Those waving fields of wheat or corn create a gorgeous prairie atmosphere, but they’re also vulnerable. If disease or pests take down the crop, all of the farmer’s investment can go with it. A garden or a forest is more versatile. It’s diverse, and its range of species protects it from being wiped out by a single pest. When you’re marketing, would you like to be like a cornfield or a garden? Marketing like a gardener allows you to thrive over time.
Build Healthy Soil
In a garden, you need to build healthy soil to allow your plants to grow well, without needing to add a lot of fertilizers and pesticides. The same applies to your marketing strategies. In your marketing, you need to have a strong foundation. According to the Social Media Examiner, “every piece of your social media strategy serves the goals you set. You simply can’t move forward without knowing what you’re working toward.” You need a vision of who you are at your insurance business and what you want to communicate with others. For example, if you’re focused on helping families find insurance, families need to be at the basis of your insurance marketing campaigns. Strong soil helps people know who you are. Even if a single marketing effort fails, if you’ve grown enough of a focus in your marketing, people will still know who you are as a business.
Create Marketing Diversity
One key difference between an ecosystem and a single crop is that the ecosystem is diverse, whereas a single crop relies on the attributes of that one crop to survive. If the crop needs a lot of water and there is a drought, it’s going to be stressed, and so will you.
The same applies to your marketing strategies. The more diverse they are, the easier it is to remain calm if one of your strategies does not go your way. According to Financier Worldwide, a strong marketing strategy “is multifaceted, realistic, and implemented consistently over time.”
For instance, if you try out a new social media campaign focused on seniors staying safe, and you also get interviewed for a series in the newspaper about the same topic, you might find that the social media campaign doesn’t catch on as well as you’d hoped. However, when you can rely on diverse marketing tactics, you don’t need to worry when a single one fails.
Assign Different Roles to Different Marketing Strategies
In a garden, each plant has its role. You don’t expect your lettuce to make beautiful flowers. Its job is to feed your family. The same goes for your marketing strategies. As you develop an overall marketing plan, give different roles to your different marketing ideas. One might have the goal of more closely connecting you with families with young children, while another might be developing your inbound marketing so that it is more focused on auto insurance.
Develop Interconnected Marketing Strategies
Ecological connections are key to the success of a garden ecosystem. The Borage attracts bees that also pollinate the apple trees. In your insurance marketing efforts, you should see how your marketing efforts in one area also positively impact your ability to find customers in another area of your business. For example, if you’re focused on families, can you draw in families looking for home insurance and give them the opportunity to buy auto insurance from you as well? By knowing your audience well, you can find areas where you might be able to market complementary products.
At American Agents Alliance, we’re here to help you develop your marketing network. From classes to conferences, we offer learning and networking opportunities for your insurance business. Talk with us about becoming a member, and learn more about our many membership benefits.
