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100 Insurance Marketing Ideas,
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1. Emergency Info Wallet Cards – Include local emergency numbers like the fire department, police, poison control, etc. Include your contact information and the phone number for claims. Customers will be glad to carry such a valuable card around in their wallet and they will always have your information in their pocket! Referrals are the cheapest and easiest form of insurance agency marketing.
8. Host a Window Etching Event – Window etching is a process of inscribing the VIN number of a vehicle into all the glass on a car. It is supposed to reduce auto theft. You can sometimes team up with the local police department or an organizaiton against insurance fraud like 
17. Host Seminars – It requires promotion, but you can host seminars about financial planning, understanding insurance, saving money on insurance etc. Invite people to your insurance agency office, use a meeting room at a local chamber, use space from a community center, or rent a location. Present a topic that is time sensitive and enticing. “Learning About Deferred Medical Savings Accounts” will not draw as many as: “Secrets to Stop Uncle Sam From Stealing Your Retirement.” 
25. Reach Out to Contacts Every Day – Make friends and increase referrals without looking like a salesperson by asking questions. Strong relationships within the community are perhaps the most powerful marketing tool an agent can possess. Strengthen these relationships by calling other professionals in the community and asking them questions as often as possible. You can ask things you already know! Over time the relationship will develop and they will send you referrals. Referrals are the sweetest insurance agency marketing.  |
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30. Advertise on Pizza Boxes – I know several agents who purchase pizza boxes with their insurance marketing in exchange for buying the boxes. Many pizza shops need to cut expenses and will make a deal. Ensure they don't cover your insurance marketing with theirs. Boxes are under 50 cents each. Another option is to pay for plastic pizza cutters. They are more expensive but people keep them.
31. Speak at High Schools – Find informational materials and videos to use while you speak about defensive driving with high school students. Also, teaching a brief class about insurance could be a great opportunity for the students in a “life skills” class. It will certainly help to have a personal connection with someone in the school.
32. Consumer Review Websites - Websites like Yelp.com and MerchantCircle allow you to set up a profile about your agency. Visitors can write recommendations about your agency and others use these services to decide who to call. I wouldn't quit after those two though because there's hundreds more, in fact I wouldn't set up any agency listings myself, I'd use this service to blast market my agency online.
33. Sponsor the Fire or Police Department – What says community involvement and protection better than the fire and police departments? Firemen and police officers generally have very wide social networks within your local community. Find a way to get some publicity in the paper and develop strong friendships with the members.
34. Chamber of Commerce – To make it worth your time and money, you must develog stronger relationships within and contribute to the community. Chambers of Commerce are full of salespeople…be a resource by helping others and you will reap the greatest insurance marketing benefits.
35. Facebook Advertising - Ever notice those links on the right hand side of your Facebook page that usually have catchy pictures and text? Those are advertisements and they're the reason Mark Zuckerberg is a billionare. You can pay to have your own ads show there and it's amazing how specific you can get with your target audience, but be warned: if you can't get a high ratio of people to click and you don't change your ads frequently, Facebook will not show them regardless of your how much money you have. If you're too busy selling insurance to keep up with the weekly Facebook changes, consider hiring an affordable company that manages Facebook advertising campaigns.
36. Automated Voice Message Calls – Many agents are skeptical about this form of insurance telemarketing but I know some agencies that swear by it. Record a message in your own voice and blast it to hundreds of people at once. Send a customer appreciation message to your entire book, leave pre-renewal messages for your current clients, or upload a list of prospects to market to. It is really cheap insurance agency marketing. This company does it.
46. Always Carry Lots of Business Cards – All of us have said, “I don’t have a business card on me right now”. From this point forward if you ever say that again then you should turn in your insurance license. You failed the successful insurance agent marketing test. Leave them in fishbowls, post them on bulletin boards, leave them with a generous tip if you have great service in a restaurant. And don’t ever run out…
47. Submit Insurance Websites to DMOZ.org - AKA The Open Directory Project, DMOZ.org is the most prestigious manually approved online directory. You need a high quality site that offers information valuable to internet surfers. If you are accepted it can do wonders for insurance agency website search engine optimization.
48. Online Maps - People find local businesses using sites like Mapquest.com, Google Maps, and AltaVista. If they're already on a map, it's a pretty good indication that they're serious about finding a local company too. Here's two ways to do it: 1) do a search on Google for "online maps and go to each of the top sites looking for a link to add your busines profile and fill it out. 2) Use Agent Blast to add you to every major online map by filling out one form.
