Enroll Wyoming, a grant-funded nonprofit that helps families find affordable health insurance, has put out a request for proposals (RFP) regarding the paid marketing of the next five years of its grant. Throughout the process, updates and answers to questions will be posted to this page.
What does the RFP entail? The full text can be found here, but generally speaking the RFP is to create messaging and comprehensive campaigns to reach target populations to raise awareness about Enroll Wyoming and the free services it offers. It will cover a period from Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 31, 2029. This will include seasonal emphases such as open enrollment from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, when most people enroll in the health insurance marketplace; special enrollment for people to access the marketplace outside of open enrollment; and ongoing outreach and education efforts. The RFP also includes money to consider rebranding Enroll Wyoming.
What are the major differences compared to recent RFPs? Enroll Wyoming has previously limited RFPs to specific projects or seasons, such as special enrollment or Medicaid unwinding, or to a single year. However, in the current RFP will cover a period of five grant years.
What is the budget of the project? We have an estimated $1,300,000 budgeted over a five-year period. This amount is subject to change depending on Cheyenne Regional Medical Center’s award amount.
Each year’s expected breakdown is to include $200,000 to be spent on open enrollment advertising and $50,000 to be spent on consulting, the website, and other smaller projects. An additional $50,000 has been budgeted to be spent on rebranding Enroll Wyoming.
What are important dates for the RFP?
— Online question and answer sessions are scheduled for 2 p.m. on July 16 and 2 p.m. on July 23 and can be accessed here.
— The deadline for proposals is 6:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
— We expect to announce the recipient by Monday, Aug. 5, 2024
Where can we direct questions? For more information, contact Enroll Wyoming Marketing Director Caleb Smith at caleb@enrollwyo.org or 307-371-6293. You can also attend one of the virtual Q&A sessions on July 16 and 23. Answers to the questions that are received will be shared on this website.
What companies has Enroll Wyoming worked with in the past? Recent RFP awardees include Warehouse 21, Townsquare Media, and Kalen Marketing Solutions.
UPDATE ON JULY 12, 2024:
What are the population figures for the underinsured and uninsured in Wyoming? There are roughly 60,000 uninsured people in Wyoming. There is no data for the underinsured.
What is the grant requirement for awareness and how is this measured? Under our CMS Navigator Grant, Enroll Wyoming is expected to have at least 16,400,000 consumer impressions through marketing and promotional activities, which is a standard we have met for several years in a row. We do not like this metric because targeting our advertising is so important. In your presentations, please take both of these into account.
We are also open to input in this area. If there is a metric that you believe would be helpful, please make suggestions.
What has been the most successful tactic for raising awareness in Wyoming? As stated above, that is hard to quantify and is part of our ongoing balancing act. We have found success in mixing mediums including social media, online ads, streaming video and audio services, radio, billboards, and newspapers. This has also changed over time. Two years ago, ads with “Super Dan,” or mascot Bandage Dan appearing as a superhero, performed exceedingly well. Last open enrollment, he did not have the same effect.
What is the average monthly reach of recent campaigns? A majority of impressions (typically 60-75 percent) take place during our open enrollment period from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15. This ranges from about 3.167 million to 4 million a month during our peak season. That leaves another 7 million to 4 million impressions to generate over the remainder of the year.
Why is Enroll Wyoming considering a rebrand? We recognize that our name does not fully capture and communicate what we do. This can lead to confusion and questions as we explain we are focused on health insurance enrollment and not school or tribal enrollment. We also know that our mascot Bandage Dan is seeing a decline in engagement.
Is a website rebuild/redesign to be included in rebranding efforts? Yes, but we may be able to supplement the cost with additional funding beyond the $50,000 budgeted for rebanding if this is more complicated than anticipated. A website redesign will likely have split responsibilities between Enroll staff and our RFT recipient.
Will the winning agency get access to existing ad and analytics platforms for tracking pixels, etc. and historical data? Finalized artwork and any analytic information Enroll Wyoming has received from other agencies will be available to any future contractors.
How many reviewers are on the scoring panel? Five members.
