Selling is the lifeblood of the insurance agent. Without sales, something terrible happens – nothing! To be successful selling insurance, the objective is simple… have more prospects than time to meet them.
This, of course, is easier said than done.
Marketing strategies are constantly changing. Insurance companies and agents have optimized websites to reach prospects and close sales. Social media has accelerated the speed at which we can communicate our message. Mobile devices allow us to be within constant reach of our prospects and clients. And old prospecting methods have become new again. Once in a while, however, we need new insurance marketing ideas to become better at what we do — selling insurance.
A chance to evaluate our current marketing strategies and consider new ideas. To refresh current campaigns and to try the latest creative sales tactic.
Or, just try something fun!
We’ve created this monster list of 159 creative marketing ideas, tips, and strategies to help the most seasoned agents expand beyond their comfort zone, and rookie agents establish strong marketing roots.
Jill Konrath said it best, “sales is an outcome, not a goal”. From the first email, to the final signed application, a sale is the culmination of each step in your marketing process.
Need an insurance marketing ideas checklist to work from? We've got you covered! You can download this complete guide below and then check off each idea as you work to grow your agency.
So without further ado, let’s begin with the first steps!
First Things First
It is easy to jump head first into the list below and begin marketing away. Before you do anything, however, make sure you have the necessary fundamentals laid down first. You could sabotage all your marketing efforts without starting from a strong base.
Many of the tips in this section could have easily been mentioned in a section below. But, we want you to start on the right foot. Each step legitimizes you and your brand. More importantly, these are the easiest ways to earn trust with your prospects.
If you an established agent already and can check off each of the below, congratulations! You are ready to skip ahead to the next section and jumpstart your marketing errors.
Get a Professional Logo
The logo is often the first thing your prospects and clients see. From your business card to your website, display your logo proudly and prominently. However, make sure it is professional! Your logo should have clean lines, a transparent background, and be scalable. Do-it-yourself logos often look amateurish and look terrible when automatically sized by social media platforms and web browsers.
Buy Your Domain
Make sure you have purchased a website domain URL matching your business name. Do not use free domains or domain names having nothing to do with your business. Too often small businesses will go with a free domain offered by an online web builder program. These domains promote the web design company more than they will your insurance agency.
Obtain a Business Phone Number
If you are using your personal phone as your business phone, stop what you are doing and head to the nearest phone service provider of your choice. You need a business phone that not only keeps your personal and business lives separate, but also can increase your company’s visibility. By registering your new phone as a business, your company will begin appearing in online business directories, a bonus of having a business phone line.
Use a Physical Address
Trust is everything in the insurance business. Using a P.O. Box, home address, or none at all sends a red flag to prospective clients. If you do not have the revenues to rent an office, there are other options. Many shipping centers, like UPS and FedEx stores can provide you with a mailbox with a real, legitimate street address.
Create a Media Relations Kit
You never know when the next publicity opportunity will present itself. When approached by the media, providing them your media relations kit allows you to control your image. Your kit should include your bio, high-resolution photo, company history, and organizational facts.
Schedule Prospecting Time
It can be easy to fall into service mode as an insurance agent. This is why it is important to schedule time every day for prospecting activity. The goal is to keep your prospect pipeline full and not wait until the well has run dry. Consistent prospecting activity is the seed for long-term career success.
Track your Marketing Efforts
It is important to track how you acquired each new client. Document every seminar, referral, mailer, and every other marketing activity. Track how many emails are opened, deleted, read, and shared. Ask your clients where they have seen your marketing efforts. Only with the data can you improve your marketing’s effectiveness.
Approaching half a billion users, LinkedIn is a massive social media platform designed specifically to connect professionals with other professionals. Unlike Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, LinkedIn users expect you to post information pertaining to your profession and industry.
With Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn in 2017, the platform is only getting stronger. The statistics are impressive. According to LinkedIn research, 51% of companies had acquired a business-to-consumer customer through LinkedIn. Moreover, for 93% of business-to-business marketers, LinkedIn is the most effective social site for lead generation.
LinkedIn has a trust level unrivaled within the social media sphere. This translates into stronger relationships, higher click-through rates, and ultimately more new business. The platform is getting crowded and the competition stiffer. Nevertheless, opportunity abounds in the most professional social media platform of them all.
Build a Power Profile
Your summary should be more about your audience than yourself. Your education and experience may be impressive. Nevertheless, most prospects care more about what you can do for them than where you went to school. Position yourself as a problem solver, add a professional photograph and logo, and stand apart from your competition.
Connect with Everyone
Recommendations on LinkedIn presented to you will often be within the insurance industry. Look outside the insurance industry and begin connecting with members with similar general interests as yours. Reach out to connections who match your target market. Lastly, look for potential centers of influence who may eventually connect and refer business your way.
Give to Get
LinkedIn provides a platform to share information. Take this opportunity to educate your fellow users on the platform. Your posts should be adding value to the reader, not selling them. The long-term play is to become a trusted source of information on LinkedIn within your field, not someone who is pushing their product.
Tag Responsibly
LinkedIn allows you to tag other users with the @ symbol. This is a great way to bring attention about information or news to your connected members. Use the tagging function strategically and seek their engagement by asking them a question or to comment on your post. Limit tagging as too much may become annoying.
Create a Group
This aligns well with give-to-get. Create a group with the sole purpose of sharing thoughts and ideas. Groups are not the place for self-promotion. However, strong connections form in groups, which could lead to new customers or referrals. Find a topic that hasn’t been saturated and keep it up-to-date.
Use LinkedIn Pulse
Deeper targeting is available using LinkedIn Pulse. Finding your target audience is easier with Pulse’s functionality. Further, there are SEO benefits including backlinking and the ability to tag content to continue driving traffic long after you have posted content.
Ask for Recommendations
You get to choose which recommendations to share on your profile. Getting recommendations is easier than you think. Fellow LinkedIn users with whom you have worked with are likely willing to write a positive recommendation for you. Recommendations are much more personal and relatable than LinkedIn’s endorsement function.
Customize Your URL
Did you know you could customize your LinkedIn URL instead of keeping the archaic numbers given to you when you first joined? Well you can. Your URL can be simple and more eye appealing just like https://www.linkedin.com/company/agentmethods. Go to your settings page to make the update.