49. Sponsor a Motorcycle Ride – Except for a few crotchrocket thrill seekers, motorcycle riders are often fantastic insurance clients. They are very safe drivers on two and four wheels and today’s motorcycle owner often has many other insurance and financial service needs. Motorcycle insurance marketing is a great lead-in to other insurance lines.
50. Post Client Letters – If someone writes a letter, sends an email, or posts a comment online about your agency, print it out and post it in a visible location. Shoppers look to others for guidance. Reading many letters from others about the knowledge, care, and protection your provide will only improve their impression of your business.
51. Boost Your Search Rank – Here's the bottom line: the more websites across the web with your consistent and accurate agency name, phone number, and address, the higher you'll rank. Thats why services that promote your agency on thousands of webpages are so valuable.
52. Contact Webmasters for Links – Enhance the online presence of your insurance agency website and improve search rankings with links from other related sites. According to Google, one way to improve the search results of your website is to get one-way links from quality related websites. In order to do this you will need to have some type of product, service, or information visitors on the other site may be interested in, but unable to get on that site. Keep in mind that no one is going to be willing to offer a link to your site unless there is an obvious benefit to their visitors.
53. Park a Wreck in Your Lot – Convince a junkyard to park a wrecked vehicle in front of your office. It will draw attention and create a mental connection between your location and car accidents and insurance. If your local government or landlord gives you a hard time, remind them it is raising safety awareness and at the very least try to get them to allow it every once in a while.
54. Referral Marketing Exchange– I know many agents that offer cash incentives for real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and car salesmen to refer their insurance agency. (This is illegal in some places) There may be other options to reward referrals that are more affordable to you and/or more enticing for them, for instance you agree to pay for the publication and distribution of marketing materials. When a real estate agent sends you a lead, instead of paying them cash agree to send their client birthday cards in their name for the next five years. It may be easier for you if you already have a similar process in your office.
55. Join the School Board – The school board is obviously a fantastic way to meet both the big players and families in the community. Being on the school board will give you easier access to marketing opportunities to parents and young drivers also. Marketing insurance products to young families is an ideal situation.
56. Insurance Leads Fishbowl – Leave a fishbowl on the counter at a business where potential customers shop with a sign indicating you will be drawing for a gift card to the establishment. Use the cards for leads. If you like this idea and want to buy one right this instant here's a link to fish bowls
57. Wear Your Business – Invest in some nice shirts with your business name clearly visible. Wear them everywhere, especially to school and community events. Include your staff and you can have a powerful insurance marketing effect. Shirts are expensive, so if you're going to hand them out, give them only to people you think have friends that would make good clients.
58.Customer Surveys – Surveying people about service quality has marketing benefits. You can identify opportunities for improvement and you let clients know you value the quality of their experience. Another benefit is that many people will feel obliged to say good things and forcing them to do so will imprint the value of your agency into their minds. You can do this by email with most email marketing services.
59. Engage People On Facebook – Moving forward, insurance agents that have the strongest online presence will survive. Check out this free article we wrote with over 100 ideas and strategies for Facebook marketing for insurance agents.
60. Write in the Local Papers – Even if you pay for it, writing content for the local paper can be much more valuable than insurance advertising. Most papers are struggling right now and will be more open than ever to allow you to pay to write content. If you cannot inlcude insurance agency contact information in the article purchase a visible ad near it.
61. Business Networking Groups – Although there are many like it, BNI is one of the most prominent business networking groups. Unfortunately, they often limit membership to one person per industry and insurance is often filled. Take advantage if you get an opportunity to join BNI or another group like it.
62. Coach Youth Sports – Coaching a youth sports team allows you to meet many young families within the community. Think auto, home, Life, financial Planning, 529, IRA, etc. You should take every opportunity to get to know the league coordinators as they are often very well-known individuals within the community. Get some additional agency marketing by hanging a team picture in the office. It's also a lot of fun, just ask the guys on my middle school lacrosse team.
63. Designate a Referral Specialist – Choose one person in your agency and assign them to develop and support a referral process. Track referred business and pay extra commission on it. When one person takes ownership of the referral program you’ll get their buy in, and your other staff won’t be hearing about referrals from only you. Referrals are key to insurance agency marketing.
64. Send Marketing Materials With Every Customer Communication – Whether it is a payment reminder, policy endorsement, renewal notification, etc, always include some sort of insurance product marketing material. This holds true for mail, email, phone calls, text messages, whatever.
65. Bring Doughnuts to Apartment Managers – If you sell renter’s coverage the best way to market insurance is through the person selling the apartment. When you get an opportunity to speak with apartment managers, make sure they understand why insured tenants can be an advantage to them. They will forget you if you don’t bring something to eat once a month.
