Archive for the ‘Insurance Marketing’ Category

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Insurance Twitter Round-Up

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Twitter can be a great source of information about the insurance industry. Here are some interesting tweets from the last week that showed up in ASJonline’s Twitter feed (Click on the user name to be brought to the tweeter’s feed):

@brettspurr: Politicians should talk about REAL problems like SS, medicare, deficit, WAR and stop opining about a stupid mosque. #politics

@GordonMarketing: Medicare Part D will increase about 3% to a national average of about 30%. Not too bad but expect the co-pays to keep edging up too

@LTCBelen: Why women need long term care insurance: They have a longer life expectancy and may out-live their spouse or partner #fb

@DalDubya: ‘Grandfathered’ Health Plans Less Inviting For Some Employers – WSJ.com – http://ht.ly/2uJ3l

@BenefitsGuru: Drug Prices Climb Faster Than Inflation, Again | NPR http://j.mp/dimmDg <8.3%

@JamesAEllis: About 20% of hospitalized Medicare patients are readmitted within 30 days says U.S. News and World Report

@AlbanyInsurance: Crash Course in Long-term Care Insurance http://goo.gl/fb/nzaab #featuredcontent #longtermcare #personalinsurance

@kendoyle62: Key Senate Democrat suggests that he didn’t read entire healthcare reform bill http://bit.ly/bhWlhQ

@NSLPN “Upcoming changes create lots of anxiety for professionals in Long Term Care.” How to prepare – http://bit.ly/d91p5g

Want more information about joining Twitter? Read our guide to getting started on Twitter.

Posted in Health Insurance, Insurance Marketing, Long Term Care Insurance, Medicare | No Comments »

Can Plan Types Make Employees Healthier?

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

If you have an employer client who is concerned about keeping costs down (or keeping employees healthy), you may want to look at some recent studies that suggest that individuals in HRAs are healthier.

Officials at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found workers who signed up for the health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) option at two large employers were healthier than other employees.

GAO analysts looked at health benefits programs at two firms – one large private employer and one large government employer. Both employers gave individuals a choice of signing up for traditional preferred provider organization health insurance or a high-deductible health insurance plan that gave the employees access to HRA health accounts.

The employees who choose the HRA option at each employer appeared to be healthier than the other employees, and their plan costs increased more slowly than costs for the other employees, according to a GAO director. However, the same director warns that the results are not useful beyond the enrollees, health plans, and employers included in the review.

However, research from the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that people who use HSAs and FSAs access care more often than users of traditional plans. They visited the dentist more, were more likely to get the flu vaccine, they see their eye doctor, and – most importantly – they are more likely to report unmet medical or prescription drug needs. This gives more clout to the idea that consumer-directed health care plan participants are, overall, more healthy.

So what does this mean for employers? A healthier population can keep costs down overall, and CDHPs are a great cost-saver to begin with. Plus, employees who are healthy show up to work, and are more productive when they’re at work.

Sounds like a win-win situation all around.

Posted in Employee Benefits, Health Insurance, Insurance Marketing | No Comments »

The Best Way to Succeed? Know Your Niche.

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

According to a new report by the Insured Retirement Institute, boomer clients like to get their financial advice face-to-face rather than over the phone or online. This probably comes as no shock to many agents, who have probably been working with their boomer clients for many years. (That same study also showed that 55 percent of boomers more than five years out from retiring do not know how much they need to save for retirement, which is troubling – but unfortunately is nothing new.)

However, when I conducted interviews with Gen Yers to learn about their financial habits, most of them expressed a desire to purchase their insurance products online. Even though they might want to work with an advisor at some point, they’re more than happy to communicate via email, phone, Twitter, or even text message – they’re on the go, and they’re fine with a financial advisor who can communicate that way, too.

Seniors, on the other hand, may be in a variety of different financial situations, and often have younger family members with a vested interest in their financial situations. You’ll have to deal with those family members, too.

If you choose to market to one specific age group, the best thing you can do is to know your niche. Study what type of marketing that age group responds to, how to effectively market to that age group, and what communication methods that niche groups like to use. This is particularly important if you aren’t a member of the niche you want to work with.

