Promoting Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline to Pregnant Callers

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: A Morbidity and Mortality Report showed that 12.6% of pregnant women in Oklahoma had a need for help to quit smoking during pregnancy, and of that 12.6% only 30.4% reported receiving that help from 2004 to 2007. A marketing campaign was created to increase awareness of, and call volume to, the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline by the target, pregnant callers. In-depth interviews were completed with pregnant callers who had used the Helpline, and a campaign based on the research was developed to meet our objectives. Results were evaluated by analyzing call volume to the Helpline from the target. The campaign was funded by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, in partnership with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, who funds SoonerCare. 64% of women that deliver babies in Oklahoma receive healthcare services through SoonerCare.

Methods: 14 in-depth interviews were conducted with women who called the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline for service during their pregnancies. Prior to interviewing the target a media review of other campaigns created by similar organizations was conducted. Partners from the Maternal Child Health and Tobacco Use Prevention Service at the Oklahoma State Department of Health were also consulted. Based on the research, a marketing campaign was created that spoke to the needs of pregnant women. The research showed that the babies’ health is the number one reason pregnant women are motivated to call the Helpline, so the campaign was developed with the baby at the forefront. It showed the direct impact of what effect smoking could have on a baby. The campaign included multiple traditional marketing tactics including television, outdoor, radio, print and online. Specific media was purchased based on the selected target audience, pregnant women and influencers of pregnant women, ages 18-44. The campaign ran for two months, starting in December 2010.

Results: Call volume of pregnant callers to the Helpline increased by 93% in the two months (December 2010 and January 2011) of the campaign compared to the exact same two months a year prior (December 2009 and January 2010). Compared to the two months prior to the campaign (October and November 2010), call volume increased 170%. The click-thru rate on the online advertising was 0.22%, nearly 3 times higher than the industry average of 0.08%.

Conclusions: Using research to learn specific audience insights and creating a campaign directed and placed specifically to the target increases call volume significantly.

Implications for research and/or practice: Taking the time to research the target audience and their attitudes in order to develop creative messages, plus planning targeted media buys to reach the target are very effective ways to boost call volume from a specific audience to a Helpline.