66. Give Out Pens - Many businesses and communities can always use extra pens - community centers, restaurants, grocery stores, the DMV. Always keep extra pens with you and when you see a jar full of pens somewhere, fill it up with your own. Always be marketing your insurance agency.
67. Get Links to Your Website - Every search engine marketer will tell you the same thing, inbound links to your website or webpage will help you show up higher in search results. Ask people you do business with to add a link to your site and make sure to include a link back to your site from anywhere online you have the opportunity. Don't forget about online business directories, which are often an easy source of inbound links. If you know the secret it's not too expensive to get better search rankings.
68. Advertise In Church Bulletins – Church bulletins tend not to be huge insurance lead generators, but use your financial support to speak with the church leadership. Offer to conduct seminars about insurance, defensive driving, fire safety, financial planning etc. Your good intentions will lead to higher commissions.
69. Coupon Mailers – Consider the readers of these materials and make sure any advertising you do provides some sort of coupon, free gift, or call to action. People read through these specifically to find coupons and discounts. Val-Pak is one.
70. Customer Appreciation Party - Let your best policyholders know how important you are by inviting them to a nice dinner. Use this time to market new financial products, encourage referrals, and strengthen relationships. Invite your largest premium providers and the people who help you with referral marketing.
71. Insurance Lead Lists – It can be expensive, but purchasing lists of insurance prospects is a starting point for many of the other insurance marketing strategies here. Narrow down prospects with demographics, location, etc. Salesgenie is one company that does this.
72. Market in Ethnic Publications – Studies show certain minority populations can be more loyal to businesses that advertise and market within their cultural media. If you speak a foreign language or someone in your agency does, selling insurance to that community can open the door to loads of referred leads.
73. Local Forum Websites – Many local communities have online forums where members communicate about community events, concerns, businesses, etc. Become an avid poster and you will develop friends and insurance leads. If possible, use a link to your insurance agency website in your signature so it shows up every time you write. Since your online reputation is nearly as important nowadays as your actual one, make sure to make relavent posts rather than blatant insurance advertisements.
74. T-shirts – Give them out to policyholders who will wear them. It will be tempting to buy the cheapest white shirts. Remember, if your shirt can work itself into the regular rotation of someone’s wardrobe, you’ll have residual insurance advertising. Make sure the agency name and service is clear.
75. Online News Comments– After reading articles on the local news website make a post and try to include a link to your website. Link a theme in the article to an insurance need. Do not become a comment spammer; post relevant information. Incoming links to your website from a reliable source like the local newspaper can help the search rankings of your website and drive targeted traffic.
76. Promote Your Affordability – Insurance shoppers are interested primarily in one thing right now, the price. Advertising your insurance agency on Cheap-Insurers.com and Cheapest4Insurance.com will attract prospects to your agency. You can advertise on both sites by filling out one form about your agency and you will also be listed on eight other insurance websites. It’s so easy to sign up in 5 minutes.
77. Leave Pens Everywhere – When you sign a credit card receipt, when you fill out a deposit slip at the bank, when you are addressing a letter at the post office. Consciously leave your pens everywhere. Consider pens that have some cool feature like an unusual clicking mechanism. That will improve their lifespan and assist your insurance marketing efforts.
78. Leverage LinkedIn – I don't know too many agents who use LinkedIn well for sales or marketing but it can be a great resource for building your network. Here's a hint for insurance agents: The value of LinkedIn doesn't come from networking with people you already know as much as from connecting with the people they know. (By the way, if you like this top 100 list consider connecting on LinkedIn with the author: John F. Carroll.)
79. Host a Baby Car Seat Event – You’ll need to get certified in car seat safety installation or find someone who is. Often fire departments or police departments have certified individuals and maybe you’ll convince them to bring the fire truck. Marketing insurance products to young families is always a good idea.
80. Publish RSS Feeds – If you have a blog, it's a must. RSS is short for Real Simple Syndication and it is a way to publish information online that can be read by a third-party program (feed reader or aggregator). This allows visitors to sign up for RSS feeds from several websites and by using one feed reader they can effectively compile up-to-the-minute news information from only those sources they are most interested in. Feedburner is probably the best option for publishing your information.
81. Yahoo Directory. This one is very pricey ($300/yr), but if you have the budget and are interested in insurance agency website search engine optimization, marketing in the Yahoo directory will help you. Be warned, it's not a huge help but if you've got the money to spend...Be sure you provide your information exactly the same as you list it everywhere else. Consistency with online listings is very important for search rankings. You can read more about this here.