Go Premium
Although LinkedIn can work using their freemium membership, upgrade to a premium account. LinkedIn Premium accounts provide on-demand learning, monthly InMail, and a way to see who has viewed your profile. Access opens up to more private LinkedIn users, and engagement between premium members is higher than basic users.
Connect with Viewers
One of the benefits of LinkedIn’s premium account is you get to see who has viewed your profile. Viewers of your Facebook profile may be stalking you, but those viewing your LinkedIn profile may have a genuine interest in your services. With LinkedIn premium, not only can you see who viewed your profile, but also reach out to them and introduce yourself.
Even in the face of constant change and the occasional privacy concern, Facebook remains the king among social media platforms. Fortunately, for insurance agents, Facebook has been grossly under-utilized and is ripe for the right strategy to begin generating a steady stream of leads.
Tread carefully, however. Marketing missteps on this mega-marketing platform can cause damage to you and your brand. Trolls - other Facebook members who only look to create chaos and harm - lurk everywhere on Facebook.
Do not fret! Handsome rewards await you if you tactfully engage your audience. There are many who believe Facebook marketing is dead. They could not be more wrong! Often a business tips their toe into the blue Facebook waters. When results do not meet expectations, Facebook is to blame.
The reality is Facebook is just like any other marketing platform. Businesses who take the time to identify their target market, create thoughtful content, and post or advertise on a regular basis are indeed seeing fantastic results. As they say, there is no better time than the present to get started on your Facebook marketing strategy.
Create Your Business Page
Facebook has two distinct categories of users: businesses and individuals. Keep your personal Facebook account for your friends and family only. From your personal account, you can create one or more business pages. Take your time and complete as much of the information fields as possible. Upload a clear, high-resolution company logo. When you are ready to post, post content as your business page, not your personal account.
Identify Your Audience
One of Facebook’s great advantages is the ability to hyper-target your perfect prospect. Are you looking for male individuals turning 65 this year within 5 miles of your office? No problem! When simply posting to your Facebook page instead of advertising, keep your content general in nature. However, when using sponsored ads, make sure your post’s content is as targeted as you can – so much so that your readers feel as though your post has been written just for them.
Create Avatars
For marketing purposes, an avatar is a figure representing a particular type of person. With Facebook’s ability to target many different demographics you have the chance to run with multiple marketing campaigns. Each campaign can target a completely different person. This is where avatars play a role. Analyze who has purchased a particular product in your toolbox and write down their characteristics. What is their age? Do they have children? Where do they live? The result is an avatar you can use to target on Facebook. Continue this process for your other products to develop custom content matching their likes and needs.
Boost Your Post
Sometimes a regular post resonates with your followers. When this occurs, boost it! Boosting posts allows you to take any post and put it in front of a targeted audience. This does come at a cost. However, if you received some traction in the form of likes and comments by a specific demographic, you have already proven the posts work. Boosting will display your post in front of many more of your targeted prospects.
Use Calls to Action
When writing content for Facebook, be sure to include a call to action. The call to action should be clear. Calls to action do not need to ask your audience to call you. In fact, this is would actually reduce your marketing results. Instead, seek engagement by requesting followers to ask a question in the comments, tag someone they would think would benefit from your post, or ask them to like the post if they agree with it.
Respond to Everyone
You must respond to every comment left for your posts on your business page. Every – single – comment. No exceptions. Not only are you communicating directly with your clients and prospects, you are showing your responsiveness. Every time you leave a comment, your prospects and clients will have a small ‘wow’ moment. And, as a bonus, may very likely share your post or verbally mention you to friends and family!
Install Facebook Pixel
If you are using Facebook, you have to install a Facebook pixel on your website. Like most marketing, truly determining the return on investment can be difficult. With a Facebook pixel, code placed on your website tracks conversions from your Facebook ads. This data is used to re-target audiences who visited your page.
Schedule Your Posts
Facebook will allow you to schedule posts and ads to display sometime in the future. This means you can create content in a short time period and have each piece released days or weeks in the future. The day and time when you schedule your post depends on your demographic. Keep track of your engagement statistics to determine which time works best for you.
Post Images and Video
Whenever possible, post content with a visually appealing image. Better yet, post a short video of GIF with your next Facebook post. Humans are visual creatures. The right image or video can make your next customer stop their newsfeed to learn more. Both types of content are available online. Be sure you have the proper licensing to share images or video. Alternatively, you can use content with a creative commons license that automatically gives you permission to reuse. A good source of creative common images – Wikipedia.
Enlist the Help of Employees
Create content your employees can share with their friends and family on Facebook. Studies show up to 70% of employees use social media while at work. You might as well make it beneficial for you and your business. Consider implementing a contest where employees win prizes by obtaining the most likes or comments.
Post Non-Insurance Related Content
Too often insurance agents post about insurance. How boring! Instead, create content around topics your audience is interested in and tie insurance back into the post. For example, if your target is men who are business owners, write a post about the latest ATV, boat, or RV. Toward the end of the post, write a short brief about the role of insurance.
Create Landing Pages
Make sure those who click your Facebook ad or post are directed to a landing page and not your home page. We all have short attention spans. It is nearly certain if your link does not take your reader directly to your article or page specifically referenced, they will leave your website.
Sponsor a Group
In LinkedIn, you are likely to create a group related to a particular business strategy, such as marketing or finance. Facebook affords the opportunity to break free and engage in any topic you like. Think about starting a ‘what’s happening in your town’ group. Alternatively, start a group around your favorite hobby or sport. Keep the group active and engaged. Every so often, post a reminder you and your company are the sponsors of the group.
Buy Facebook Ads
The days of business posts appearing organically in non-followers Facebook feeds are in the past. Using paid Facebook Ads is a great way to build a following or advertise traditionally. The opportunity for local businesses to advertise on Facebook untapped and inexpensive.
Run a Poll
Running a Facebook poll is a quick and easy way to engage your audience. Your poll topic does not have to be related to your products and services. Poll your audience about their favorite television show, sports team, or movie. Be careful and avoid politics, religion, and rumors.
