A Methodical Insurance Marketing Plan That Builds Your Client Base!

Just like a business plan, an insurance marketing plan breaks down what might seem to be an overwhelming or multi-pronged effort where concerted effort is almost impossible into manageable pieces with dedicated time segments and expected results.Agents, brokers and agencies alike share a common goal that is to make more sales and build a large, loyal client base. There are however, only so many hours in the workday and a lot to do.

Insurance Marketing Plan Part 1:

Insurance agents in today's competitive market may not lack skill but they usually lack new leads. There are many ways to increase sales and an insurance marketing plan addresses multiple methods in an organized fashion. This article includes a few specific methods to increase your sales both with existing customers and to work toward generating new qualified insurance leads no matter your position in the insurance industry.

Establish a lead generation website. This can help you generate qualified new leads whether you are an agent, a broker or an agency. An agency might also include individual agent pages.

A good technique when an agency has individual agent pages or sections is to include their pictures. Have them write up a small blurb including their specialty and interests in insurance and you may even provide a blog for them. This is a common technique with real estate agencies and can be effective as in an insurance marketing plan as well.

Insurance Marketing Plan Part 2:

Use an insurance newsletter to keep in contact with new leads from your website. Offer interesting news and articles to subscribers to the newsletter. The newsletter helps you target prospects by gaining their attention and then providing news and articles on the type of insurance that is your specialty. This is not an advertisement per se, but a marketing device and though your agency name will be in the letter and a link to your site the material should be interesting and real and interspersed with information about the products you offer that bear on the article or news.

An agent or agency that specializes in Auto Insurance might produce segments such as "How much does the color of your car cost you in insurance per year?"

Life insurance agents or investment agents might have articles and newsbytes such as "Variable Universal Life Insurance - Trash or Treasure?".

Insurance Marketing Plan Part 3:

Those are merely examples that have interest for particular prospects and add value to your newsletter.

Existing customers are valuable assets. Maintaining contact with customers who have purchased insurance from you in the past is important. And your newsletter is a key factor in this endeavor.

• Agents should designate a specific amount weekly dedicated solely contacting their existing or past customers to schedule a review of their insurance policy needs on a yearly basis.
• Mailing out birthday and holiday cards to existing customers is also is a good way to keep in contact. These qualified buyers have bought from you before and are likely prospects for the future.

Insurance Marketing Plan Part 4:

Agencies, brokers and agents can use newspaper ads to generate qualified leads as well. A small advertisement, correctly worded in the proper section can produce excellent local results. Larger budgets may prefer to use an insert.

The entire point is that you should have an insurance marketing plan focused on generating new qualified leads as well as utilizing your existing customers for referrals and new sales. You should also have a dedicated time set aside for these activities and stick to your marketing plan to succeed.

Don't spend a lot of time writing your plan. Just jot down concrete, actionable steps that will get you closer to your goal. For example, here is a ruff idea...

Work 40 weeks.

• Send 100 prospecting letters per week to small business owners in (name of target market).
• Call each and every one after the 3rd letter is mailed.
• Send a newsletter every month to current clients and prospects. Advertise every other month for seminar, free consultation, and webinar.
• Referral marketing. Generate an average of 1 referral per client.
• Set 10 appointments per week.
• Close at least 50 percent.

I know its very ruff and it would make any agency manager or college professor cringe. But the idea is to be very short, precise, and realistic.

Your insurance marketing plan should include other marketing and lead generation systems as well: Internet, joint ventures, coupon marketing, mobile marketing, and local internet marketing.