The Other Kind of Marketing – Brand Yourself and Sell More Insurance

Marketing is a term that we use to refer to risks in marketing for the insurance companies that we represent. Although marketing is a crucial aspect of an agency’s success it is not the only thing that they need to spend their resources on. The “other type of marketing” is often overlooked and not fully understood by the insurance industry. Many agencies don’t focus on it at all.

Insurance agencies often feel intimidated by traditional marketing strategies. This is because they don’t know how to get consumers to buy their product or services. The industry seems stuck in a time warp where cold-calling, door-to-door sales, and other forms of interruption marketing were the keys to the kingdom. Agencies believe that the existing strategies still work and no new strategies are being implemented. Many believe that branding and marketing strategies are too costly for individual agencies or agents, and that they are only available to large insurance companies.

Individual agents and agencies need to be innovative in marketing strategies to keep their edge in the industry. The National Do Not Call Registry, Caller ID, and email Spam Blockers have made traditional interruption marketing methods like cold-calling and mass emailing less effective. Agents need to be more creative and take advantage of the Internet, newsletters and article marketing. A web-based marketing strategy is very easy to implement and requires little expense.

It is important to identify yourself as an insurance producer. A company website is a nice thing to include on your business card. Prospects can find out more about you company by visiting this page. You need to be different from other agents. Let’s face it. The majority of independent agencies have the same access to the markets and the same prices. So what else can prospects base their decision on? Agent. This is easily done by creating a website that markets and brands you.

Once you have created a web site for yourself, with content that reflects your professional image and industry leadership, you can turn it into an automated marketing machine. You will be able to collect contact information from prospects through your web page. This can be achieved by offering a newsletter. Many companies can help you create an automated newsletter. You are now able to use permission marketing, which is a more effective practice than interruption marketing. You also create an opportunity for you to showcase your industry knowledge, and provide a reason for prospects to keep in touch with you on a regular basis.

Your new marketing strategy should drive traffic to your website and allow prospects to contact you. You should use as many marketing strategies as you can to get traffic. First, offline marketing is still viable. Brochures, letters and faxes are all good examples of old-fashioned offline marketing. Online marketing is also important. This is an affordable way to market your business online. Search engine optimization, advertisement on related sites, article market, pay per click advertising are some of the online strategies that can help you become visible online.