Promotion Guide
Thank You! Thank you for adding SmartDollar to your benefits program. You are changing lives by helping your employees take control of their money and get on track for retirement! SmartDollar is a holistic approach to retirement education that produces lasting behavior change. We will help your employees get out of debt, on a budget, and on their way to saving for their retirement. Your employees don't need a sales pitch. They need guidance. You ll be a hero for them and your organization. Ready to go? Contents Promoting SmartDollar... 3 Implementing SmartDollar... 4 SmartDollar Resource Center... 6 Internal Communications... 9 Incentives... 11 Frequently Asked Questions... 12
Promoting SmartDollar With more than two decades of experience in behavioral economics, we have learned that there are certain times of the year when people are most likely to change the way they handle money. One of the top three resolutions people make every new year is to take control of their finances, so we have developed materials specifically designed for that essential time of the year. Another big catalyst for financial change is tax time. When people see how much money they earned over the past year, they often wonder where it went, and they are more receptive to financial education. The next big cycle of change happens during back-to-school time in the fall. Once families return from summer vacations and get back in the routine of school and other activities, they tend to re-evaluate their behaviors, including their money habits. By using these three waves of promotion along with general marketing campaigns throughout the year, we can better align our program with the natural patterns people experience in their everyday lives while encouraging those who have gone through the program earlier in the year to share their stories and successes. Those success stories can be shared throughout the company to encourage additional enrollments in the program. The SmartDollar implementation timeline will help you drive this process, and our SmartDollar Resource Center can provide you with new ideas and promotional materials to share. You can even customize materials to fit the unique needs of your company! PROMOTING SMARTDOLLAR 3
Implementing SmartDollar We know that implementing new programs is not the top priority in your business. That s why we make it easy. Our program is completely turnkey. We provide all of the promotion and marketing tools you need to experience success with SmartDollar. From spreading the word about the new program to reporting results and success stories, we ve got you covered every step of the way. ANNOUNCEMENT CONSIDERATION ONBOARDING New Benefit Introduction Learn About Financial Wellness Create Account STAGES Research SmartDollar Learn About Company Promotion Personalize Wellness Assessment Hear About in Staff Meeting Visit Online Enrollment Page Enter Personal Details Answer Basic Questions Get Wellness Score DOING See Posters in Break Room Learn Via Word of Mouth Read Email From Employer Attend a Workshop Watch Explainer Video Ask Spouse if Interested Decide to Try Read Recommendations Tell Spouse About Score Start SmartDollar THINKING What is SmartDollar? Could this really help me? What's in it for the company? Who is Dave Ramsey? What's in this program? Is this confidential? I wonder who else will do it? How long will this take? What did my coworkers score? What should I do first? FEELING Oh cool! We have a new benefit! I should be doing better with money. I'm so busy right now. I'll figure out retirement later. This will probably be boring. I'm concerned that my spouse won't be interested. Might as well try it. This is nicer than I thought. I'm doing worse than I thought. I need to change something... now. 4 IMPLEMENTING SMARTDOLLAR
We have extensively mapped all of our touch points with your employees throughout the SmartDollar program. We are consistently optimizing these communications to make sure we are reaching as many people as possible with our communications. Participant Experience Map GETTING STARTED (90 DAYS) WORKING THE BABY STEPS ADVOCACY Learn the Basics Live within Means Celebrate Victories Plug in to Baby Steps Give Budgeting a Try Get Quick Financial Wins Progress Through the Baby Steps Get Personalized Recommendations Continue Learning Tell Coworkers About Program Thank Sponsor Get Better at Budgeting Increase Momentum Select Current Baby Step Watch First Lesson Create First Monthly Budget $1,000 Emergency Fund Create Debt Snowball Pay Off First Debt Watch More Lessons Update Wellness Score Watch Debt-Free Scream Become Debt-Free Get Questions Answered Continual Learning, Get Better at Budgeting, Get Personal Recommendations Fully Funded Emergency Fund Invest 15% Toward Retirement College Funding Build Wealth and Give Pay Down House Early TELL EVERYONE! Why didn't I do this sooner? How can I go faster? But my situation is a little different! This keeps getting easier. What would they say about? This program changed my life! My coworkers have to do this! My company really cares. This will change your life! Even I can do this! I'm already on Baby Step 2! It feels good to have a plan. I am in control. I m confident about the future. I don t want to be normal. I'm so grateful my company did this for me. I wish everyone could have this feeling. I m so grateful my 401(k) advisor suggested this. IMPLEMENTING SMARTDOLLAR 5