But what if you aren’t a niche agent? If your goal is to serve one and all, you can still use niche marketing tactics to help you in your business. Before you meet with a client, try to do some basic fact-finding over the phone. Learn how old they are, or at the very least find out if they’re married or have any children, which should help give you a rough estimate of their age. Then do some basic research about the communication methods that will work best for that type of client. If it helps you, create a cheat-sheet with effective marketing and communication points for different age groups that you can refer to at-a-glance before meeting with different clients. That way, no matter the age of your client, you will be able to talk with them in a way that you’re both comfortable with.

Posted in Insurance Marketing, Prospecting | No Comments »

Marketing Like the Old Spice Man

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

At ASJ, we like to emphasize the importance of communicating with your clients, and the power that social media can have on your marketing efforts. A recent mainstream marketing campaign highlighted both of these efforts so well that I just had to talk about it here.

I’m sure all of you are familiar with Old Spice. It’s a classic product, and frankly I’d always considered it to be something my grandfather would wear – sophisticated, sure, but definitely not young or hip. I thought it was something my husband would age into, when the time was right, but not something I expected him to be using before he turned 50.

And then the Old Spice Man took the country by storm.

His commercials are hilarious. They’re very tongue-in-cheek, and some of them are flat-out ridiculous. He often appears riding a horse, taking a bubble bath, lifting weights, or doing other masculine – yet romantic – activities. The ad campaign was genius, and before long a bottle of Old Spice brand body wash appeared in my Gen Y husband’s shower.

But then the Old Spice marketing team came up with something even more genius. Using the combined power of Twitter and YouTube, they allowed the Old Spice Man to communicate directly with his fans/consumers. People could post a question to his Twitter account, and he would answer it in his typical fashion via a personalized (albeit short) YouTube video.

The campaign was a huge success. Even people who had never purchased an Old Spice product in their life were talking about the brand, tweeting about it, posting about the company. Whether you think he’s hilarious or you don’t really understand his brand of humor, you have to admit – the Old Spice Man is on to something.

What if you used his brand of marketing in your insurance practice? YouTube and Twitter are both 100 percent free to join. If you don’t have a camera built-in to your computer, you can purchase a Web cam for less than $20 – or even borrow one from your local library. Invite people to submit questions to you via tweet, email, or Facebook, and answer them on YouTube to create a personal connection. You can show everyone how knowledgeable you are, and the marketing is totally free.

Is something like this actually possible in the insurance world? Maybe. With FINRA’s rules on social marketing, it’s difficult to say what is and isn’t allowed. And of course, if you had a client or prospect ask a sensitive question, you wouldn’t want to share their personal information via a public YouTube video. But the point is, the insurance industry needs to start stepping out of its box and thinking up new ways of communicating with its consumers. It needs to start using these amazing new marketing tools to reach out to the younger folks, and even to engage the older ones who are more tech-savvy. Otherwise, the personal touch of the insurance agent is going to be lost on the younger generations.

Posted in Insurance Marketing | No Comments »

What Are The Risk Factors For Your Future Clients?

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

As Americans age at a rapid rate (by 2025, there will be 65 million baby boomers, ranging in age from 61-79, and making up 25 percent of the population 16 and older), producers who are just hitting their professional stride might be asking themselves – where is my next generation of clients going to come from? Current high schoolers will soon be heading off to college, and once they graduate (or turn 26, depending on the life path they choose), they’ll be ready to choose a few insurance policies of their own. But what types of risk factors will they be facing? As it turns out, quite a few.

According to a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most high schoolers engage in behavior that puts them at an increased risk of dying. The study, conducted from 1991 to 2009, analyzed risk behaviors. The most common causes of death involved motor vehicle crashes, and expected teen risk behavior such as smoking cigarettes (19.5 percent), drinking alcohol (42 percent), and being sexually active (34 percent, and 40 percent admitted that their last sexual encounter had been unprotected) were common. However, the most frequent risk factors noted over the course of the study related to health and wellness.

In the week before the survey, 78 percent of the students had not eaten fruits or vegetables more than 5 times per day, and 29 percent had consumed soda at least once per day. Eighty-two percent of students were not physically active for at least an hour a day each day for the week before the survey. Only a third attended physical education classes daily, and 12 percent were obese.

Couple the fact that high schoolers lead relatively unhealthy lives with the fact that they seem completely unprepared to deal with their own financial futures – a test by the Jump$tart Coalition measuring  aptitude for managing such financial resources as credit cards, insurance, retirement funds, and savings accounts showed an average score of only 52.4 percent.

