The novel coronavirus pandemic has dramatically changed the way most agencies do business. Insurance agency sales and marketing was once reliant on face to face interaction, referral sales, and networking. Though changes to these traditional insurance agency sales and marketing methods were already in process, COVID-19 accelerated them in an instant.
The days of focusing on in person networking, referrals, trade shows and on-site seminars have come to an abrupt halt. Meanwhile, agency executives and producers seeking to carry their unique value proposition to targeted commercial insurance and group benefits prospects, need an improved marketing and lead generation strategy to increase their suspect and prospect pools and grow their pipelines.
The list of possible marketing and lead generation initiatives is extensive and can be daunting for many agencies and brokers regardless of type, size, or geography. Some agencies may attempt to staff up to accommodate theses skills, but the skillsets required are varied and often specialized, and may include the following:
- Appointment Setter
- Blogger, Vlogger
- Content Writer/Editor
- Email Marketing Manager
- Graphic Artist
- Marketing Generalist
- Marketing Strategist
- SEO Specialist
- Social Media Marketer
- Telemarketer (Appointment Setter)
- Video Production Specialist
- Voice Over Specialist
- Web Analytics Manager
- Website Programmer
Some of these skills may be combined into one marketing position (writer, editor, blogger for example), while others require highly specific skills, for example video creation or search engine optimization.
Here is an updated insurance agency marketing and lead generation checklist which includes many of the key initiatives insurance agencies should leverage. How many of these insurance marketing initiatives can your agency check off?
- Blogging & Vlogging
- Branding
- Client Case Studies
- Client Testimonials
- Contact List Generation & Email List Generation
- Create Buyer Personas
- Create Prospect Scorecards
- eBrochures
- Email Marketing
- ePublishing and LinkedIn Publishing
- Insurance Agency Marketing Plan
- News Releases
- Newsletter Creation & Distribution
- PPC Ads and Post Boosts
- Search Engine Marketing – SEO
- Social Media Marketing
- Telemarketing & Lead Handling
- Updated Insurance Agency Website
- Video Creation
- Web Seminar Marketing
- Website Updates & Content
- Website Analytics Reporting and Analysis
There are other marketing initiatives which can be used including snail mail marketing (not recommended for B2B insurance agency marketing), traditional seminars (currently on COVID-19 hold), sponsorships, traditional advertisements, etc. Though some of these more traditional marketing initiatives can be considered, a focus on digital and repeatable is your best mantra, especially in this coronavirus climate. Producers, agency executives and owners all seek to grow their book of business. Marketing is time and budget driven, and if done correctly, your agency marketing should provide a compelling ROI to cost justify your investment. Can all the above activities be accomplished a few days or a few weeks? That’s not likely to happen. But over the course of a year or less, most if not all of these can be achieved.
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