The little blue bird has truly become a force to be reckoned with. Nobody knew at the time of Twitter’s launch the power 140 characters could have. From athletes to presidents, the tweet has become one of the fastest ways to deliver one’s message.
Approach Twitter as you would any other marketing platform, with quality and consistent messaging. Twitter is all about sharing information. Make sure the content you tweet is relevant, timely, and valuable to your followers.
Twitter is also a fantastic way to keep abreast with the news of the day. This helps insurance agents stay in front of the news, both within the industry and outside of it. The insurance industry is unique in that the news of many other niches can have an impact. Being an expert in your field means more than knowing just your product. It also means knowing how global news affects how your product solves your clients’ problems. Twitter is great at keeping you one step ahead!
Re-Tweet Clients and Prospects
Follow your clients and prospects twitter accounts. Anytime they post a marketing message, re-tweet the post on your feed. Essentially, you are referring their business to your followers, adding value to your relationship with them.
Blog Post Marketing
Twitter offers a quick way to broadcast your latest blog post. Make sure your website is equipped with a twitter plugin, making the tweeting of message automatic. If you are creating great content, your followers can comment on your message and share with their network.
Find Prospects
Yes, you can actually find new prospects on Twitter. Using the search function, you can filter tweets matching a specific product. For example, searching for “life insurance” can turn up questions and comments of individuals tweeting about life insurance. Sharing content you have already created to answer questions or address concerns is a great way to drive new prospects to your website.
Answer Questions
Use the same filter technique above but add a question mark to the end of your specific product. Entering “disability insurance?” for example, will yield questions posted on twitter about the very products you sell. Be courteous, answer tweeter’s questions, and potentially become their new insurance agent.
Follow and Engage Influencers
Every target market has its influencers. It could be the largest contractor in the county, the head of medicine at the local hospital, or the top attorney in town. Follow and tactfully engage local influencers. Their followers will see your engagement and begin linking your services with theirs.
Other Social Media
The number of social media channels that you can use to create a good insurance marketing strategy is always in flux. Some, like Facebook and LinkedIn, have stood the relatively short test of time. While others, such as MySpace and Vine, may have their best days behind them.
A notch below the social media behemoths are other popular platforms like Pinterest and SnapChat. Many may not seem to have a place in an insurance agent’s marketing arsenal, but a little creativity can go a long way.
YouTube
There are many uses for YouTube as an insurance agent. One of the best uses for your YouTube channel are to answer common questions and send links to your email list. Keep your videos short and to the point. The lifespan of YouTube videos can last years and will be a well of marketing material you will return to time and again.
Pinterest is where we go to find new recipes or ideas for our next home remodeling project. But, it can be a tool to bolster an insurance agent’s branding effort. Images are everything on Pinterest. Use beautiful photos that inspire you and add your branding. For example, for a personal homeowners’ insurance agent, pin breathtaking photos of homes in your area with your logo affixed.
Google Plus
Also known as Google+, this social media platform has been overlooked by most businesses. At a minimum, set up and maintain your business’ Google+ page. Online marketing requires making use of the internet real estate. Google+ is no exception.
SnapChat
The average age of a SnapChat user is under 35 years old. The platform allows you to share videos and photos to individuals or groups. Visibility per post it short-lived. Be creative and consistent with your content. One idea would be to post photos of what is not covered under a homeowner’s insurance policy.
Facebook’s purchase of Instagram means that if you are using Facebook, you seriously need to consider including Instagram marketing. The hashtag is the language of Instagram. Used to index content, include hashtags to photos using ideas found throughout this article. What Instagram lacks in distributing information is made up for by being a fantastic branding tool.
Email marketing is not dead!
In fact, it is alive and well. Even the most well-known marketers agree. Email continues to outperform most other channels. It does so by communicating information on your prospects schedule.
Email allows your prospects and customers to read your email when they want to. This contrasts to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, where once they have scrolled past your post or ad, it has disappeared likely forever. This is why your website can still keep getting clicks days or even weeks after your email campaign.
Probably the biggest reason you need to build an email list is for protection. The thousands of followers you have on Facebook can be removed in an instance if Mr. Zuckerberg so chooses. Twitter could decide this very minute not to allow any tweets about insurance. However, your email list is just that – yours. Even as the social media landscape changes, email has remained constant in its ability to communicate with prospects and customers.
Claim Your Domain Extension
Using Gmail or Yahoo may be free, but it is highly unprofessional. Worse yet, spam filters will likely trap your emails before your audience even sees them. Make sure you use your domain for your emails. Ideally, use your personal name as the prefix like john@yourcompany.com instead of ‘info@yourcompany.com’ and definitely not ‘no-reply@yourcompany.com.’
Nail the Subject Line
Granted, creating the right subject line is not easy. However, it is the most critical factor in any email campaign, and can take as much time to create as the email itself. A few general guidelines should be followed. Keep the headline short, invoke urgency or curiosity, be relevant, and include the recipient’s name (if available).
Personalize the Email
If you have your recipient’s name, use it not only in the subject line, but also in the email itself. Subject lines with someone’s first name have proven to be opened more often than emails omitting the person’s name. In the email, use the recipient’s name in your greeting and anywhere else it makes sense to do so.
Answer Questions
A simple, yet effective email is to answer a commonly asked question and email your list with the answer. Subject lines mentioning you are answering your client’s most common questions will definitely attract attention.
Create a Sortable Email List
All lists are built one email at a time. Make sure you are asking at every opportunity for your prospect and client’s email. Within your list, include any demographic data available. Using a program like Microsoft Excel, make sure your list is sortable. This will enable you to target specific individuals for your next email campaign.
Sign Your Email with Love
Electronically that is. Make sure your signature is prominent, includes your logo, and every way the recipient can contact you. Leaving just your name will prevent someone who prefers the telephone from calling you or a texter from texting you. Do not leave a way for a prospect or customer from not knowing how to reach you how they are most comfortable.
Revive Dead Leads with 9 Words
If you have made it this far, this may be the best tip on the list! Even the best email campaign has a relatively low response rate. So what do you do with emails that have never responded? Use the magic 9-word email – “Are you still looking at getting new health insurance?” Swap out the last three words for your targeted product, type in the subject line, and voila, those dead leads will come alive.
