Five Weeks and 31 Markets
A Successful Omni-Channel Marketing Campaign From The Ground Up. Craig Group masters the Go-to-Market (GTM) game
CHALLENGE
When Craig Group signed on with Steward Health Care System in January of 2020 to do their media marketing and execution, no one knew what was coming. After Steward chose to take an extended advertising hiatus due to COVID starting in March of 2020, they soon needed to pivot again due to a rapidly changing landscape.
The Centers for Disease Control reported in June 2020 that an estimated 41 percent of U.S. adults were delaying or avoiding their medical care during the pandemic, including 12 percent who avoided urgent or emergency care.
Steward wanted to ensure that patients would get emergency care when they needed it, and also that they felt comfortable visiting their doctor for necessary appointments once hospitals could provide additional care.
To this end, Steward enlisted Craig Group to fast-track a ‘Safe & Ready’ ad campaign in five weeks, which was the largest media campaign in the company’s history.
The campaign would reassure patients that their local hospital had reopened and was safe for all to visit for any reason.
SOLUTION
Craig Group analyzed the 31 different markets to create an optimal media mix that would be used to drive awareness in a community surrounding each hospital for a ‘Safe & Ready’ Campaign. The rollout occurred by region with purchasing done in phases. Continuous monitoring and weekly reporting allowed for Craig Group to refine its tactics to optimize a campaign’s effectiveness.
“We used our experience to segment the different markets into five plans depending on their characteristics,” said Craig Group President, Summer Craig. “The plan for hospitals in a major metro area was different from the plan for more rural hospitals. It was customized, but also segmented into 5 different plans, instead of 31, which allowed us to go-to-market quickly and efficiently.”
Using a combination of targeted digital and reach-driving traditional channels allowed for a diversified and cost-effective way to drive brand awareness.
“By bundling our ad buying, we achieved cost savings of up to 20 percent,” Craig said. “Using national trusted vendors, like Spotify instead of relying solely on local media allowed Steward’s budget to go further.”
The plan was designed to reach an average of 20 to 30 percent of the population in a 20-mile radius of each hospital.
Craig Group’s media mix for the campaign included paid search, paid social, terrestrial and streaming radio, plus 32 premium billboards in major markets.
RESULT
After 30 days, 2.8 million people in the targeted hospital communities saw or heard the Steward ‘Safe & Ready’ message as a result of Craig’s efforts.
That number represented 38 percent of people who live within 20 miles of targeted hospitals, exceeding the target goal of 30 percent.
Twelve percent of people who saw a paid search ad clicked through for more information, which compares very favorably to the average click-through rate of 1 to 2 percent. And more than 2,076 calls were made to Steward Health Care in response to the paid search advertising.
Another metric of note concerns streaming services.
Ninety-five percent of people who listened to radio advertising on this platform stayed engaged for the ad in its entirety compared to an industry average of 50 percent.
The successful implementation of the “off the shelf” media package designed by Craig Group is now in the playbook for the marketing of service lines.
“The scope of the campaign was massive,” Craig said. “But we were able to break it down into very manageable components.”