Fortunately, there are resources out there. The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting, the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, the Million Dollar Round Table, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors worked together to create NextGen3, an interactive program which includes lessons, games, and videos designed to appeal to a younger demographic. This is part of an ongoing – and growing – push to spread financial literacy at a younger age.

As insurance agents, do you think it’s your responsibility to help the younger members of our society understand financial matters and live healthier lifestyles? Do you do anything to reach out? Comment below and let us know! Or, take our poll on the ASJonline.com homepage!

Posted in Insurance Industry Issues, Insurance Marketing, Prospecting | 1 Comment »

It Only Takes One…

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

You read all the time about the importance of sending multiple email blasts a month. Keeping in contact with your prospects, experts say, will help them remember you, even if they’re not ready to use your services at this time. Then, when they do need you, they’ll see your name in their inbox, recognize it, and pick up the phone right away.

But does this strategy really work? I can tell you first hand that it does.

There is an insurance professional who sends me emails a few times a month. I’m not sure how I got on his list, as his emails are targeted to people seeking new policies. Since I wasn’t looking for new coverage, every week I simply deleted his email unread. I could have just as easily asked to be removed from his list, but for whatever reason – whether it’s because I was too busy, or because I thought the emails might come in handy someday – I never did.

Then one week, the subject line of his email caught my attention. It was compelling and interesting, presented a different angle, and was on a topic that I happened to be struggling to find someone to write about. I read the email immediately, and replied within 10 minutes asking whether he’d like to become a contributor to ASJ. By the next day, I’d found myself a new source, and the agent had further positioned himself as an expert in his field.

So many times, concerns about flooding inboxes or the amount of time that an email campaign could take outweigh the benefits of frequent contact. But the truth is a successful enewsletter should be blasted at least twice a month – and at an absolute minimum once a month. Clients and prospects want to hear from you. They want to know what’s going on in the financial world, or get a fun bit of trivia, or a little game to brighten their day. And if they decide they don’t want those things anymore, they can opt-out of your newsletter. But more than likely they’ll simply delete it if they don’t want to read it, until the time that they don’t delete it because they need you. And there you are, in their inbox, waiting for them to pick up the phone.

There is, of course, another lesson to be had in this story, and that’s about the power of compelling subject lines. Even though the agent had been sending me quality content for months, it wasn’t until he sent me something with an attention-grabbing subject line that I sat up and paid attention. Write your subject lines well, and send emails often, and you’re bound to get a few new clients (or at least sell different products to existing clients) from your efforts.

Posted in Insurance Marketing, Insurance Technology, Prospecting | No Comments »

Prospecting to Your Current Clients: My Story

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

At least once a month for the past two years, I’ve edited a prospecting story. Which means that since I became the associate editor at ASJ, I’ve read 24 articles on how to pull of the perfect prospecting call, or how to follow-up with a client – and that doesn’t include our big feature giving 52 of the best prospecting tips, or the other excellent advice we’ve given over the years. All in all, I’d say I’ve read more than 100 pieces of prospecting wisdom, and listened to seven or eight experts share their advice in person on how to handle that thing with which many agents struggle.

So you’d think, after all that, I’d be able to identify a sales call when I got one from my insurance agent, right?

Wrong.

It was all so casual. I was just finishing up my work day when my cell phone rang. I picked up the phone and heard the friendly voice of a rep from my car insurance agent’s office on the other end. She said she was just calling to verify a few details from my account, and did I have a few minutes? I said of course. She confirmed my age (I’d just had a birthday), and asked if I wanted to upgrade one of the benefits on my plan, now that a higher coverage amount was available. She also noticed that I’d recently been married, and wanted to offer to put my husband on my account as a second driver. We discussed what that would mean for my account, and I thought we were finished. Then, just as we were about to hang up, she slid something in that I totally wasn’t expecting.

“Heather,” she asked, “Do you have life insurance?”

The way she asked was very smooth, calm, and collected. It was in the middle of a series of questions, and since we had already been talking for a few minutes I already felt comfortable with her. I didn’t feel like she was trying to sell me something (even though I’m fully aware that she was), I felt like she was just following up on my account, making sure it was up-to-date (which she was also doing).

