First steps. First cars. First jobs. People everywhere on social are sharing their big firsts, especially a new audience Allstate was looking to connect with: older millennials. This demographic is going through a lot of life stage changes, from first home to first baby, and they turn to social for advice. Fortunately for us, a lot of those moments also just so happen to be big insurance moments.
Allstate ultimately aimed to impact the conversation around firsts in order to help shift perception and improve positive sentiment. We wanted our target audience to feel like we not only understand them, but can also help them conquer firsts with confidence—so that during their next big insurance moment, they're more likely to think of Allstate. And we accomplished that with Here's to Firsts.
To get people talking and thinking differently about Allstate, we created Here's to Firsts, a cross-channel social campaign. It was the cornerstone of Allstate's social media strategy in 2016 and was unlike anything competitors were doing in this space. We talked about real firsts in an authentic, humanizing way—which led to real conversations about deep human truths that expand far beyond insurance.
It made a positive impact. We turned our audience's uncertainty around firsts into confidence with a campaign that both celebrates firsts and provides tips for achieving them.
Celebrating:
We made an emotional connection by applauding the firsts of our target audience and highlighting the powerful stories of others. For example, we featured real people in documentary-style videos about their firsts, like a young single mother getting her first shot at a career or a deaf student's first time in the hearing world, far from home. We created touching, shareable videos about learning to ride a bike for the first time, or moving into your first home. Firsts that users themselves submitted were even featured on our pages, and we surprised random people talking about firsts with gift cards via social listening.
Educating:
We also delivered useful information and helpful resources to help older millennials as they prepare for and experience firsts. And we made sure all tips were delivered in an engaging way. For example, we used stop motion to show how to pack fun lunches for the first day of school; a kitten in a dollhouse to show how to pet proof your home for your first four-legged friend; and wedding cake toppers to demonstrate how to give your first speech at a wedding. A wide mix of social posts captured users' attention across channels, while emerging formats—such as Facebook Canvas and 360 Video—helped Allstate connect with the audience in new ways.
Both celebration and education came together to make sure that the next time our audience thinks of firsts, they think of Allstate.
The executions were remarkable, with results to match. Here's to Firsts had an impressive reach of 52.2 million, 20 million engagements and 19.7 million video views. We earned organic shares from users, Allstate agents and even respected nonprofits, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America. But the most telling metric of success was how the campaign increased positive sentiment.
It's safe to say the insurance industry is not exactly the most well liked. Many social posts, no matter the topic, elicit comments of complaints from disgruntled customers. Building a positive social presence is truly a challenge for any insurance brand. But we were able to do just that with this campaign. Here's to Firsts posts gained 35% more positive sentiment than all other Allstate social efforts. By celebrating firsts and helping people achieve them, this campaign was a win for customers—and a win for Allstate.
