Marketing is one of the most crucial aspects of growing your insurance company. It is important that your agency stands out from others. You want people to express an interest in your agency and want them to ultimately decide to do business with your agency. So what can you do to help your agency stand out from the other agencies out there? We have compiled a list of marketing ideas that your agency can implement and will hopefully result in an increase in sales. Take the time to go through this list and determine what action items will best serve your agency. No two agencies are the same; each one has different goals and deals with different situations. But at the end of the day, every agency wants to grow and expand and be profitable.
Distribute emergency information wallet cards. In addition to your agencies contact information, include the number to call for insurance claims. Also include local emergency numbers such as the local fire department, the police department, poison control, etc. Customers will appreciate having all of this information on one card that they are able to carry with them in their wallet. This is also a great resource for referrals. Referrals are one of the cheapest and easiest marketing tools.
Make sure that your employees have an email signature. Have it include the agencies information such as address, phone numbers, website address, social media accounts, etc.
Your agency can adopt a mascot. Costumes can be found online for a decent price. You can have the mascot wear an agency shirt and walk around at community events. You can record the mascot interacting with people and post the images on your social media accounts.
Get your customers to add your agency to their cell phone contacts. It will be a lot easier for the customers to get a hold of you regarding claims or billing questions if they already have your contact information stored. This would also help with referrals; customers would easily be able to pass on the agency’s contact information to someone who is interested in it.
Volunteering in your community can result in great PR for your agency. It is important for customers to see that the businesses they associate with care about their community. Choose something that your agency has an interest in, because the more you care about a project, the more of your time you will be willing to donate.
Make sure that you have a functional website. It needs to look professional and easily accessible. You need to be able to have access to update your website yourself, rather than wait on a web developer. Make sure that you have access and are able to post messages or updates as it needed. If there is ever urgent information that has to be shared, you don’t want to have to wait for your web developer to get back to you.
Educate your customers on everything that you sell. Most people will only come to you for what they already own. They are not aware of other products that are being offered to them. Create a simple document that briefly highlights all the different types of products that your agency currently offers.
The main reason your agency isn’t getting more referrals, is because you aren’t asking for them. And as we have mentioned, referrals is how your business is going to grow. There are 2 main reasons as to why your agency isn’t getting referrals and they are: You don’t ask, and you don’t keep in touch with your clients. Reach out to your clients and make sure all of their needs are being met. Ask them if they are happy with the service they are getting, and if they can think of family and friends that could benefit from your agency.
You want to make sure that you have search engine optimization. You need a functioning website to even show up on Google. Google will look at your agency’s online footprint and will then rank you according to your business listing, your reviews, content, inbound links, social media, etc.
Make a sales video that you can use over and over. Make it giving your best sales pitch and then you can upload it to your website and post it on social media. This will allow you to make a sales pitch to any prospect that comes across your online presence.
Attend local networking events. The Chamber of Commerce in your area will host networking events quite frequently, and it is important that you attend them. Try making as many connections as you can and be sure to follow up with anyone who can benefit from your assistance in choosing insurance products.
Carry blank business cards. This one may seem strange, but it works. Have you ever had contact with someone and they don’t have a card to exchange with you? You can always hand them one of your business cards, but then everything is put on them to reach out to you. If you have a blank business card you could pull it out and have the person write down their contact information so that you will be able to follow up with them.
You can send out newsletters to your customers. This will help boost referrals, build loyalty, cross sell and generate leads. You will want to make sure that if you choose to email your newsletter, it will have to grab your customer’s attention. Everyone gets a lot of emails every day, and you want to make sure that your emails have content in them that is worthwhile for your customers to read.
Sponsor a car show. If your agency has knowledge about cars this is especially valuable. This will allow you to build relationships with customers. When people share a common interest it helps people maintain relationships that will benefit both parties.
TV advertising is a great way to get local exposure. You can coordinate your advertising to be aired during certain programs, such as home improvement, or car shows. This way you are aiming for a specific targeted group.
