics on Instagram and short videos on YouTube. This not only ensures proper optimization within the channel but also helps earn your prospective members’ trust. This can go a long way in fueling their motivation to enroll in your plan.
• Personalize messaging. Know which plan your members are in and suggest articles or resources that may be useful or wish them a happy birthday. Appeal to prospects by customizing plan communications based on their age and whether they’ll be enrolling in a plan for the first time during their Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) or as a late retiree or a switcher. But most importantly, in all instances, approach each recipient as an individual (DMW’s Katie Maule writes about personalization in this recent blog post.

What’s one of the biggest challenges health plans face in implementing a true omnichannel approach?

I believe data integration is a health plan’s most fundamental challenge in focusing on an omnichannel approach. Data is commonly siloed between departments: Marketing has one set of data. Sales and Member Support each have another. To further complicate matters, the technology one department has is often fragmented and typically can’t integrate with another department’s platform.

So, more often than not, the success of omnichannel marketing relies on the collection and integration of first-party data across all marketing channels. The more data you collect, the more you can use it in your efforts.

What tools and processes do organizations need to have in place before kicking off an omnichannel strategy?

Organizations need to develop a coordinated strategy for integrating their data across departments, and then put that data to use. Because so many health plans have collected so much data over the years, this can be daunting.

I’ve seen several health plans benefit from implementing a centralized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution across all departments — from there, they can explore methods of utilizing integrated email marketing using the data from the platform to more effectively communicate with their audience.

People generally want a consistent experience, regardless of which channel they use to interact with your brand. They expect messages across all platforms to seamlessly reflect their current relationship with you — whether they’re loyal members, prospects who are deep in the funnel, or prospects who are just getting familiar with your brand.

To make things easier, focus first on importing marketing leads from the past 6 months or so, as they’re likely the most relevant. Beyond this time frame, leads can be stale and may need more extensive nurturing to ensure they’re still even interested in a plan.

From there, develop a messaging strategy that can be used to nurture prospective members. Don’t be afraid to test your email messages, email frequency, and distribution time. This can be a work-in-progress for a while.

How do you ensure the optimal reach and frequency of communication to a target Medicare audience across channels?

Our approach to planning, buying, and monitoring all media revolves around direct response methodology. Our goal is to get the right message — and the right product — in the right hands at the right time. We track and measure interactions across all channels. We leverage our secure centralized proprietary database platforms to generate performance reports with visual representations of the data. From there, we turn this data into actionable insights.

Our team views and analyzes all available results and refines media placements for each campaign (in real time when possible, depending on the channel) to optimize results. We don’t see media channels as individual disciplines — rather, each channel performs like an instrument in an orchestra. Together, they collectively produce what no solo instrument is able to.

While we have best practices we’ve discovered during our 40+ years in the Medicare industry, there’s no set “formula” we follow for each campaign. Each client, and each campaign, is unique.

Get results with DMW

DMW has a full suite of services available to help you exceed your goals. We’re a direct response agency, so we’re data-driven and focused on getting you the results you want. We’re also seasoned Medicare veterans with more than 650 successful Medicare campaigns under our belt, so we know the 65+ audience better than anyone else.

Whether you need help launching your next omnichannel campaign, figuring out how to integrate your organization’s data, or something else, we’re here. Reach out.