82. Attend Community Meetings – Read your local newspaper or website to learn when community meetings are happening. Do good for the community and business will follow. Wear your agency shirt. (a nice golf shirt, not a T-shirt)
83. Produce a Viral Video – I can’t tell you how to do it, but if you can come up with something related to insurance, your staff, your community or something that people will want to watch and send to their friends, release it on YouTube and let it go viral. Here’s a free suggestion… put together bunch of extreme sports bloopers with an disability insurance advertisement.
84. Start a Community Organization – It’s not hard and you won’t need to win an election to be the president. Identify a social need in the community and start it. Combine a group of people and a cause like Softballers Against Cancer or Baby Boomers For the Environment. You can get it started on a site like MeetUp.com.
85. Publish a Blog – Publishing an online insurance blog is a great way to drive traffic. A general blog about insurance will be lost in the shuffle but a blog about a specific type of insurance in your section of the state could be a great opportunity to find actual clients. It will add to your credibility as an industry expert. Although challenging to a newbie, creating a Wordpress blog in a subdomain of your website (www.blog.yourdomain.com) can be done. Don't forget to submit your blog to InsuranceBlogSites.com. They don't accept every blog, but it's free!
86. Comment on Related Blogs – There are many opportunities to take advantage of blog marketing without owning one. When you read someone else’s blog post about a subject that could be related to insurance, post a comment about it. Always comment with insightful and relevant information. The extra links to your website will help your insurance agency website search rankings, and you should drive targeted traffic to your website. Insurance website marketing is very important now.
87. Make Sure Other Businesses Are Aware of Your Referrals – This is just a general marketing concept. When you refer someone to the service or product of another customer give them a reason to mention you. Something as simple as “he’ll probably give you a discount if you mention I referred you” will ensure that the owner is reminded of the value of his relationship with you. That should help your retention and increase the liklihood of reciprical referrals. The other business owner will also want to pay you back - It's called reciprocal atruism if I can remember correctly from my college psychology class.
88. Give Free Coffee at Lowes – Ever see the parking lot of a hardware store at 7 am? All contractors. Among many other potential needs, contractors need commercial auto, general liability, worker’s comp, disability etc.
89. Send Holiday or Birthday Cards – For some customers, a card from you might be the only greeting on their birthday. Set yourself apart with less popular holiday greetings like Halloween or Thanksgiving. Send Memorial Day cards to proud veterans or ethnic holiday cards to clients. Building relationships is a great way to market your insurance agency.
90. Handwritten Letters For Best Customers – We spend too much time with customers that pay us the least amount of money. Take a look at your commission statements and make sure you are going the extra mile for the people that support you the most. Guess who your best customers hang out with... people just like them who'd be great referrals for you.
91. Annual Policy Reviews – How can you expect policyholders to stay with you if they do not get anything in return each year? You should attempt to discuss policies with every customer every year. This helps you solidify the relationship, identify needs for additional products, and ask for referrals. Treating your book well is the best route to insurance agency marketing success.
92. Promote Your Clients – What goes around comes around so encourage clients to leave promotional material in your agency and try to refer them clients. Entrepreneurs are often our best clients (many insurance and financial needs and better retention), and they are most likely to refer your services if they see the value in what you do.
93. Niche Forum Websites – Across the web there are thousands of different themed discussion forums. Think about the insurance products you sell and then imagine where people may go online…Motorcycle forums, antique car forums, websites about saving money or investing. You get the point, go there and make friends.
94. Manage Your Brand - In today's digital world, there are thousands of places people may find information about your agency. If it's important to you that the information they find is accurate and complete there are services that can help you with online reputation management. In today's digital world it's so important to make sure you're being properly represented everywhere online.
95. Encourage Positive Online Reviews – When policy holders have a positive experience with your insurance agency, encourage them to go online to sites like Yelp.com or MerchantCircle.com and write about their experience. I recommend agents build a page on their website with links to their different profiles on review websites. When people are happy with their service they simply email them a link to that page and it makes things much easier for the customer. The easier you make it, the more likely they are to give you a review. And don't put a link to that page on your website, you don't want everyone to have access to it, just the people who are going to write nice things about you.
96. Put Your Picture on a Billboard – If you are an attractive woman this might work. For the guys – putting your picture on a billboard does not make you a local celebrity, it just proves you are vain and good at wasting marketing dollars. Maybe I'm just jealous...
97. Advertise to Specific Markets – Blanketed insurance advertising is not nearly as effective as specific messages for targeted customers. Think “Great Rates for Homeowners with Good Credit” instead of “Great Insurance Rates”.