Every day you should be reaching out to different contacts. Build relationships by asking questions and look for referrals. Even if you ask questions that you already know the answer to, you are helping to strengthen that relationship that will develop and be beneficial. You will be able to boost your referrals while making relationships within your own community.
Offer live quotes on your website. This works best for insurance products such as life insurance and health insurance. These types of insurance products don’t have a bunch of different questions that can affect the quote.
Choose someone to speak at High Schools. Defensive Driving is a very serious topic that needs to be discussed with new drivers. There are a lot of materials and videos that can be used to teach the children. You can also discuss the basic terms of insurance that are considered a life skill to use.
Be part of consumer review websites. Website like Yelp will allow you to set up a profile for your agency that will let people write reviews about your business. Potential clients will use sites like these to decide which agency they will shop around for regarding their insurance needs.
Advertise on Facebook. There are tons of sponsored ads on Facebook. If created and published correctly, they can be beneficial for your agency. Advertising on Facebook allows you to reach thousands of people.
You can have your cars professionally wrapped with your insurance agency logo. This will promote conversations as you are coming and going to places with your car. And it will help advertise when you are stuck in traffic.
Don’t ever run out of business cards! Make sure that you have a stock supply. Chances are at some point you have had the embarrassing moment of, I don’t have a business card on me. But make sure this does not happen again. Leave your business cards in fish bowls, on bulletin boards, with your tip at restaurants. Have the motto that everyone you meet should walk away with your business card.
Offer to make a donation to a local charity for every quote that you process. This is a great marketing tool that essentially others are doing for you. Getting your customers to let others know that you are contributing to your local community helps build trust.
Buy the phone number to an agency that is closing. If you get word that an agency is closing its doors, it may be possible to purchase their phone number. This can generate a lot of phone calls from people who have the old agency’s phone number. Your agency will now be able to help them.
Leave a fishbowl at a business where your customers would likely shop. Attach a sign that you will be holding a drawing for a gift card to the business to one random person. To get additional leads you could contact the other people from the fishbowl and offer a smaller prize in exchange for a quote.
Customer surveys are a great way to get feedback about your agency. It can show where you need improvement and it lets the customers feel validated and that they matter. When your agency receives positive feedback it can help boost morale and let the agency know they are doing a good job. And if there are items that need some attention, it is good to address them and move forward.
Business Networking Groups meet all over. BNI is the biggest business networking group. They will limit their group to one person per industry, but they have many chapters that meet, so finding one to attend should not be that difficult. Plus the benefits from attending these meeting will have a positive impact on your business.
Have pens designed with your agency’s information and leave them everywhere. When you sign credit card receipts, when you are at the bank, or the post office, leave a pen. Don’t just buy the cheapest pens out there, the nicer the pen, the better the image customers will have of your agency.
Conduct annual policy reviews. Try reaching out to each customer yearly to go over all of their policies and insurance needs. Customers aren’t going to stay with you if they aren’t getting anything from you. Let them know that you care about their needs and are willing to work to get the best available option.
Implement a referral marketing program. When an existing customer sends you a new client, offer them a referral reward. Make sure that the reward it worthwhile to the customer. Remind your customers of this program often so that you both can benefit from the rewards.
This is quite the compilation of marketing strategies to try out on your agency. Not every one of these will fit with every agency. Go over them and decide which ones will benefit your agency and help it grow. Put your time and effort into those action items and go from there. No business is going to boom and grow over night. It takes time and effort to build the customers trust and become part of the community. Letting your customers know you care about the community in which you reside will help build the trust. People don’t want to call a 1-800 number and talk to some random person who doesn’t know where they live or what is going on around them. People want relationships that have a common ground and that they feel they can personally connect to. Building trust with your customers is the most important step to growing your business. Your customers need to feel that you are looking out for them and their best interest. They know that you will be making money on their insurance needs, but they want to believe that you are really doing what is best for them. Build the trust up and you will have customers that keep returning for years and year.
