Easing new parents past vaccine fears 1.8 million times

Research shows that the emotionally overwhelming period just after a baby is born can leave many new parents wondering if vaccinations are safe for their bundle of joy. And when pressured parents “opinion shop” on the Internet, they often stumble upon sources that aren’t scientifically sound. That’s a problem, because some vaccines need to be administered within hours or days of a baby’s birth to be effective. KW2 needed to reach expectant parents early and encourage them to create an immunization plan they won’t second-guess in the delivery room.

We worked with DHS to identify trusted pre- and postnatal information resources, like health providers, online experts, and community organizations. Then we tailored our campaign tactics for the online destinations and social channels that Wisconsin women in their third trimester turn to most. KW2’s creative team tapped into the audience’s emotions with a message of encouragement and acceptance, across Facebook and Instagram in-feed ads, Instagram stories, and Pinterest promoted pins. We also leveraged our innovative media tracking system to effectively place the Plan to Protect campaign print ads in locations that we knew would get the most attention from our audience. 

Meaningful engagement? It didn’t take long. Plan to Protect garnered 1.8 million impressions in its first month in market—outstripping KW2’s media projections by more than 82%. But it wasn’t just impressions that illustrated the campaign’s success. The campaign delivered thousands of visits and visitors to the DHS childhood immunization website, and the time individuals stayed on the website were higher than the previous year.