Digital health platform for older adults to age in place fuels its growth with paid, earned and social media campaigns

Situation

With an expected 74 million seniors living in the US by 2030, community-based organizations, healthcare providers, health plans, and government agencies know they need to tackle the challenge of caring for the expected large wave of older adults. These groups now have a “network of networks” where they can work together to engage seniors and keep them aging in the place they call home as long as possible.

A digital health startup operating on three continents and in 20 US states connects older adults to a vast community from the comfort of their own homes. Uniper Care’s technology platform brings the value of collaboration between multiple organizations to connect diverse care partners together metaphorically under one roof.

Complication

Before Ballast, Uniper hired several PR firms that didn’t firmly grasp the digital health landscape or connect the dots of all parties’ objectives for their clients and members. They needed a partner with a proven history of healthcare and technology experience and results to help them succeed with brand awareness, marketplace differentiation, third-party storytelling and lead generation.

Solution

Ballast Group partnered long-term with Uniper to help emphasize its unique health, wellness, and socialization programming and aging services collaboration with others through earned media and social media campaigns. This initiative began by conducting primary and secondary research to develop unique company storylines that aligned with stakeholder perspectives and also tied to Uniper’s branding. Our storylines also helped enhance the company’s new website.

Results

Eight news stories in four months covering a Series A investment and highlighting various care partners using Uniper’s technology included Area Associations on Aging and managed care organizations like Humana and Centene. Ballast helped secure stories from Los Angeles Business Journal, LA Biz Journal, FinSMEs, eJewish Philanthropy, Healthcare Innovation, Health Leaders, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Evanston Roundtable and landed an interview with America’s foremost aging services reporter, Judy Graham of Kaiser Health News. 

Integrating with earned media, Ballast’s combined organic social media and paid media efforts on LinkedIn led to an increase of 915 followers, including dozens of industry influencers and 104,456 impressions in six months. The partnership further amplified its unique story and positioned Uniper as a leader in the aging services, telecare, and digital health space.