Insurance marketplace grew qualified leads 500% during Medicare enrollment at 35% lower cost per customer

The challenge

Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period gives shoppers a limited window to compare and choose their plans, making it a critical season for customer acquisition. The client’s previous campaign had underperformed, with creative that didn't drive enough response and a media plan that didn't work hard enough.

The next campaign needed to surpass the previous season’s qualified lead volume, reduce cost per customer by 20% year over year, and improve overall ROI

The campaign also needed rigorous forecasting of call center capacity and qualified leads, backed by daily media and optimization reporting.

The approach

We started with the audience, not the ad. Working alongside our client’s team, we built a messaging map grounded in their prospects’ needs and pain points. We prioritized the messages most likely to move them and developed creative concepts around each one.  

Before scaling, we set up a measurement framework and ran a targeted on-air test to see which messages and creative actually drove performance. Only the proven winners went to market, and we adapted them into digital video so the strongest work ran consistently across every screen.

During enrollment, speed mattered. Our team delivered next-day performance reporting through GPS, GainShare’s proprietary measurement and attribution platform, so optimizations happened in near real time instead of after the fact. GPS brought attributed and direct revenue together in one view, which gave us a clear, trusted basis for weekly adjustments. Its predictive forecasting let us project outcomes ahead of spend, so we could shift investment toward the channels and tactics most likely to deliver as enrollment progressed.

The results

The campaign beat the client’s targets for both growth and efficiency. Qualified leads increased 500%. Cost per customer came in more than 35% lower, well ahead of the 20% improvement target.

Efficiency improved where it mattered most. Cost per lead fell 20% year over year, but cost per customer fell almost twice as much. That gap is the payoff of optimizing for enrolled customers rather than lead volume.

Each part of the plan played its role. The winning test spot became the campaign’s lead creative across linear and CTV. Linear drove phone calls, while CTV drove web activity, adding a digital path for shoppers who prefer to research and convert online.