Open Enrollment Best Practices

This video provides an in-depth exploration of best practices for open enrollment, framing the process as a critical marketing exercise rather than a mere administrative task. The speaker, drawing from experience at over 200 open enrollment meetings, emphasizes that effective open enrollment requires a strategic marketing methodology to ensure employees understand and appreciate their benefits. The core premise is that employees will not value their benefits unless they comprehend them, necessitating a deliberate communication strategy.

The presentation introduces a fundamental "marketing equation" as a structured approach to open enrollment communications: Interrupt, Engage, Educate, and Offer. Each component of this equation is meticulously broken down with practical advice tailored for the open enrollment context. The speaker highlights that gaining attention (Interrupt) is paramount before any education can occur, likening the human brain's tendency to enter an "Alpha asleep" mode that must be actively disrupted. Engagement then focuses on sustaining that attention, leveraging biological predispositions like the human fascination with faces and motion. Education must be specific and helpful, tailored to the audience's needs, while the "Offer" serves as a low-risk call to action to initiate the enrollment process.

Throughout the discussion, the speaker provides concrete examples and data-backed insights to support the methodology. For instance, the importance of using authentic human faces and videos over generic stock imagery is stressed, citing studies that show 80% retention from video compared to 10% from reading. A unique aspect of the education phase is the recommendation to segment communication by employee age group (20s, 30s, 40s-60s), addressing different life stages and healthcare needs, from basic deductible explanations for younger employees to maternity coverage for those in their 30s, and specialist/medication navigation for older employees. The video concludes by advocating for low-risk calls to action and referencing external platforms like Health Sherpa as benchmarks for user-friendly enrollment experiences.

Key Takeaways:

• Open Enrollment as a Marketing Exercise: Open enrollment should be approached with a marketing mindset, as employees will only appreciate their benefits if they understand them. This requires a deliberate strategy to communicate the value of health plans effectively.
• The Marketing Equation Framework: Utilize the "Interrupt, Engage, Educate, Offer" framework for all open enrollment communications. This structured approach ensures that messages capture attention, maintain interest, provide relevant information, and guide employees to action.
• Prioritize Interruption: The most crucial step is to get employees' attention by answering "What's in it for me?" immediately. People are often in an "Alpha asleep" state, and communications must actively snap them into "Beta awake" mode to be effective.
• Leverage Human Faces and Video for Engagement: Human brains are wired to pay attention to faces and motion. Incorporate authentic photos of company employees and, even better, video content into presentations and communications to maximize engagement and build trust. Video leads to 80% recall versus 10% for text.
• Avoid Generic Healthcare Imagery: Steer clear of cliché healthcare imagery (e.g., stethoscopes with dollar signs). These are often ineffective and fail to build trust or engagement.
• Tailor Education by Age Group: Make education specific and helpful by segmenting information based on employee age. For example, explain basics (deductible, co-pay) to those in their 20s, focus on maternity/pediatric care for 30s, and discuss specialists, prescription costs, and healthcare navigation for 40s-60s.
• Address Healthcare Navigation Challenges: Recognize that even highly educated employees in their 40s-60s struggle with navigating the complex healthcare system, including finding primary care doctors, high-value specialists, and understanding bills. Communications should address these pain points.
• Implement Low-Risk Calls to Action: The "Offer" or Call-to-Action should be low-risk and easy to start, such as "Just get started with your Open Enrollment. You don't have to finish right now." This reduces friction and encourages initial engagement.
• Benchmark Against Best-in-Class Platforms: Study successful consumer-facing enrollment platforms, such as those for ACA plans (e.g., Health Sherpa), to learn about creating user-friendly and intuitive enrollment experiences.
• Build Trust Through Authenticity: Using authentic photos of actual employees (even from HR) instead of stock photos helps establish trust, both consciously and subconsciously, during the open enrollment period.
• The Power of "You" in Headlines: Start headlines or initial statements with the word "You" (e.g., "You won't have benefits next year unless you enroll") to make the message personal and impactful, ideally keeping headlines to 5-10 words.

Tools/Resources Mentioned:

• Health Sherpa (healthsherpa.com): Referenced as a benchmark for user-friendly enrollment platforms, specifically for ACA/Obamacare plans.

Key Concepts:

• Marketing Equation: A four-part framework for effective communication: Interrupt, Engage, Educate, Offer.
• Alpha Asleep / Beta Awake: Psychological states of the brain; "Alpha asleep" is a subconscious state of inattention, while "Beta awake" is an alert, focused state. Effective communication aims to shift individuals from Alpha asleep to Beta awake.
• Low-Risk Offer: A call to action that requires minimal commitment or effort from the recipient, making it easier for them to take the first step.