If I didn’t have life insurance, I’m sure I would have automatically said, “No,” even if I would normally have lied to get a pushy sales person off the phone. The way she approached the situation was very smart. As it was, I told her I did have it, but thank you for offering.

The truth is, every time to you talk to your clients is an opportunity to offer them new coverage. Of course, you don’t want to turn every pleasantry into a sales pitch – for example, if you do birthday calls, please don’t sing happy birthday, and follow it up with a “P.S., How do you feel about your long term care insurance?” But when you’re already talking to a client about their policies, or see that they’ve made a life change, it’s definitely the perfect time to ask if they’re interested in expanding their insurance portfolio. The absolute worst thing that can happen is that they’ll say, “No, thanks.”

What have you got to lose?

Posted in Insurance Marketing, Life Insurance, Prospecting | No Comments »

Are You Reaching Out to Diverse Clients?

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Hispanic consumers want financial advice. Are you prepared to give it to them?

According to a new study by New York Life, the economic crisis has made Hispanics across the country more motivated to protect their finances and become better educated about financial planning. In fact, 77 percent of Hispanic adults surveyed agreed the recession increased their desire to provide a financial safety net for their families.

Unfortunately, despite their desire to be educated, many Hispanics have a hard time actually acquiring information. Almost half the respondents (47 percent) agreed that a lack of information about financial protection planning was an obstacle to providing financial protection to their families. The second most prevalent hurdle, according to 39 percent of respondents, was believing financial protection is unaffordable and that they didn’t have enough money – a common barrier in the average population as well. This is a misconception that insurance agents fight every day, and now, it seems, there’s a new battlefield to fight it on.

It’s clear, then, that there is both a lack of information available to multi-cultural clients and a strong demand for education. Which means that there is a huge opportunity available to those agents willing to put in the time to market to ethnic populations. (In fact, many major insurance companies, including Allstate, State Farm, and New York Life, are reaching out to Hispanic populations with targeted marketing campaigns.)

If you’re not sure how to get started in reaching out to this new group of untapped prospects, here are some tips that can help you through.

  • Partner with targeted nonprofits. If there is an event in your area that assists the population you want to reach, see how you can help out. Be genuine in donating your time and skills (in other words, don’t walk in trying to sell), and eventually it will come out that you’re an insurance agent. Let them ask you for advice, then see if you can schedule an appointment from there. The key is to build trust within the community.
  • Understand that the needs and priorities of one cultural group might be different from your own. Get to know the culture of the community you want to target. Learn what’s important to them, and create a portfolio of products that meets those needs.
  • The commitment to diversity is an ongoing effort. Keep it up, and you’ll see the rewards over time.

The diversity of our population is continuing to grow. Hispanics are making up a larger and larger percentage of the population – so if you don’t reach out to them, a competitor will.

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Posted in Insurance Industry Issues, Insurance Marketing, Practice Management | No Comments »

Your Biggest Marketing Lesson: When Did you Fail, and What Did You Do About It?

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Every May, we look at our Producer’s Guide to Marketing as one of our most important issues of the year. The topic has wide appeal, as all producers need to market themselves effectively, and it is a pressing concern for many as the economy recovers and we look to bring business back to “normal.” Still, budgets are tight and regulations tend to quiet the things producers say in their marketing materials and the ways they present themselves to clients.

But marketing is your No. 1 concern. And as the publication dedicated to bringing you the information you need to take your business to the next level, ASJ started looking at ways we could bring the most up-to-date marketing advice to your desktop in a way you’ve never seen it before.

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Posted in Insurance Marketing | No Comments »

You’re Never too Young to Learn About Insurance

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Major life insurance organizations are providing teachers with the tools to help high school students learn about life, disability, and health insurance as part of Financial Literacy Month in April.  

The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting, the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, the Million Dollar Round Table, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors worked together to create NextGen3, an interactive program which includes lessons, games, and videos designed to appeal to a younger demographic. And even though agents can’t actually sell to high school students – and, under the new health reform, most likely won’t have the opportunity to offer them health insurance until they’re in their mid-20s – teaching young people about financial literacy could be a great opportunity for agents looking to establish and grow their practice over the coming years.

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Posted in Insurance Industry Issues, Insurance Marketing, Practice Management, Prospecting | No Comments »

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