Best Practices in Employee Campaigns:

Helping Them Get There

ONE OF THE biggest challenges employers face is helping their participants prepare for retirement. Consider this: less than 40% of employees have even calculated what they need for retirement.¹ Moreover, today’s employees have a lot of competition for their attention. They are bombarded by information, images and sales pitches that can distract them from savings.

Behavioral research has revealed how our natural tendencies hinder our financial decisions. People do not seem to be rational planners who exercise unbiased, independent judgment in their savings behavior. Frequently, they fail to act in the manner traditional economic theory expects. Many people do not save, although they know they should. Others are excessively optimistic about their ability to invest. Still others are afraid to invest because they fear potential losses. A good campaign can overcome these common propensities.

Retirement education frequently consists of mass mailings sent to participant homes. These mailings consist of a specific message or call-to-action: enroll, save more, or review your investments. The most compelling message, however, is only as good as its ability to facilitate action. Below are steps plan sponsors should consider when developing employee campaigns.

Step One: Plan Analysis

Understanding the Employee Population

The first step to an effective campaign is a deep understanding of the participant base. This is based both on quantitative and qualitative analysis. Your provider can help assess your plans needs and determine specific objectives. Things to consider are:

§         Participation Rates

How does the plan compare to industry averages? What percent of employees are eligible but not participating? Are they in certain age groups or locations?

§         Deferral Rates

What percent of employees are contributing less than industry averages? How many participants are contributing to the maximum rate of matched contributions?

§         Investment Allocations

What is the average number of investments selected? Are there participants invested in only one investment (e.g. the default option)? What do these participants look like in terms of age, tenure, etc.?

§         Usage of Planning Tools

What is the average age of the participant base? What is the plan’s history of internet or call center usage? Is the participant base largely web enabled?

Answering these questions will help identify the areas of improvement and help to determine the campaign goals.

Step Two: Implementing a Solution

Picking the Strategy

Once the goals are identified, select a campaign that is most likely to help meet those objectives. No matter what the goal is, campaigns that incorporate the following elements have a greater probability of success:

§         Overcome Inertia with Multiple Touchpoints

Repetition is the key to getting a message across. Using multiple touchpoints can increase response rates by an average of sixty percent.²

§         Make it Easy to Take Action

The easier it is to respond, the more responses will come in. Providing a pre-filled, tear-off response card in a mailing means participants don’t have to fill out long forms or find an address or envelope.

§         Brand the Campaign

Most participants and employees are much more familiar with their employer than they are with their provider. For that reason, make sure the employer’s sponsorship of the campaign is clearly noted.

§         Show Sponsorship

Sponsors can send out internal emails or schedule employee meetings shortly before or after the campaign. As a result, participants are on the lookout for the mailing and are thinking about their retirement plan.

§         Leverage Multiple Channels

Everyone has different preferences on how they like to receive information and take action. By providing multiple channels or information combined with multiple response methods, plan sponsors can reach more people and expect more people to respond.

Step Three: Track Results

Apply What You Learn

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. It is worth the time to design a good campaign instead of sending out a big mailing and trust the appropriate people will respond. You want to know how many people were targeted, how many responded, and how they responded. You will not only be able to gauge the success of your campaign, but you will learn more about the employee population.

The road to retirement is paved with good intention. Unfortunately, intention is not action and action is required to prepare. Providers, advisors, and sponsors should make every effort to facilitate employee preparation. A targeted participant campaign is one of the best ways to do this.   

For a copy of the whitepaper on “Best Practices in Employee Campaigns” or for more information on MassMutual products and services, please call 1-866-444-2601. You can also visit us at www.massmutual.com/powertogrow.

¹ EBRI 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey

² MassMutual Enrollment Campaign results 2007. Based on results for 65 plans.

© 2007 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Springfield, MA. All rights reserved. www.massmutual.com. MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) [of which MassMutual Retirement is a division] and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. 

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