SmartDollar Resource Center The key to a successful financial wellness program is a successful promotion period. One crucial initial step is leadership support. It is important to share your excitement with your employees and regularly communicate the reasons why this program is important. Promoting SmartDollar has never been easier! Visit smartdollar.com/business/resources (password: smart) often to download free materials and other helpful resources. Many of our resources are easily customized so you can provide employees with the information they need to sign up today. Our campaigns are seasonal so you can use different ones throughout the year to reenergize your employees and build further excitement! Promotional campaigns In the SmartDollar Resource Center, you will find a number of promotional campaigns created to help you promote SmartDollar to your employees. With each promo campaign, you will have access to a full suite of print materials. Banners Posters Flyers Logos and Graphics Email Templates Social Content Postcards Hang the banners and posters in your break room or mail room. Send everyone a flyer or postcard via email and place one in their internal mailbox. Using our screen graphics on your intranet is a great way to build interest while reminding employees to enroll now. You can even post social content regularly to keep the program top of mind. Videos Videos are a great way to promote the program to your employees. Our videos will motivate and excite your team to start taking control of their money now. Show a video during staff meeting and provide an incentive to sign up. Participant Video (3 minutes) Lesson Recap Videos (approximately 3 minutes each; 17 videos to choose from) The Baby Steps Lesson Video (18 minutes) Opposite page: one of our customizeable promotional flyers 6 SMARTDOLLAR RESOURCE CENTER
SMARTDOLLAR RESOURCE CENTER 7
Articles Share great articles and quick money tips with your employees to keep them engaged and excited about taking control of their money. Post these articles on your intranet or send through internal email. Program support You will find helpful guides and tools that will help answer simple technology questions or facilitate engaging meetings with your employees. Facilitator Guide Participant Lesson Guide Technical Requirements and more! Above: various enrollment page campaigns 8 SMARTDOLLAR RESOURCE CENTER
Internal Communications Be sure to share the news of SmartDollar with all of your employees they will want to know about their new benefit and how it can work for them! A letter from your president or CEO always adds additional weight to your launch. Plan to share company progress and individual success stories as you go along. Hosting your kick-off meeting The more excitement you create about the program, the higher enrollment will be. Hosting a SmartDollar kick-off meeting with all employees present is one of the most effective ways to generate excitement about the program. Below is a suggested outline: Introduction (2 minutes) Express confidence in the program with a short message from the company and leadership team. Show Participant Video (3 minutes) Download the participant video from the SmartDollar Resource Center to share with employees and build excitement about what to expect during the program. Success Stories (5 minutes) Ask employees who have participated in the program or other Ramsey Solutions programs before to share a little about their experience (if applicable). Wrap-Up and Enrollment (8 minutes) Make sure everyone understands that confidentiality is important. There are no group settings, and employers will not have access to an individual s information. All reporting to employers is aggregate. Explain that there is no cost to users. This is a benefit provided by the company for its employees. Explain the details of enrollment. Describe the incentives and how they will be awarded. 9 INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Sample, Co. 30 mins We believe in making a difference in people s lives, especially those talented people that work on our team. We are so excited to add Dave Ramsey s financial wellness program, SmartDollar, to our employee benefits! SmartDollar will teach you how to take control of your money once and for all. We believe in this program so much that we are providing it to you FREE for you and your family! Learn more at http://insertyourenrollmentlink. Like Comment Share Web rollout campaign We highly recommend running a web campaign in addition to hosting a kick-off meeting. If you are unable to host a kick-off meeting, a web campaign is the best way to communicate the details of the program quickly and effectively. Here are some helpful hints for your SmartDollar launch: Leverage your social media channels by customizing our sample posts and tweets and posting them on Facebook and Twitter. Post the web graphics on your intranet or internal HR portal and include a link for employees to have easy access to the enrollment page. Online graphics are a great way to enhance the messaging. Many companies like to utilize these graphics as home screens or screen savers for their internal computers to help encourage enrollment. Customize an internal newsletter article and include it in your next newsletter to your employees. Utilize internal message boards, text messages, and email to communicate at launch and beyond about SmartDollar and the process for enrolling in the program. Share success stories throughout the program. These can be included in all of the above methods of communication to help the program gain momentum as more employees experience the program. Above: sample Facebook post INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS 10
