Simple insurance marketing strategies you can start today
Right now, every contact you have matters. How are you going to communicate with them going forward?
At some point, it’s going to happen: You’re an insurance agent, so being in front of people is what you do. Sure, there’s video calls and endless family (interruption) time, but that won’t stop the face-to-face withdrawal from firmly setting in.
The good news is, now you finally have time to channel all that extrovert energy into some overlooked but highly valuable marketing tasks.
It may be a while before the world, and your agency, are truly “back to normal.” That means you’ll want to fine-tune how you’re going to communicate going forward.
Here are eight insurance marketing tactics you should be doing right now to prepare your agency for the new world that’s about to reopen.
No. 1: Rewrite your product and services pages.
Now is as good of a time as any to really dig deep and make improvements to the core pages of your website.
These are the pages you send a prospect to right before they’re about to reach out and become a lead.
It’s certainly easy to overlook these pages because it never feels like much has changed. Not to mention the fact that you never hear a new lead talk about that awesome copy describing cyber insurance.
However, prospects that do land on these pages are 50 times more likely to become a qualified lead. More on that later.
No. 2: Get new, high-quality testimonials
If there’s one thing everyone has become rapidly familiar with over the last few months, it’s video conferencing.
Take advantage of this opportunity by reaching out to some of your best clients to grab a quick video testimonial.
Seeing and hearing a real person talk about how awesome you are is far more powerful than reading, “Great insurance agent, would recommend,” next to a faceless picture.
Most free video conferencing tools like Zoom and Skype have built in the ability to record a call.
You can leverage those testimonials on your website, social media channels, and most importantly, automated lead nurturing email sequences.
No. 3: Optimize your agency management system, and use your data.
Right now, every contact you have matters.
Even more importantly, so does every piece of information you know about them. Take a little extra time and make sure it’s in a place you’re able to leverage as often as possible.
That place for you is most likely your agency management system (AMS).
I’m not a betting man, but I would feel confident placing a slightly irresponsible wager there’s a feature your AMS offers right now that you’re completely overlooking.
The easiest target is reporting. When was the last time you dove in and looked at the level of insights you could have on a regular basis?
Simply adding one new report to your regularly scheduled programming could have a massive impact on the daily direction of your agency.
No. 4: Automated renewal process
Wouldn’t it be nice if 80% of the heavy lifting was done before the renewal call even happened?
That’s entirely possible if you spent an afternoon creating a simple sequence of messages that explain the entire renewal process.
This is also a fantastic opportunity to create a “state of the union” piece of content. This “Everything You Need to Know about XYZ Insurance in 2020″ article or video will pull double duty keeping your existing clients informed while also consistently attracting new business.
Here’s a simple renewal email sequence example:
- Email 1 — Your renewal is coming up.
- Email 2 — What’s changed with XYZ insurance this year?
- Email 3 — Let’s talk about your insurance renewal.
You’ll be amazed at how different your renewal appointments go after that.
No. 5: Quarterly market update webinars
This tactic might not be as “easy” as initially advertised. However, given its limited frequency, it should create a noticeable impact.
Building off of your “state of the union” content in your renewal process, quarterly webinars can help create expected, high-value, touch-points with your clients throughout the year.
Don’t worry, activity and interest might be a little slow the first few times out. However, if you stick with it long enough, you should be able to create a consistent resource that drives opportunities.
No. 6: Learn something new
Let’s start with the obvious: If you made it this far, reading an article like this is a great start.
However, don’t be afraid to take things to the next level. Of course, learning any new skill will in some way add value to your agency.
If you really want to get serious, spend a couple of weeks and dive as deep as you can on a very specific topic or process for your agency you think is the most important.
Given the added space that’s been added to the business as usual process, I might recommend something that extends your reach from the comfort of your home office.
No. 7: Assignment selling (MQL)
The fancy term for this is Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL), however, it’s very simple in its most basic form.
It would be a fight to the death between these last two tactics to decide my personal favorite. However, to avoid unnecessary marketing violence, we’ll call it a tie.
Don’t be afraid to demand prospects participation in the sales process.
My longtime friend and marketing mentor, Marcus Sheridan, is the person responsible for inventing this confident method of sales and marketing.
Of course, there’s the old saying “the customer is always right.” Regardless if you believe that, the customer never has to be lazy.
Lazy prospects waste your time and are never as serious as you wish they would be.
Of course, the big catch here is that you need to have content (or information) available to assign.
Given your recent homeschooling struggles, you still might be recovering from the trauma that comes with assigning work to a disgruntled and unwilling participant.
But unlike your unruly biological students, if you have content that is honest and transparent about how you do business, a good prospect will willingly consume it.
It’s your job to start making sure everyone you talk to has completed the necessary prerequisites to participate in a sales conversation.
In doing so, they show you how committed they are to the buying process and you get at least 30 minutes of your life back on every sales call.
No. 8: Add a little personality
Why not save the easiest for last.
If you just audibly scoffed or laughed at that statement, I promise it’s not a joke.
In fact, I promise it’s the easiest thing on the list because you already have it. Of course, some more than others, but that’s not the point right now.
The point is, a little personality goes a long way. Even “no personality” can work in your favor if you lean into it from the right direction.
The hard part is putting it on the internet for the world to see.
In today’s socially distanced world, you have to give people something to hold on to and remember you for.
The small details are the biggest victims lost in the face to face interactions.
I promise you won’t regret it and will have a lot more fun marketing your agency in the process.
The bottom line
No matter how or when the world gets back on track, you’ll certainly be dealing with a much different business environment.
Now is the time to try a few new (hopefully) easy ways to help your agency adapt.
Even getting serious about one or two tactics on this list can help accelerate that transition and maximize the time you have left.
Joey Giangola (joey_giangola@rpsins.com) is marketing director for eCommerce at Risk Placement Services (RPS). This piece first published in the RPS blog and is reproduced with permission from the company. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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