Improving the Lives of Minnesotans with Arthritis
Nighthawk Marketing assisted the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in planning, developing, and managing a comprehensive marketing and outreach campaign. This initiative aimed to promote walking among a diverse audience of Minnesotans with arthritis or joint pain, enhancing their quality of life through increased physical activity.
Minnesota Department of Health Marketing & Outreach Campaign
The MDH Arthritis Program is dedicated to improving the lives of Minnesotans with arthritis. Research has shown that 1 in 5 Minnesota adults report having arthritis. Although there is no cure, arthritis-appropriate physical activity can relieve symptoms and support quality of life. The program is funded by a CDC federal grant, which supports 13 state programs through the DP18-1803, State Public Health Approaches to Addressing Arthritis, cooperative agreement.
The Solution
Creating the Let's Walk Minnesota Campaign
The first step was to conduct primary and secondary marketing research among MDH’s primary audience, which was adults 45 years of age and older with joint pain. After gaining a better understanding of their audience, we developed a marketing communications campaign entitled “Let's Walk Minnesota” along with supporting marketing materials. This included creative and messaging development, campaign planning, and developing internal tools to help MDH implement the campaign.
The ultimate goal of the project was centered on increasing awareness of the benefits of walking for joint pain relief. MDH measured success by tracking the increase in the number of enrolled participants in Walk-with-Ease (WWE) Self-Directed and community-based walking programs along with increased web traffic to the campaign alias URL. Ideas for measurement included monitoring change or the increase in the number of communications activities completed, change in digital reach, change in overall reach, change in digital engagement, and social listening (how many times a hashtag used).