Incentives Increase the success rate of the program by offering incentives for initial enrollment and continued engagements. Incentives can help motivate employees and get them even more excited about the program. One key objective is to get as many people as possible to sign up immediately following the kick-off meeting. Here are a few ideas to incentivize your employees: Immediate Sign-Up Encourage employees to log in and sign up before the end of the day. You may even encourage your employees to take out their phone and register during your kick off meeting. Offer a reward like a gift card or small prize to everyone who signs up on day one. Enrollment Raffle Have a raffle for those who sign up between a certain time period or before the end of the first week. Popular prizes include gas cards and gift cards. Contests Other ideas to incentivize your employees and encourage new enrollments include: If you have a single location, run a weekly trivia contest with questions from the different lessons. Ask your employees questions like What percentage of your pre-tax income should you invest in your 401(k)? Offer fun prizes like a $25 gas card to the first person who emails HR with the correct response. If you have multiple locations or branches, run a contest to see which branch enrolls the most new participants that month. The winning branch receives a catered lunch. Ongoing Ask your employees to share their success stories through your internal message board or during staff meetings to encourage others to participate. Offer the employee a small gift for sharing their experience (for example, gift cards, paid time off, reimbursements, drawings for prizes, etc.). 11 INCENTIVES
Frequently Asked Questions Who Is Dave Ramsey? Dave Ramsey, America s trusted voice on money, is a personal money-management expert and extremely popular national radio personality with more than 8.5 million weekly listeners on more than 550 radio stations throughout the United States. Dave has authored five New York Times bestselling books that have sold more than 7 million copies combined. In 2009, he was honored as the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award winner, and in 2013 he was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Who do I promote SmartDollar to within my company? Everyone can benefit from SmartDollar! SmartDollar meets your employees where they are. Our program walks with them over time with relevant tools and information for their specific financial situation. With more than two decades of experience, we have learned the importance of having three waves of promotion. By seeing the success of the early adopters, the majority will then follow. How often will new promotional materials become available? We will regularly update and create new promotional materials. Visit the SmartDollar Resource Center often at smartdollar.com/business/resources (password: smart) for the most up-to-date tools to help you promote SmartDollar within your company. Will the employer be able to view any details related to individual employee financial information? We keep 100% of your employees' personal details confidential, but we are able to aggregate the data and report back to you on how your entire team is progressing. What other products do you sell? SmartDollar is strictly educational. We don t sell any additional financial products or services. Will my employees prefer the online program to a classroom setting? We have found that employees prefer retirement education online versus on-site lessons for a number of reasons: Online programs allow team members to learn at a time and location convenient for them. You don't have to take valuable work time to present the materials. Employees can enjoy the privacy they want without losing valuable content and instruction. Attention spans are shorter, and we take that into consideration by keeping our videos and lessons brief. Spouses can get involved easier. Online metrics allow for more accurate and timely reporting. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 12
How do employees sign up? Employees can easily enroll in the program using an online registration link. Our SmartDollar Resource Center contains a variety of promotional materials and sample email templates to help with your enrollment. What is the timeline for the program? SmartDollar is an ongoing program that produces real behavior change. By using waves of promotion along with general marketing campaigns throughout the year, we can better align our program with the natural patterns people experience in their everyday lives while encouraging those who have gone through the program earlier in the year to share their stories and successes. What if an employee has technical issues? Please do not feel obligated to troubleshoot any online technical issues. If a participant has technical issues with the SmartDollar website, ask them to contact our SmartDollar support team at help@smartdollar.com or 877.410.3283 x190. They are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central. For best results, please instruct participants to visit the Help Center inside SmartDollar. What happens if an employee leaves the company or is terminated? The annual membership term covers both new hires and existing employees who terminate before the end of the membership term. We have the ability to remove program access for any terminated employee upon notification. Please contact your relationship manager. How will I see the results from the program? Reporting is a key component of SmartDollar. Our initial wellness assessment is used as a means of benchmarking the financial health of your employees. In addition to the wellness assessment data, we track all engagements within the application so we can measure overall participation and adoption of the program. You will receive your SmartDollar Scorecard quarterly to help you measure participant progress and gauge the overall success of the program. The scorecard measures the group s progress as a whole, including money saved and debt paid. We are always here to help with the success of your program. If you have any additional questions about implementing or promoting SmartDollar, please contact your relationship manager. 13 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS