Insurance marketing can cost a lot, but it doesn’t need to be devastating to your budget. Even if you’re just starting out in the insurance field or you’ve used up your marketing budget, you can come to the insurance marketing game.
In today’s world of guerilla, viral, and social media-based marketing, there are many very low budget insurance marketing ideas that will increase the traffic to your insurance business. You don’t need a huge budget, but you do need creativity.
1. Talk With Your Clients
This is number one and always will be. If you need more business, talk with your satisfied insurance clients and ask them to promote your business. It may feel awkward, but consider it a favor. Your clients enjoy working with your business, and their friends and family members need quality insurance. It’s a winning situation for everyone, and you simply need to ask.
2. Make an Investment in Others
You don’t need to spend a lot to invest in other people in your community. Whether you choose to flip burgers at the fundraiser for the local hospice or you help high school students organize a bike-a-thon, by showing up as a community volunteer, you can help make progress in your community and progress toward your insurance marketing goals at the same time.
Invite community groups to use your spare room as a meeting space or advertise on a bulletin board. At the beginning, you may only have time or space to give instead of money, but every step you take toward community connections will solidify your reputation and open up strategic connections and referrals.
3. Reach Out to Key Players on Social Media
Who do you know in your real life or online community? Reach out to those people and see if they can help you promote your business. You may have helped them in the past, or perhaps they’re simply friends, family members, or businesses that dovetail with an insurance business. Don’t be afraid to ask for a favor, whether it’s a guest blog post or a retweet of something you’ve posted on social media. Be sure to repay these favors with thanks and help in the future.
4. Put Yourself Online
You have a website, and you may even have a blog. What’s next? There are plenty of social media sites that you can use to promote your business. From quick video tips on Snapchat to well-designed graphics about home safety on Pinterest, you can use unorthodox methods of marketing your business to break into these social media sites. Don’t just send out content to the world, either. Add yourself to groups, visit LinkedIn, and answer questions on Quora. Put yourself into the conversation about insurance. It’s free, and it will help solidify your reputation.
5. Do Something Scary
Marketing can feel awkward and even scary. If you need the marketing attention, consider doing something difficult and daring.
- Create a podcast using free podcasting tools, and offer it on your blog and through an email newsletter.
- Create a webinar or live chat with Facebook or Youtube Live, inviting clients to call in and ask their questions about specific insurance topics.
- Develop a wild office window display to catch peoples’ attention
- Hold a contest, promoting your clients’ home safety photos or worst disaster stories.
Whatever avenue you choose, understand that choosing a marketing tactic that’s far outside your customers’ comfort zone could gain you different customers, but it could also backfire. Know your audience before you make the leap.
At American Agents Alliance, we understand small, independent insurance agencies. After all, we’re a hub for many of those agencies. Would you like to become part of our network? Contact us today and learn about our many membership benefits.