Nemaha County Sales Tax Renewal Campaign
Sabetha Community Hospital and Nemaha Valley Community Hospital partnered to hire New Boston Creative Group to help pass the renewal of Nemaha County’s ½-cent sales tax benefitting hospitals in the November 2024 election. We developed a robust educational and marketing campaign targeting potential voters. Based on our conversations with hospital staff and our own internal research, we chose to include a blend of digital and traditional media to disseminate the information.
The ballot initiative passed with 66% in favor.
Campaign Development
To form our campaign strategy, NBCG met with key hospital representatives and researched how counties in the surrounding area support hospitals as well as sales tax rates in area communities. We worked to understand the history of the sales tax and how hospitals used the funds to help us determine what messages would best resonate with potential voters. We also gathered and predicted pushback and formed messaging to address those concerns, plus developed recommendations for tactics to adopt during the campaign.
Design Concept
NBCG created a name and logo for the campaign and a polished, professional design concept. To tie all materials together and ensure the audience knew information was coming from a single, trusted source, we incorporated the hospitals’ color schemes and traditional medical visuals.
Website and Digital Media
NBCG designed and implemented a robust digital campaign on Facebook, where both hospitals had a vibrant presence. Ads ran for roughly two months leading up to the election. Organic (non-paid) posts were scheduled 2-3 times per week during that same time frame. We kept the graphics and ad designs consistent, clean and eye-catching — providing valuable information without overwhelming the audience. All ads led to a simple campaign website (designed and created by NBCG) where users could discover additional information, including FAQs and testimonials. NBCG monitored the social media accounts throughout the campaign, removed any inappropriate comments and invited hospital staff to respond to legitimate questions.
Traditional Media
Newspaper
NBCG wrote a news release for local newspapers to inform audiences of the upcoming vote and explain reasons why they should vote to continue the sales tax. We also wrote and designed a series of three quarter-page newspaper ads to run during the weeks leading up to the election. Ads were tailored to local communities and featured photos of local medical staffs, local testimonials from prominent citizens, and key messages about why voters should vote yes.
Radio
Radio is a valuable tool in reaching rural and agricultural populations. We wrote and produced a 30-second radio spot for this campaign, and the hospitals substituted the spots for those already running in previously negotiated contracts.
Outdoor Media
Billboards
NBCG designed two billboards in Nemaha County to support the tax renewal and provided the design to the hospitals’ billboard company so the billboards could be refreshed to support the campaign.
Yard Signs and Banner
Yard signs are an affordable and effective way for individuals to lend their support to a campaign. We encouraged the hospitals to identify volunteers who were willing to have yard signs on their property and who distributed yard signs around the county (and picked them up and disposed of them after the election). NBCG designed a visually appealing yard sign with an appropriate amount of information.
One of the hospitals requested a banner version of the yard sign to display in a prominent location at their facility, so we designed a banner to help convey the “Vote YES” message to patients and employees.
Other Materials
NBCG designed flyers, FAQ handouts and table tents for hospitals to distribute to staff members and to use at local town hall meetings about the sales tax renewal. Our table tents were also displayed at some local businesses to inform patrons.