Email your vCard
On an annual basis, send out your vCard to every email contact you have in your list. vCards are electronic business cards which easily integrate into most email service providers, social media platforms, and even cell phones contact databases.
Use Autoresponders
Autoresponders automatically send emails per a schedule until something happens, such as your prospect clicking a link. Using if / then statements, your email funnel seamlessly guides your prospects toward your ultimate goal, the sale. There is craft to develop email funnels using autoresponders. Test your emails and track results to develop the right funnel for your product and audience.
Setup Your Auto-Reply
Auto-replies are those we received automatically when someone is away on vacation. But why waste this awesome tool only when you aren’t in the office? There is great potential in using emails’ auto-reply function to set expectations (which you of course will over deliver on), provide awesome information, or even pre-sell your services as your prospect awaits your reply.
Use Recent News
One of the easiest and most powerful ways to keep prospects opening your emails is to send relevant news. However, the news you will send will not be about insurance, but about events, stories, and happenings important to your audience. This tactic is especially effective when sharing local news with your prospect base. Become your audience’s source for great local news topics!
Send a Newsletter
Audiences often read and share newsletters with great works of content. The type of content you provide is important. Include some articles on products and industry news, but also include those of general interest such as travel, hobbies, or sports. Too many newsletters look like one giant sales pitch. Make yours difference by making it interesting.
Use Calls to Action
Yes, this one was already on the list. And you will likely see it again! Having a call-to-action on every piece of communication is just that important. Remember, calls-to-action do not have to be about selling. A quick sentence with a link to ‘learn more’ may be appropriate for softer emails while stronger ‘act now’ calls-to-action will make sense if urgency is required.
Send It to Yourself
Before you hit the send button, first forward a copy of your next bulk email to yourself. When writing, it is easy to overlook simple spelling and grammatical errors. Review your email for cadence, tone, and voice. Make sure your email is easy to digest and moves your prospect toward the next desired step in your marketing funnel.
Creative Content
Content is king!
It is the engine driving the internet and online marketing. Too often businesses only write articles about their own products and services. Of course, your blog needs to be ripe with the solutions you and your business provide. But, expanding beyond the usual will broaden your reach and deepen follower connections.
People want to do business with those they like. If your blog and social media is filled with only insurance topics, they will never really know who you are. Take an interest local businesses, area events, hobbies, and sports. Incorporate alternate topics in a neutral way to gain the attention of more prospects.
Capture Local Beauty
It is all too easy to forget how beautiful our local towns are. On a regular basis, take a great photograph of local flora and fauna, historical buildings, or local parks. Post them to your social media accounts with a brief caption. You will gain followers who appreciate your local town as much as you do.
Feature Other Businesses
Write an article about the accomplishments of a local business. Articles can be about company milestones, awards received, or a community good they performed. Take a photo of the owners, include a short profile, and post it to your blog and social media accounts.
Feature Community Leaders
People are awesome and should be celebrated. Interview your schoolteacher of the year, the winning football coach, or newly elected officials and feature them in your online marketing material. Your network will grow with those you speak with and readers will enjoy a fresh perspective on those who make the community run.
Must Do Lists
Create a must-do list for a specific place (even your hometown), group of individuals, or time of year. Must-do lists are an excellent opportunity to weave in the importance of insurance. For example, list the must-do camping sites and add value by educating campers on how to insure their gear.
Weekly Roundups
What were the top 5 blog posts you read this week? Put them in a list with a link to each and share to your social media accounts. Add a brief comment to each reflecting your thoughts on the topics and encourage others to add their input.
Did You Know
Write up a “did you know” article on almost any topic. This content tip includes insurance. Everyone knows they need insurance. But, have they ever stopped to think who wrote the first life insurance policy? Or, do your readers know they could purchase insurance for alien abduction? Did-you-know topics can be fun and educational.
Ask an Inspiring Question
Asking questions is a great way to solicit engagement among your audience. Inspiring questions are those that make someone sit back and think for a moment. For example, which business icon would you want to mentor you?
Ask for Unrelated Advise
Asking for advice in a poignant way will garner interest from select followers. These questions are great to tease engagement from specific target markets you may have. Make sure you ask very specific questions that require expert answers. Keep a list of who replies and refer back to their assistance when marketing to them through other channels.
Create an Infographic
Our minds process images 50% faster than through text. Infographics provide a visually quick way to communicate important information. Readers are more likely to view an infographic than an article. Infographics are great ways to resurrect past blog posts as well.
Obtain Testimonials
Don’t be bashful! Ask your satisfied clients for a testimonial. Step it up a notch and ask for a brief video testimonial you can use on your website, social media accounts, and email marketing campaigns.
Old School
What’s old is new again!
Traditional marketing methods still work in today’s high-tech society. In fact, may older strategies will play out better today than they did in the past. This is because fewer insurance agents are using these tried and true tactics.
Think about it. When was the last time you received a hand-written letter, from anyone? Letter writing has become a lost art. Along with many other marketing programs which have been left to collect dust during the rise of the internet. Surprise your prospects and clients with these old school marketing methods and surprise yourself with results!
Send Hand-Written Thank You Notes
Do you remember the nice pen you received for your birthday? Well, it’s time to pull it out and put it to good use. No matter how large or small a client you land, taking the time to write a hand-written thank you note is not only classy, but also memorable!
Cold Call
You may be reading this list to avoid cold calling. But the truth is, cold calling still works. Cold calling has become more difficult with the advent of caller ID and do-not-call lists. Persistence alone is not enough. Truly understand your prospect on the other end of the line, offer value, and build rapport. And remember, your prospects favorite topic is themselves.
Door to Door
If your target market is other businesses, do not rule out dropping by to say hello to prospects. Your objective is simply to learn more about them. Leave your contact information behind and if so inclined, a small gift. It is always a nice gesture to pop-in on your current clients as well.
Left and Right
Before you walk into your clients business or office, take notice who occupies the space to their left and right. They too could be prospects! As you speak with your client, determine if they know the owners of the neighboring businesses. If so, ask if you may use them as a referral introduction.
Coffee and a Scone
Once a week, take a client, prospect, or referral source out to breakfast. For each meeting, make sure you have at least one objective in mind. Reasons for meeting could be to ask for their advice, obtain an introduction to someone else, or learn more about them. These meetings should not be about selling your products or services, however.
