by Ravi Backerdan
Every day, thousands of Americans move closer to their 65th birthday and begin thinking about Medicare, supplemental coverage, prescription drug coverage, and their healthcare options.
For Medicare insurance agents, agencies, FMOs, health plans, and other organizations serving the senior market, this creates an important customer acquisition opportunity.
But reaching everyone approaching age 65 is not necessarily the best strategy.
The key is building a targeted Turning 65 marketing list that identifies the right prospects, in the right geographic market, with the characteristics that best fit your campaign.
Here is how to build a more targeted Turning 65 marketing list.
A Turning 65 mailing list, sometimes referred to as a T65 list or Turning 65 leads, is a marketing database designed to identify consumers approaching their 65th birthday.
Age 65 is an important milestone in the Medicare market because it is when many Americans first become eligible for Medicare.
For most people, the Medicare Initial Enrollment Period lasts seven months, beginning three months before the month they turn 65 and continuing for three months afterward.
That creates an important window for insurance professionals and organizations seeking to educate prospective beneficiaries about Medicare and available coverage options.
A targeted Turning 65 Medicare list can help marketers identify prospects before their 65th birthday and develop campaigns around this important life event.
The foundation of a good Turning 65 leads database is accurate age and date of birth information.
Instead of simply purchasing a broad senior citizen mailing list, marketers can identify consumers who will reach age 65 during specific months.
For example, an insurance agency could request prospects:
This allows marketers to create an ongoing prospecting strategy rather than purchasing one large, static audience.
New prospects continually enter the Turning 65 market, making T65 data particularly useful for recurring customer acquisition campaigns.
Once you determine when your prospects are turning 65, the next step is defining where you want to market.
A Turning 65 marketing list can typically be built around specific geographic markets such as:
For Medicare agents and insurance organizations, geographic targeting can be especially important because products, licensing, service areas, and marketing objectives may differ by market.
Rather than purchasing every available Turning 65 prospect, start with the areas where you are prepared to actively market and serve new customers.
Age and geography are only the beginning.
Depending on the available data, marketers may be able to further segment their Turning 65 Medicare leads using demographic and household characteristics.
Common selections may include:
The appropriate selections depend on your offer and campaign strategy.
The objective is not necessarily to add as many filters as possible. Every additional selection reduces your available audience.
Instead, identify the characteristics that genuinely make someone a better prospect for your particular campaign.
Once you have defined your target audience, determine how you intend to reach them.
Depending on the database and available permissions, a Turning 65 marketing list may contain different contact channels, including:
This gives marketers the ability to build campaigns around one or multiple channels.
Direct mail, for example, can be used to introduce an agency, educational seminar, or appropriate Medicare related offer.
Available email solutions may provide another way to communicate with targeted audiences.
Telephone data may support appropriate calling programs when used in accordance with applicable federal and state requirements.
The strongest strategy depends on your audience, budget, compliance requirements, and sales process.
One of the advantages of working with targeted audience data is the ability to think beyond a single marketing channel.
Instead of asking:
"Should I use direct mail or email?"
Consider how different channels can support one another.
A prospect might receive a direct mail piece introducing your organization, encounter additional marketing through another appropriate channel, visit a landing page, and eventually contact an agent.
The goal is to create familiarity and give prospects multiple appropriate opportunities to respond.
A well defined Turning 65 marketing list becomes the foundation that keeps those efforts focused on the same target audience.
Turning 65 marketing is highly time sensitive.
Someone who is six months away from turning 65 today will obviously be in a completely different position six months from now.
That means T65 marketing should not be treated as a one time data purchase that sits unused indefinitely.
Consider building a recurring campaign.
For example:
This creates a consistent pipeline of potential Medicare prospects rather than relying exclusively on major enrollment periods.
Your campaign can only be as effective as the audience behind it.
When evaluating a Turning 65 mailing list provider, ask questions about how the data is compiled, maintained, updated, and processed.
Important questions include:
A reputable data provider should be able to explain what information is available and help you understand how to build an audience around your campaign objectives.
Medicare marketing is a regulated environment.
Having access to a consumer record does not automatically mean every marketing method or message is permissible.
Medicare Advantage and Part D marketing and communications are subject to CMS requirements, and additional federal and state rules may apply depending on the marketing channel and campaign.
Organizations should understand the rules that apply to their specific activities, marketing materials, telephone outreach, email programs, and other communications.
Data targeting should therefore be viewed as one component of a broader compliant Medicare marketing strategy.
The cost of a Turning 65 marketing list can vary depending on the number of records, targeting criteria, contact information requested, permitted usage, and source of the data.
Rather than starting with price, start by determining the size of your actual target market.
For example, an insurance agent might want to know:
"How many people are turning 65 within my target ZIP Codes during the next six months?"
Once you know the available universe, you can determine how large a campaign makes sense for your budget.
This is why requesting a market count before purchasing data can be valuable.
A good Medicare marketing campaign does not begin with a postcard, email, or telephone call.
It begins with the audience.
Start by answering four questions:
Once those questions are answered, you can build a Turning 65 Medicare marketing list around the prospects who fit your campaign instead of marketing blindly to a broad senior audience.
AmeriList helps Medicare agents, insurance agencies, healthcare marketers, and other qualified organizations build targeted Turning 65 mailing lists and Medicare marketing audiences based on their specific campaign requirements.
Tell us the geographic market you want to target, when you want prospects to be turning 65, and any additional criteria important to your campaign.
We can run a custom market count to show you how many prospects match your target audience.
Get Your Free Turning 65 Market Count
Tell us who you want to reach. We'll help you find them.
