Full Funnel Optimization: How AI led to 3X Efficiency Gains and Growth for a Top Healthcare Insurer
A top US healthcare insurer harnessed AI for full funnel optimization, leading to media efficiency gains and double-digit growth in critical marketing KPIs.
In the healthcare industry, driving brand awareness and consideration are key requirements for achieving maximum impact during the intensely competitive open enrollment season (November- January).
One of the top two health insurers in the United States had an annual media spend exceeding $100 million, deployed across nine regions and a variety of channels, both digital and traditional. To manage this level of organizational complexity, they sought a solution that could deliver detailed insights into the effectiveness of their media spend and optimize their marketing strategies accordingly.
The goal was to identify the right investment mix at each stage of the funnel to drive growth and optimize incremental conversions for three key performance indicators (KPIs) spanning the full consumer journey: brand consideration, high-value web actions, and new policies and renewals.
The health insurer deployed AIOS for its advanced scenario planning capabilities, including: time-bound ‘what if’ scenarios based on budget or conversion goals; full-funnel KPI support and multi-KPI support within the same plan; weighted KPIs for multi-KPI planning; and granular reallocation recommendations to capitalize on the conversion upside.
The client was able to run 25-30 different investment scenario plans during a single month in each quarter, both nationally and regionally, comparing scenarios side-by-side for sensitivity, seasonality and impact. This enabled them to analyze and optimize their media plans across various channels, ensuring the most efficient and effective use of their budget.
Key steps in the implementation included aggregating data from various media channels, using advanced analytics to identify patterns of consumer behaviour, and providing detailed, placement-level recommendations to optimize media spend.
Through these actions, they learned that investments in the second half of the year would lead to better ROAS and that brand-building in the first half of the year had a significant funnel impact in the lead-up to the enrollment period. They also discovered several opportunities to re-allocate away from traditional channels to digital ones to optimize ROMI.
Through data-backed allocation recommendations, the company achieved a remarkable media efficiency gain of 170% and substantial growth of media’s impact across all KPIs:
35%
CAGR in revenue produced per dollar in media spend
38%
CAGR of media-driven member enrollment
13%
CAGR in media-driven high-value web actions
8%
CAGR in media-driven brand consideration
Over a 3-year period, AIOS’ media planning and optimization capabilities revolutionized the health insurer's marketing strategy, delivering outstanding results across all KPIs and drove a 170% improvement in efficiency. By reallocating $26M from traditional channels (outdoor, radio, and TV) to digital channels (social video, digital display, native, and search), AIOS enabled the insurer to achieve significant gains in media productivity.
Additionally, by focusing on brand-building in the first half of the year outside the enrollment period and increasing spending in the latter half when more of the population was converting, the health insurer was able to drive substantial growth.
By leveraging advanced scenario planning capabilities that could help model the complex needs of their business, the health insurer was able to optimize media spend across its funnel to drive growth during the critical open enrollment period.