Perfect Your Elevator Pitch
Always be prepared to explain what you do. An elevator pitch is designed to do just that, in under a minute. But, don’t just say you sell insurance. Rather, share how you solve your clients’ problems and even include your latest success story.
Survey Your Customers
Learning why clients have purchased from you is invaluable. Your surveys can be internet, email, or mailer based. However, the best results come from phone interviews. Don’t hesitate to ask tough questions about yourself. You will find your customers will appreciate your efforts and want to help you grow.
Call on Special Occasions
Birthdays are easy to remember and use for marketing purposes. Take it up a notch! Begin taking notes of important dates beyond the obvious. Call to congratulate your business owner prospects on their business anniversary or gatekeepers on National Administrative Assistant Day. The more creative and personal the date, the better!
Send Chocolate
Chocolate, candies, and flowers are great to send on anniversary renewal dates for your larger clients. In your note card, ask them to share with their friends and family. They will wish their insurance agent were as great as you!
Leave a Trail of Business Cards
Leave your business card behind at every opportunity you get. Fishbowls, bulletin boards, and office counters are a good start. Leave one behind along with a nice tip at a restaurant. Ask to keep a pile at your barber’s station. Your gardener, plumber, electrician… the list goes on!
Television Advertising
Advertising on television remains one of the best ways to reach a large audience. However, with more viewing options and distractions, capturing attention has become more difficult. Be very selective on where your ads run to get the most bang for your buck.
Radio Advertising
The radio industry relies on its advertisers. Without advertisers, your favorite radio station would not exist. Instead of creating an audio advertisement, many times having the radio host read your advertisement will have a stronger impact. After all, the audience did tune in to listen to them in the first place!
Promote It
Any positive events occurring within yourself or your agency need to be promoted. Did your office win an award? Promote it. Are your employees donating blood? Promote it. Are you holding a safety event? Promote it. Even small occasions deserve a mention to help build your profile within the community.
Get Local
For most insurance professionals, the more visible in the community you are, the more opportunities you will have to find prospective clients. It really is a no-brainer.
Be mindful of your time, however. Participating in community events and volunteering for local charities involves a time commitment. Make sure you are offering your services for the right reasons. People will see through you if you are in it just for business.
If you do not have the time to commit, there are other ways to market at the local level. If you keep your eyes open, you will find opportunities everywhere to market your services. And very often, the cost is a bargain compared to the visibility you receive.
Become a Volunteer
The purpose of volunteering for local charities, community events, or local clubs is not to win new clients. It is a way to help others and give back to your community. But, don’t be shy in letting other volunteers known how you help others professionally.
Form an Alliance
Like salt and pepper, finding a partner can cut marketing costs and increase opportunities. Approach complimentary professionals, like attorneys and accountants, and team up. Cross-market your services at trade shows, in publications, and even online.
Micro Advertise
Your town likely has dozens of publications starving for sponsors and advertisers. The insurance industry is wonderful in that so many individuals and businesses can benefit from your services. Homeowners associations, local businesses, and community charities could all use advertising dollars. Micro advertising narrowly targets prospects at a very low cost.
Trade Shows
Local trade shows are an excellent arena to showcase your services. From the general Chamber of Commerce event to industry-specific expos, evaluate which will attract your target audience. Come prepared with an outstanding display, marketing material, and an effective way to collect prospect information.
Reverse Trade Shows
Trade shows can indeed be wonderful at quickly building a prospect pool. However, participating in trade shows can be expensive. Instead of being an exhibitor at the next show, buy a ticket and arrive as an attendee. Walk the floor, introduce yourself, and begin gathering data. The amount of information learned about potential prospects will be staggering, and useful in your next marketing campaign.
Become a Business Coach
Local economic development associations, chambers of commerce, and organizations like SCORE are always searching for experts to help new businesses take root. Become a business coach and source of information for the new companies entering your community.
Restaurant Menus
Local restaurants sometimes offer space on menus, tabletops, and other items as advertising space. For a small fee, your advertisement could be seen by hundreds of eyes per day, for months or even years. Moreover, you’ll also be supporting a local business who themselves could become your next client.
Bulletin Boards
Bulletin boards abound in most neighborhoods. They are free and looked at by all sorts of individuals every single day. Keep a stack of business cards and marketing flyers handy. You’ll never know where the next free marketing opportunity will pop up!
Sponsor a Tournament
Have fun while marketing yourself by sponsoring a tournament. Golf tournaments are very popular in the insurance industry. But they are expensive! If cost is a factor, hold a corn hole, darts, or fishing tournament instead.
Sponsor a Highway
Your prospects are driving local highways every day. Sponsor a highway close to your office so your name becomes positively connected with supporting your local community. Your brand recognition will increase at a fraction of the cost of billboard advertising.
Sponsor a Team
The most common team sponsorship is the local little league team. Yet, there are many more teams who could use your support. Many high school teams are accepting private sponsorships. Try the local race, dog, or horse track. Or, think big and become a sponsor of a professional sports team.
Hold a Safety Event
Depending on the products you sell, hold a safety event for local residents matching your target audience. Baby seat installation clinics will draw young families, while a boating safety class will attract prospects with multiple insurance needs.
Online Strategies
The internet is getting crowded.
The fight for attention gets more intense with every passing day. Having an online strategy means the difference between a steady stream of new prospects, or disappearing into a sea of lifeless websites.
Online strategies are as much about creativity as they are consistency. Prospective clients want to learn more about you in the privacy of their home or office. But first, they need to be able to find you. Take note of the digital insurance marketing ideas necessary to gain online visibility, attract visitors to your site, and convert prospects into clients.
Give Away a Guide
Developing your email list should be one of your highest priorities. One method of obtaining the emails of prospective clients is to offer valuable information in the form of a guide. With the amount of content on the internet, be sure your guide is highly targeted, rich in content, or both.
Fix Your Forms
Finally, a website visitor decided to ask for more information or even request a quote. Do not sabotage all your hard work by having an online form that is too long, too complicated or just plain doesn’t work. Short and simple is the right move with any online form.
