When nonprofit health insurance provider MetroPlusHealth embarked on a mission to raise awareness of its Essential Plan, a $0 premium insurance plan for low-income New York residents, the company knew a social-first campaign would help it stand apart from rival insurers.

But rather than simply posting graphics describing the insurance plan on its own Instagram, MetroPlusHealth, working with agency Prager Creative, recruited a so-called “influencer army” of nearly two dozen New York-based content creators. 

MetroPlusHealth and Prager Creative ultimately enlisted 22 local creators to share their personal experiences leveraging the Essential Plan—incorporating information about the plan into their typical New York-themed social content, from bizarre or amusing scenes on the city’s subways to videos of grocery store trips or restaurant reviews.

The influencer campaign extended offline, too, through a partnership with New York’s “Hot Dog King” Dan Rossi that involved MetroPlusHealth-branded hot dog boats. 

The more than 60 Instagram stories and Reels resulting from the influencer push collectively generated more than 3.6 million impressions and more than half a million video views, the agency said. They also spawned dozens of comments praising the Essential Plan across the influencers’ videos, such as “Everyone deserves good health care!!” and “This is such important work!”