5 Effective Marketing Ideas for Insurance Agents

See our updated post on Marketing Ideas for Insurance Agents for 2018 here.

With 2017 just around the corner, we’re back with a new round of marketing ideas for insurance agents that will help you expand your reach and retain more policyholders. So without further ado, let’s get started!

1. Keep Cleaning That Data

Last year, we suggested cleaning up your database, and we’re suggesting it again! In fact, data cleaning should be part of the monthly routine. Why? Because the accuracy of your data impacts every other facet of your insurance marketing strategy.

According to the 2016 Experian Data Quality Report, 75 percent of companies believe that dirty data is undermining their ability to serve customers. Case in point, 81 percent of companies report experiencing problems with email deliverability over the past 12 months.

And while poor deliverability is a problem that wastes time and resources and could affect your sender reputation, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Think about it. You’ve segmented your list based on the data you’ve collected and created personalized content that depends on that data being accurate. If it’s not, you may as well be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it’ll stick.

2. Don’t Forget to Optimize Your Emails

Data hygiene will help you land your insurance agency marketing emails in more inboxes, but that’s only half the battle. You can deliver emails all day, but it won’t do you much good if no one is reading them. So how do you get the open?

Think about the first impression. Would you open an email from a sender you don’t recognize? Neither will your policyholders. In fact, they may report it as spam.

Then there’s the subject line. Is it relevant? Is it valuable? Is it a must-see proposition? Well, it should be all of these things and more.

And if you really want to increase your open rate, consider a touch of personalization. Personalized emails subject lines have been known to boost open rates by 41.8 percent.

For a more in-depth explanation of email optimization, check out Understanding the Anatomy of an Email Newsletter. A few small adjustments can go a long way!

3. Shoot for Brand Consistency Across All Channels

Brand consistency isn’t a moving target; it just requires a little forethought.

Remember, branding is more than just slapping your logo on something. Whether you’re talking about social profiles, online business listings and online review sites, email campaigns, business cards or promotional mailings, it’s essential that you maintain a consistent all-around look and tone that makes you easily recognizable to prospects and policyholders.

Online, that means taking control of your social profiles, business listings, and online reviews. The same great headshots, colors, and logos you use for your physical promotions can be leveraged to create a consistent image across all online platforms. And please don’t forget to update contact info and cross-promote your profiles!

4. Get Used to the Idea of Paid Social Media Advertisements

When we bring up paid advertisements, people tend to cringe. But the truth is they’re effective!

In 2015, 76 percent of B2C content marketers in North America used promoted posts, with 61 percent reporting they were effective or very effective. The numbers for social ads were just slightly lower, with only 74 percent of B2C marketers using them and 59 percent reporting them to be effective.

We’ve talked about Facebook Ads and boosted posts before. They’re affordable, easy to use and can really increase your exposure. But Facebook doesn’t have the market cornered. There are now great ways to promote your social posts across all major platforms:

• Twitter ads
• LinkedIn ads
• Instagram ads

5. Take Advantage of Marketing Automation

We know some of you are the hands-on, do-it-yourself types, and we respect and admire you for it. But we all need a little help sometimes.

Automation is a great way to maximize referrals and increase policyholder retention all in one go, and it’s also what we do. Automation can help you identify warm leads, fast track hot leads and improve referral follow-ups so that you make the most of every connection, automatically.

From content creation to email campaigns and social sharing, insurance marketing automation can help you save time while providing value to your policyholders, strengthening your relationships in the long-term, and keeping you top of mind for future business opportunities and referrals.

Wrap-up

There you have it, five easy marketing ideas for insurance agents in 2017. If you need help with that last one, don’t hesitate to give us a call. With the right automated insurance marketing strategy, we can help you increase policyholder retention and maximize your referral business!