Claim your Google Business Listing
Google remains the most powerful online tool for research. This includes the researching of businesses and professionals like you. Once Google finds you, their bots create a profile of you in their system. By claiming your Google business listing, you control the information Google provides its visitors.
Claim your Yelp Profile
Yelp is no longer just for rating your favorite restaurant. Nearly any business can now be found on Yelp. Like Google, you can claim your profile on Yelp. This not only allows you to update your information, but also to respond to your followers and your critics.
Host a Webinar
Webinars, live or recorded, present a tremendous way to provide value to your prospects and clients. Educational presentations on your product or service is the obvious choice. You can dare to be different too, however. Webinars on community news or local business can be just as effective in curating new leads.
Create a Podcast
The podcast is rising in popularity. With the ability for listeners to tune in when they want, audiences are much more engaged in your content. You can target centers of influence, specific industries, or targeted demographics. Or, create a podcast around your favorite hobby to build an audience.
Sponsor Online Broadcasts
Maybe creating your own webinar or podcast isn’t your cup of tea. But, you know your audience is consuming online broadcasts in droves. Find online broadcasts with a strong following in your target market and become a sponsor. Not only will your name be mentioned on air, but also on the presenter’s website and marketing promotions.
Become a Guest Blogger
Anyone using the internet for marketing (which is everyone), is starving for content to post on their blog. Local neighborhood blogs would love you to write for them. Industry leaders want to add value by sharing other perspectives. All it takes it a couple emails and you are on your way to getting your name in front of tons of new prospects.
Become a Blog Sponsor
Newspapers offer inexpensive advertising spots on their online blog. Newspapers are not the only option, though. Consider advertising on local charity, private school, and community center blog pages as well.
Advertise with AdWords
Do you want a near surefire way to appear near the top of someone’s online search? Google AdWords is your answer. Using a bidding system, Google allows advertisers to compete for the top spot. Use long-tail keywords to reduce your cost-per-click pricing.
Be Positive
Studies on AdWords copywriting show advertising headlines using positive sentiment perform much better than negative sentiment. This means you should lead with how your audience could save money working with you, instead of going negative like suggesting they stop wasting money with their current agent.
Offer Affiliate Marketing Programs
One method of reducing your online marketing costs is to offer marketers an affiliate program. Marketers spend the time strategically placing your advertisements online. That means less work for you. The best part? You only pay if traffic is driven to your website.
Monitor your Reviews
After claiming your online profiles, monitor and respond to all reviews posted. This includes both positive and negative reviews. Responding to positive reviews tells others you are engaged with your clients while addressing negative reviews will help curb future similar postings.
Offline Marketing
It is time to get into the field!
The internet is such a powerful tool, it is easy to forget how powerful non-digital marketing can be. Online marketing only works when your prospects or clients are logged on, while offline marketing can capture your audience when they are away from their screens.
For most insurance agents, online marketing cannot succeed without effort put forth offline, and vice versa. Concerted efforts to conquer both realms can have huge payoffs. Just be certain your message is consistent and memorable through any marketing channel.
Create an Emergency Contact Card
Your customers want to be able to reach you in an emergency. Design an emergency contact card with your name, logo, and contact information. It needs to be an emergency contact card and not just a business card. Moreover, when someone asks who their insurance is with, they will look no further than their wallet or purse.
Get In Their Phone
In a world of the smartphone, not everybody carries a wallet or purse. Instead, when you have landed a new client, have them enter your contact information into their phone. Right there, on the spot. You will be just a phone call away and quick peek toward your next referral.
Send a Mailing
Snail mail is making a bit of a comeback. As companies shift from print advertising to online marketing, mailboxes are not a full as they once used to be. With great copywriting and selective targeting, a mailing can boost your name recognition and still generate leads.
Become a Teacher
Offer your expertise to complimentary professionals in the form of educational presentations. You can educate realtors on the importance of flood insurance, or estate planners on the latest life insurance solutions. You will become the local expert and the go-to insurance professional in your area.
Host a Seminar
Another tried and true marketing strategy is hosting seminars. The goal is to bring in prospective clients by offering a lunch or dinner in exchange for your presentation of valuable information and an opportunity to work together. Be careful, however, seminars can be a costly endeavor.
Support a Cause
Do you have a personal cause you support? Become the community leader in supporting your favorite charitable organization. This is not a position to promote yourself. Instead, it is an opportunity to be visible and strengthen your ties to the community you serve.
Donate a Quote
If your favorite local charity is looking for a fundraiser, offer up a donation-per-quote campaign. Promise to contribute a certain amount for every quote you are asked to work up. Set a cap so you know your total commitment beforehand.
Join a Meetup
On Meetup.com, persons with all kinds of interests schedule times to meet up and share their passions. From golf to gardening, business to bible study, there is probably a group out there for you. Join one, make new connections, and have some fun!
Give Away Swag
Everyone loves receiving free stuff! It would be easy to take the inexpensive route and purchase a thousand cheap pens with your logo printed on them. Instead, try to think quality over quality here. Identify products prospects in your specific target could actually use.
Give Away Gear
A step up from swag and trinkets is to give away clothing. Not just any clothing, but your own branded hats, shirts, and pullovers. The bold move here is to include your phone number or website. And, if you market locally, add your city or county that you serve. Clients and prospects alike will become walking billboards for you!
Use Exposure Checklists
Review a coverage and exposure checklist with each client and prospect. Not only will it make your errors and omissions carrier happy, it will uncover additional sales opportunities and add revenue to your bottom line.
Referral Marketing
If there is one marketing strategy worth mastering, it is how to obtain referrals. Referral marketing provides the best opportunity to grow at the lowest acquisition cost.
No other marketing strategy even comes close.
Obtaining referrals is easy as simply asking for them. However, obtaining high-quality referrals requires a tactful approach. Master the art of referral marketing any your prospect pipeline will never be empty. And neither will your be wallet!
Bring Your Own
When asking for referrals, do your clients suddenly forget everyone they know? Instead of relying on your clients to provide you names, bring the names of people they may already know. If they do, simply ask if you may use their name as a referral. You will be surprised how often your clients say yes!
Prompt a Referral
Referrals often shared when you are not in the room. Next time you are with a client, describe to them your ideal prospect. After painting a picture of your perfect prospective person or business, ask them whom they know who fits the bill. Then ask if it would be okay to use them as a referral.
