Though it may be tempting to print a sign promoting the benefits of a health savings account (HSA), decorate it with bows and ribbons for the holidays, and stick it by the water cooler, this method of advertising HSAs is not very effective. Making HSAs more attractive to employees requires time and a plan. To assist employers, we put together this checklist. Follow it and get results!
Step 1. Gather all the Information you have on Your HSA Offerings
Often, the employees responsible for disseminating information about health benefits are so knowledgeable about the benefit products the company offers, they fail to communicate them effectively to those they want to enroll. To prevent this from happening, you need to turn the information you have on HSAs into a list of features and benefits. Those who would enroll in an HSA think about an HSA in terms of what it offers— its benefits.
If you’re in HR, gather the relevant people in your department as well as all the HSA admin materials you have on file. Plan a day or two to go through these materials so that your entire staff becomes intimately acquainted with all the features and benefits your HSA solutions offer.
For each HSA feature, extract at least one benefit employees will gain as the result of that feature when they enroll. Take this master list of features and benefits and prioritize them based on what’s more important to the people you want to enroll. You’ll use this list to create your promotional materials.
Step 2. Create Effective Materials That Promote Your HSA
Now that you know how to speak the language of those you want to enroll, it’s time to create the promotional materials you’ll use to market your HSA to employees. The types of materials you create depends on how you plan to promote the HSA in the office. We recommend promoting HSAs in multiple formats, including posters, brochures, and emails.
All promotional material should use persuasive copy— to convince employees to enroll; you’ll need to use a motivating sequence. We recommend that your promotional materials:
• Gain employee attention with relevant and catchy headlines
• Highlight the challenges your employees face (or their aspirations, if relevant)
• Position your HSA as the solution to the challenges your employees face (or a way to accomplish what they aspire to)
• Use testimonials to show proof that your HSA really does make a difference
• Ask the employee to enroll in your HSA
Creating persuasive promotional materials that speak the language of those you want to enroll is THE way to make HSAs more attractive to employees. After all, if you’re not making a persuasive case for your employees to enroll in an HSA, why would you expect them to sprint to your office to enroll?
Step 3. Launch Your HSA Campaign!
Research shows that it takes about seven exposures before you “breakthrough” to consumers1. Your employees are consumers of HSAs. So, you may need to put your promotional materials in front of them at least seven times before you start seeing people enroll.
Now that you have your promotional materials ready to go, it’s time to put them in front of your employees. Here are a few good ways to expose your employees to the persuasive materials you’ve created:
• An email campaign— one email per week that talks about HSAs
• Include information about HSAs in your company newsletter
• Give each employee a brochure about your HSA option
• Hang posters throughout the office
• Host in-person HSA Q&A events at the office over lunch (provide the lunch to boost attendance)
Step 4. Close the Deal with Helpful Technology
Once you have employees knocking on your door to request more information about HSAs, it’s time to “close” the deal. Today’s employees want to sit with information about health benefits and process it on their own. They also want the ability to ask questions. And, though it may seem contrary, they prefer a personalized, supportive process for researching and enrolling. Meeting these preferences is the quickest way to move them from interested to enrolled.
At Clarity, we offer Emma—an online personalized assistant who guides employees through questions and enrollment. Emma offers plan and benefit suggestions and provides a personalized and supported environment.
Of course, you’ll want to make it known that employees can enroll in an HSA at the office as well.
Employees are Consumers of Healthcare Benefits
A large proportion of companies struggle to increase HSA enrollment. However, with the right approach, businesses can increase enrollment. When implementing strategies and techniques to increase enrollment, it’s important to remember that employees are consumers. They will approach and evaluate the value of an HSA in much the same way they approach and evaluate upgrading their car lease. So, companies need to approach the process of convincing employees to “buy” (enroll) an HSA the same way an advertiser would—with effective content, a plan, and regular exposure.
