Starting off on the right foot with employer partners to maximize adoption
Introducing a new benefit is a change-management exercise — and the discovery work you do during implementation determines whether adoption takes off.
Employers are embracing ways to care for their people more holistically — building cultures and benefits that support the whole employee. But introducing any new benefit, as welcome as it may be, is an exercise in communications and change management. Here's how to start on the right foot and set up adoption for success.
Make Marketing a Core Implementation Workstream
From the moment a client signs, implementation begins — whether that's four weeks or four months. It's critical that marketing is a core workstream from the start, not an afterthought once the contract is live.
Run a Discovery Workshop
Early on, host a discovery workshop and tell your client in advance what you'll cover so they bring the right people. Kick off by outlining your company's framework and approach to enrollment and activation marketing — then spend the bulk of the time asking questions.
Useful prompts include: When you've run an internal comms push before, what worked and what didn't? Where do employees actually go for information and updates? How do you handle open enrollment and benefits fairs, and how can we support them — webinars, fireside chats, and the like? Where might it make sense to integrate with other vendors or workflows? Are there monthly deadlines for materials to be approved? What's your preference for setting up trainings with internal teams and affinity groups? And do you have a comms calendar you can share?
Take notes or record the session, then use what you learn to craft a launch plan suited to their employee populations — built around how and where their people actually find information. Reserve this deep discovery for larger, enterprise clients; for smaller and mid-sized companies, have a scalable best-practice launch plan and assets a Customer Success or Implementation Manager can share directly.
The Enrollment Success Cycle
Think of adoption as a repeating cycle: secure client buy-in, speak directly to their employee population(s), test and pilot wherever possible, replicate what works at scale, then diagnose what didn't and iterate for future campaigns. Each turn of the cycle sharpens the next.
Learn From Previous Launches
What went well last time? What didn't? Analyzing past successes and failures is critical to a launch plan that drives excitement and engagement. Share those learnings with your vendors too, so they can tailor strategy, messaging, and marketing to your unique populations.
Map Every Channel to Every Population
Identify the populations you need to reach — corporate, frontline, hourly, salaried, remote, onsite — then list every channel available to reach each one. Think beyond the intranet and benefits portal: digital or physical signage, the employee newsletter, lunch-and-learns, manager stand-ups. Ask employees from different segments how they find information. A multichannel approach is essential to an effective enrollment strategy.
Educate Stakeholders and Secure Buy-In Early
Word of mouth is often the number-one driver of awareness. Look at Employee Resource and Affinity Groups that may be especially receptive, and educate group leaders, HR business partners, and people managers before you go live. That turns them into proactive advocates who can answer questions and point peers toward the benefit.
Build Referral Pathways Between Vendors
Ideally your combined benefits create an ecosystem of support. Connect vendors behind the scenes to build referral pathways that drive continued enrollment, and run co-led live sessions that paint a fuller picture of available support. Ask your vendors to do the heavy lifting on materials and co-branded promotion — it's in their best interest.
Promotion Doesn't End at Launch
Most benefits can be enrolled in year-round, so meet employees where they are as life changes and benefits needs shift. Share ungated content that provides value in the moment and showcases your expertise, and take advantage of relevant "holidays" and themed days to stay timely. Keep a regular cadence across a mix of channels, and request measurement and tracking from your vendors to improve future campaigns.
Take a product-led approach too — announce new launches, client expansions, and features, and arm clients at launch with overview one-pagers (always answering "what's in it for me" for the end user), materials outlining what to come to the benefit for, a comms brief with email and Slack templates, and a link to your visual asset library. If you'd like help applying this to your own company, you can book time with Annie.