98. Host a Boating Safety Class – If you market well enough, paying an instructor to teach a class in your agency or a community center can lead to a boatload of referrals (sorry). Free for all attendees may work, or give your clients a break and charge the others. Insurance marketing strategies that encourage safety are always a good idea.
99. Put Balloons Outside – Flags, balloons, streamers, whatever…Do something to draw some attention to your agency. Ask yourself if there is anything at all drawing attention to your business. Your physical location can be your greatest source of insurance agency marketing. Amazon has a ton of helium tanks
100. Child Fingerprinting Event – Interest in protecting the community will always be good for insurance marketing. Don’t forget how valuable the connections you make with members of the local police department can be in many different ways.
101. Wrap Your Car – Consider the possibility of having your vehicle professionally wrapped with your insurance agency logo. It facilitates more conversations than you expect and traffic won't bother you as much. You could also purchase an inexpensive car magnet to put on your car when it is parked in highly visible locations or in your parking lot closer to the main road. Always be marketing.
102. Free Lemonade – Offering free lemonade in the summer or hot chocolate in the winter can draw in potential customers. If you’re concerned about freeloaders, make the drink contingent upon an insurance quote.
103. Host a Blood Drive – Raise awareness of your location by getting people to come to give blood, and it will also give you a reason to contact your policyholders besides billing.
104. Referral Marketing Program – Reward existing policyholders for sending you new clients. Don't be cheap with the referral rewards. Make sure every single knows about your insurance referral program and remind them every single interaction. Developing referrals is the best insurance marketing strategy. If you haven't read The Referral Engine I strongly recommend it.
105. 800 Number Tracking– Use 800 numbers to track the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Kall8 provides a number for around 2 dollars a month. You can tell the marketing source using caller ID. If you invest thousands for grocery cart ads, it's worth paying 25 dollars a year to track the return? My bet is you will spend your grocery cart money in online marketing the following year.
106. Messaging on Hold – Being on hold sucks. It sucks a lot less when there's something to listen to. Having a service that provides information about other products will give callers something to listen to and expose them to a much wider array of your services. Customers will be unaware what we sell if we don't constantly market insurance products to them.
107. TV or Radio Interviews – When insurance-related news happens locally, contact the media and offer your opinion. News reporters are just folks like us trying to meet deadlines so if they can get a quote without working hard, many will take advantage. Use your twitter account to send them a message.
108. Get Listed in GPS Devices - Wouldn't it be nice if people could pull up your insurance agency when they did a search on their handheld or factory installed GPS device? Some GPS manufacturers let you go to their website and submit a business profile. It might take you a little while though... You might consider this service to list your agency in almost every GPS device in one fell swoop. If someone's searching for insurance on their GPS device, I'd say they're pretty committed to visiting your agency!
109. Sponsor the Highway – Highways will allow businesses to sponsor cleanup efforts in exchange for a sign advertising their service. Sponsor a section near the exit toward your agency. If there are no nearby openings, propose sponsoring another road in town. Maybe they’ll let you put up a sign to market your insurance agency if you agree to clean up trash along the roadside.
110. Nice Car Cards - These are business cards with a car compliment written in big letters. When you see a nice car parked, leave one of the cards with your contact information on it. Have them preprinted to say “People with taste like yours value an insurance agency like mine” or better yet, hand write a personal message. People with nice cars tend to like compliments and also have a lot of insurance needs. Place it on the driver side window right over the door handle with the compliment facing out.
111. Prepare Conversational Insurance Questions – How many times do we miss sales opportunities every day? Although selling comes naturally to you (or so you think), prepare some questions you could ask anyone depending on the situation to stimulate an insurance conversation. Here’s an example: “Isn’t it amazing how fast kids grow up?” Depending on the answer, there are many insurance conversations this could lead into. Having conversational starters prepared will prevent you from wasting sales opportunities by talking about the weather.
112. Outsource Time-Consuming Activities -There's a million and one things you need to do to make your marketing work. If you can hire a highschooler to telemarket for minimum wage, do it. If you can pay somebody to drive around and drop off brochures at all the local apartment complexes do it. If you can pay someone to list your agency on hundreds of local business websites do it. If you can pay someone to handwrite your thank you cards, do it! Here's my twist on the E-Myth hypothesis: "Always work on your marketing, not in your marketing".
113. Advertise Your Greenness – Offer information about how to drive more efficiently or reduce energy costs in the home. Send email newsletters, mail to your clients, or host educational sessions in your office for your customers. Include insurance agency marketing material in anything you provide.
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