If we have submitted a previous RFP to Enroll Wyoming, can we get a copy of the scoring results? We are unable to share this information at this time.
On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied have you been with the results of previous campaign efforts? Overall, we have been satisfied. However, our largest concern is that reaching our target audience (uninsured and underinsured) has been extremely difficult.
Do you have defined growth goals over this five-year award period? Growth goals we have on paper are directly related to the appointments our navigators have with consumers, rather than marketing impressions, etc. That being said, this is the action item for all of our advertising, so it is related. We set a goal of a 10 percent increase each year for all five years.
UPDATE ON JULY 17, 2024:
Historically, has Enroll Wyoming hit its enrollment goals each year? Yes. For the last three years the number of enrollments our staff have assisted with has gone up at least 10 percent, which has been our goal. The four years prior to that, Enroll Wyoming did not have many funds for marketing, and we only had two staff members, so comparisons are not comparable.
How are consumers prompted to re-enroll in the health insurance marketplace? Right now, there are about 18,000 individuals enrolled in marketplace insurance in Wyoming.
The marketing Enroll Wyoming reminds individuals who do their own enrollments to re-enroll each year. When Enroll Wyoming navigators work with consumers, we ask them to consider signing up for our mailing list, which we use to remind them to re-enroll during open enrollment. As part of digital consent form, individuals choose if they wish to opt in to these emails. Additional, those with accounts on healthcare.gov receive email reminders.
Will interviews with marketing agencies be a portion of the selection process? Our current RFP did not have this as a portion of our process, therefore we will not be holding formal interviews. That being said, if we see a proposal and have questions, we will be contacting agencies to get those questions answered.
NOTE: We really like this idea and will consider using it as a portion of our RFP process in the future.
What have Spanish campaign materials included in the past? They have featured print materials, translated information on our website – Enrollwyo.org, and some digital ads.
Can the contract be easily terminated with 30 days notice? Boilerplate contract language from Cheyenne Regional Medical Center does have language that includes either party being able to terminate a contract with 30-days written notice.
NOTE: We really hope this does not happen.
With this funding coming in the form of a grant, will you know numbers prior to contracts being executed? Yes. We will have finalized financials prior to the contract being signed. We anticipate having formal notice of the grant amount around mid-August.
Do we have demographics of the uninsured in Wyoming? They include a variety of people including:
— The population that would be covered if we had Medicaid expansion. (Adults under 100% of the federal poverty line). While these folks do not normally qualify for marketplace coverage, we still like to meet with them to make sure they are aware of all of their options.
— Early retirees
— Those who are self-employed
— Young adults (invincibles) (Remember that parents can keep their adult children on their health insurance plans until those children turn 26).
— Small business owners and employees
— Workers at Wyoming’s nonprofits
— Native Americans
Did you mean “metric” rather than “matrix” in an earlier response? An earlier explanation on grant requirements and measuring consumer impressions had a mistake and should have referred to a “metric.” That has been fixed above on the FAQ page.
UPDATE ON JULY 23, 2024:
What information do we have about the people who use the health insurance marketplace? The following is information about Wyomingites who signed up for health insurance marketplace coverage during the 2023-24 open enrollment season. The figures from the 2024 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period Public Use Files give more insight into those who signed up for health insurance marketplace coverage in Wyoming during the last open enrollment period. This in turn can help us identify our target audience.
Number of Consumers with a Marketplace Plan Selection: 42,293
Age < 18: 6,470 (15.3 percent)
Age 18-25: 3,864 (9.1 percent)
Age 26-34: 6,595 (15.6 percent)
Age 35-44: 7,209 (17 percent)
Age 45-54: 6,620 (14.7 percent)
Age 55-64: 11,365 (26.9 percent)
Age ≥ 65: 170 (0.4 percent)
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Male: 19,589 (46.3 percent)
Female: 22,704 (53.7 percent)
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Hispanic: 2,440 (5.8 percent)
American Indian/Alaska Native, Non-Hispanic: 323 (.7 percent)
Asian, Non-Hispanic: 520 (1.2 percent)
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Non-Hispanic: 24
Black / African American, Non-Hispanic: 154 (.3 percent)
White, Non-Hispanic: 28,403 (67.2 percent)
Other Race, Non-Hispanic: 158 (.4 percent)
Multiracial, Non-Hispanic: 769 (1.8 percent)
Unknown Race, Non-Hispanic: 9,502 (22.5 percent)
Non-Hispanic: 33,319 (78.8 percent)
Unknown Hispanic: 6,534 (15.4 percent)
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Rural: 32,144 (76 percent)
Non-Rural: 10,149 (24 percent)
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Additionally, when it comes to Wyoming Medicaid figures, there were an estimated 84,000 in June 2023, which has since declined to about 72,000 as of March 2024.