Challenge Your Clients
Agents who have worked for any length of time understand insurance sales is a numbers game. Instead of looking to find your own prospects, challenge your clients to help. Set a goal of how many new individuals or businesses you would like to meet next month. Then ask your clients how many referrals they could offer to help you meet this goal. It will be shocking how often will want to help you!
Broadcast Your Clients
With their permission, ask if you may use your client’s information (name and logo) in some of your marketing efforts. This is a passive way to generate referrals. Your prospects may already have a relationship with your client, which builds trust and credibility. Alternatively, recipients may identify themselves as being within your target market.
Make Your Clients a Hero
Here’s a twist. Why not have your clients willingly send your contact information to their most qualified prospect? Send your client a code redeemable for a free insurance program evaluation they can share with one of their contacts. Just one – this is important as it creates scarcity and urgency. Many clients will do more than just forward your email; they also include their own personal note. A win-win for you and your client!
Ask Centers of Influence
Accountants, attorneys, even the mayor are valuable sources of referrals. They have already become a trusted acquaintance to your prospective clients. Use one or more of the strategies above with your centers of influence to boost your pipeline of leads.
Create an Advisory Group
Ask your top clients to become a part of your advisory team. The goal of your team to identify why your clients bought from you, what products and services would they like you to provide, and how can you better service them. It wouldn’t be surprising if your team members brought referrals to you. And if they don’t, use the ‘bring your own’ or ‘prompt a referral’ strategies to encourage them.
Use the 80/20 Rule
Regardless of how you obtain referrals, be sure to lean on the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of your revenue is driven by 20% of our clients. When soliciting clients for referrals, steer them towards identifying potential prospects who mirror your top 20% of customers.
Start a Referral Program
Incentivize not only employees, but also your clients! To boost participation, consider having three tiers. First, give away a $10 gift card for each referral. Then hold a monthly drawing for a higher value gift card and a year-end drawing for a big prize such as an iPad or laptop.
Host a Customer Appreciation Party
Everyone loves a good party! Make your customer appreciation party a hit for your clients by serving refreshments and hors-d’oeuvres. To make the party payoff for you, ask each invited client to bring a guest of his or her own.
Guerilla Marketing
It was 1984 when Jay Conrad Levinson released his book ‘Guerrilla Advertising’. And the world of advertising and marketing has never been the same.
Inspired by guerrilla warfare, the term represents the grand impact armed civilians had using small tactical strategies. Guerilla marketing embodies the element of surprise and targets customers at a more memorable level.
Early on, the goal of guerrilla marketing was to receive the largest marketing impact for the least amount of ad spend. As time marched forward, budgets expanded and delivered some of the most memorable advertising campaigns ever. Whether your budget is small or large, one thing is certain… guerrilla marketing will get your audience’s attention!
Hire Chalk Artists
Hire neighborhood kids to draw your company logo and website on local sidewalks in chalk. The drawings will be short-lived, but the attention they may draw will outlast their temporary lifespan.
Set Up a Lemonade Stand
Instead of selling lemonade for a nickel in front of your house, give lemonade or water away free at a local street fair or market. If it is cold outside, serve hot chocolate or coffee instead. Whatever the beverage, make sure your logo and website are on each cup!
Free Face Painting
At your local festival or carnival, set up a booth offering free face painting. The only catch, the wearer of the facial art will need to include a small logo of yours. A small price for children to become their favorite lion, tiger, or bear.
Give Away Balloons
With permission, of course, offer to give away free balloons with your logo during community events. Make sure the length of the balloon string is just long enough to put the floating balloon at the level of an adult’s eyesight. Children will become walking billboards for you.
Organize a Clean-Up Day
No matter where you live there is surely a nearby beach, park, or public space that could use a little cleanup. Organize a cleanup day in your community. Hand out bright t-shirts with your logo and don’t forget to tell your local newspaper.
Partake in Career Day
Whether you need new employees today or sometime in the future, your local college and high school career days are excellent opportunities to get your name out there. Teenagers are not the only ones attending career day. So too are potential clients.
Smashed Glass
On the internet of things, almost anything is available for purchase. This includes large window stickers that make glass appear to be shattered. Add your logo and website along with a quick-witted caption and voila! An attention-grabbing marketing campaign you can pull out almost anywhere.
Missing Wheels
Purchase wheel covers that make it appear as though a vehicle’s wheels have been stolen. Next, create a vehicle magnet with your name, logo, website, and witty caption. Lastly, park your car in a conspicuous location, affix the faux wheel covers and vehicle magnet, sit back and watch prospective clients take notice!
Wrap Your Car
Tradesmen do it. So do real estate agents. Why not insurance agents? Car wraps are moving billboards and work for you every minute your vehicle is not in your garage. The upfront cost may seem high, but the dividends will pay off for years.
Throw a Birthday Party
If your specialty focuses upon specific age groups, throw your best clients a birthday party. They’ve already come to trust you and will invite their closest friends and family. Many of whom will be in the same age range and within your target market.
Forget your business card
This tip may not come as a surprise to a potential customer, but it sure is effective. How many prospects have called you after handing them your business card? Not many, right? Next time someone asks for your card, tell him or her you’ve just ran out, but ask for their contact information and when would be a good time to call them. You may never carry business cards again!
Sky Writing
Depending on where you live, writing your message as large as possible will definitely attract attention. Skywriters can write your message high in the sky for thousands to see. Although temporary, viewers will often watch as your message unfolds and perhaps take a picture to share online!
Sand Writing
If you live near a beach, write your message in the sand! Hire a few individuals to visit the beach early in the morning to draw your logo. For a quick and inexpensive method, create a stamp of your logo out of PVC pipe or other material and stamp away!
Pay It Forward
Do you use the coffee shop drive-through window? Next time, hand the barista your business card with a handwritten note on the back “I can help you save $” along with five dollars. Ask her to pay for the vehicle behind you and hand the driver your card.
Print Marketing Ideas
Physical print marketing still has a place in today’s insurance agency. Although expensive as compared to other marketing channels, when done well, print marketing can have a positive impression on your audience.
By its very nature, print media requires physical material. Keep this in mind as your choices in paper, envelopes, and other elements directly reflect your brand. Using cheap and flimsy postcards may be sending the wrong message. While using overly ornate material may miss the mark. Match your materials, as well as your message, to your target audience.
Birthday Cards
Every likes to receive birthday cards. Moreover, with social media, the number of physical cards mailed has dwindled. Standout by sending a genuine birthday card to your clients and prospects. A little sales note is okay, but keep the focus on your connection’s special day.
Holiday Cards
Whether it’s Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, or Festifus, the holiday season is a perfect time to send warm wishes. Holiday cards can remain visible for over a month. Make sure your holiday card is beautiful with your company’s logo visible in a front corner of the card.
Odd Holiday Cards
Birthday and holiday cards are traditional in nature. Consider sending cards to celebrate odd holidays. Take advantage of holidays like Benjamin Franklin Day (January 17) to encourage saving money. The website www.timeanddate.com has a gigantic list of odd holidays.
Create a Calendar
There are a number of creative options when designing a calendar. From small refrigerator magnets to large desktop calendars, the choices are limitless. Choose a format that matches your target market and include important local events. Or, all the odd holidays from the previous tip!
Come Back Cards
It may be more cost effective to bring back a lost customer than to acquire a new one. Reach out to lost accounts by sending a well-written letter as to why they should hire you back as their insurance agent. And of course follow up with a phone call.
Design a Magnet
Magnets are a great way to keep your name in front of your audience. Design a magnet that provides some value. Consider adding the local football game schedule, emergency contact numbers, or important upcoming community events.
Cross Sell Postcards
Make sure your clients know all the products and services you offer. You may be surprised how many of your clients have other lines of business elsewhere only because they did not know you sold them. Don’t forget to include any possible bundling discounts or value-added services provided when writing more than one line of coverage.
Coupon Packets
Most communities have a coupon book program such as Val-Pack. The cost per mailing is much lower than launching a direct mail campaign on your own. Just make sure your advertisement includes compelling copy and a call to action.
Website Tips
Marketing through your website is last on our list for a reason. It is because website marketing is usually first on most insurance agents’ lists. Don’t get us wrong, your website is extremely important in representing who you are as an agent.
However, the competition online is fierce. This means your website should be only a part of your overall marketing strategy. Too many insurance agents spend time, energy, and resources trying to drive prospects to their site when the same effort could pay much larger dividends elsewhere.
Your website should reflect every aspect of your value proposition. Do not leave anything to chance when it comes to design and content. After all, your website is up and running all the time. You never know who is making their buying decision based on what they are seeing on your website.
Be Mobile Ready
More than half of all website content is consumed on mobile devices. This is fantastic news in that you can reach anyone almost anywhere. On the flip side, if your website isn’t mobile ready, your bounce rate could skyrocket. Websites are built twice, once of laptop and PC viewing and again for mobile viewing. Content for mobile viewing scales smaller to fit onto smaller screens without losing your message.
Make it Modern
Was your website designed shortly after the turn of the century? If so, it may be time for a redesign. Insurance customers are savvy. They want their insurance agents to be savvy as well. Make sure your website is modern, sleek, and easy to navigate.
Write a Killer About Me Page
Most about-me pages are boring and self-serving. Make yours stand out by telling your story. Your clients and prospects want to hear your personal story and connect with you. Accomplish this by answering the question “why do you sell insurance.” Your education and experience are likely on par with your competition. But does your about-me page connect with your audience and express a sense of caring for them? If not, it’s time to get to work!
Add Landing Pages
Other sections speak about landing pages and their importance for specific marketing campaigns. Your website needs landing pages to capture visitors who have found you through organic search methods. Even your home page should be a landing page designed to welcome and direct visitors toward engaging more with your website or by contacting you directly.
Become the Authority
Deep dive into building an authoritative website if you specialize in a particular insurance product or industry niche. Prospects and clients looking for information will see you as the expert. Authoritative websites have robust FAQ pages and heaps of well-written educational content.
Make It Fast
A great website is only valuable if your audience gets to see it. Websites loading in 7 seconds or more see a bounce rate 32% higher than those that load in half the time. Make certain your website is optimized to load fast. This includes compressing images, videos, and audio. Google has a free tool to determine how fast our website loads and your expected bounce rate.
Optimize for Search
The algorithms determining which websites appear after entering a search are getting smarter every day. Gone are the days of keyword stuffing and backlink trading. Today’s search engines want two things. First, they want great content. Second, they want to be able to find it. Search engine optimization is crucial in getting your website to appear as close to the top spot in any search engine. Learn how to optimize your website or hire a skilled SEO writer.
Guide Your Visitors
When sending flyers or posting ads, you want to include a call to action. Your website should be no different. However, instead of using bold calls to action, you want to guide your visitors through your website. Make them feel at home and offer plenty of opportunities, and hyperlinks, to explore all the great information you have on your website.
Analyze Your Visitors
The details are in the data. Google analytics provides a window in your website’s performance. The information can tell you where visitors are coming from, how long they are staying on your website, and what links they are clicking. This is very powerful information. Each data point can assist in maximizing your website’s ability to convert prospects into new clients.
Add a Calendar
Add a local events calendar to your website and keep it up to date. As your calendar page grows, so too will its ranking in search engines. Over time, your website will begin gain more traffic and exposure to local prospects.
Do What’s Right
All the technology in the world cannot overcome insurance agents who do not fulfill the promises made to their clients. Long-term success in the insurance industry means doing the right thing, all the time. Shortcuts may provide short-term success, but will serve to starve your long-term potential in one of the world’s most competitive industries.
Over Deliver
Under promise, over deliver. Retention is the name of the game in today’s competitive marketplace. It is no longer enough to simply meet expectations. Always look for opportunities to WOW your clients. Going above and beyond will not only retain customers, but generate unsolicited referrals.
Claim Handling
Claims inevitably will happen. When your insured has a claim, it is your time to shine. After all, insurance agents sell a promise to their insureds. Do everything in your power to make an insured’s claim as smooth as possible. In many instances, you will become the most important person in their life when a claim occurs. A stellar claim handling experience can result in receiving the most solid of all referrals – those from completely satisfied clients.