UPDATE ON JULY 26, 2024:
Can you explain how Enroll Wyoming works with Medicaid and marketplace applicants? Enroll Wyoming navigators can help people apply for both Wyoming Medicaid and the health insurance marketplace. Since Wyoming is one of the states that has not expanded access to Medicaid, fewer people will qualify for Medicaid coverage and more people will qualify for health insurance marketplace coverage. This is why a majority of navigators’ application assistance is focused on the marketplace.
Is there a way to get in touch with past health insurance marketplace users? Those who work one-on-one with Enroll Wyoming navigators can opt-in to open enrollment reminders and a customer service email. Those who create an account on healthcare.gov will also receive reminder emails, though we do not have access to that list.
Do you have a catalog of branding assets? No. Enroll Wyoming has a frequently updated brand kit that includes our current colors and fonts along with standard versions of our logo and mascot. We do not have a detailed inventory of materials, though that is something we will consider in the future. When it comes to contract work, we expect the focus will be on marketing materials for the public and not on in-house items like letterhead or flyers for individual events.
When it comes to the amounts budgeted for paid advertising and the rebrand, can money be moved from one category to another? While the total combined amount is not expected to change, we are open to proposals that put more money in one category if they can explain their rationale and how they will still meet expectations.
Can you explain more about seasonal themes, especially outside of open enrollment? While the fall ramp-up to open enrollment and winter open enrollment seasons are clearly delineated, the spring and summer seasons are more open ended. This year, Enroll Wyoming started scheduling monthly topics to explore and promote. This gives both team members and our partners more focus in our education and outreach efforts. These monthly themes are emphasized in out monthly newsletter, podcast and short form video clips for social media.
What tactics have performed the best in raising awareness? Different audiences require different tactics, and we have already highlighted our desire to balance the number of impressions against quality contacts that will lead to actions. Successful campaign components have included targeted social media posts; internet ads; streaming services like Spotify and YouTube, online news feeds like Oil City News and SweetwaterNow; and Wyoming Public Radio. We note that we want to connect with people who need health insurance and community influencers who are go-to sources of advice and information. The latter is why we have used outlets like WPR.
How does Enroll Wyoming work with Wyoming 211? Wyoming 211 is a longtime partner. As part of its work to distribute information about Wyoming resources, it receives some funding from Enroll Wyoming to act as a go-between between callers and Enroll Wyoming navigators and for translation services. In certain forms of advertising, like radio or billboards, we find that “call 211” is the shortest and easiest to remember call to action. Using 211 prominently in materials has led to some confusion where Enroll Wyoming is mistaken for Wyoming 211, and we have regular staff debates on this balancing act.
Do you use Hootsuite for just organic posting or do you use it to manage your digital media buys? We use Hootsuite to manage our posts across multiple social media platforms, but we do not use it for digital media buys.
If you do use Hootsuite’s social media buying dashboard, would you prefer to have the winning agency continue to buy ads through this platform, or could they purchase ads natively? In the past, we have let the winning agency decide how to make buys and expect to continue this practice.
UPDATE ON JULY 29, 2024:
How do you want proposals submitted? Please email proposals to caleb@enrollwyo.org. To make sure we receive all proposals, we ask that companies email advance notice that they plan to send us a submission. That way we can be watching for it before the deadline on 6:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 30. Enroll Wyoming will confirm the receipt of all proposals we get.