Why Marketing Shouldn’t Be About Carriers

In insurance, “marketing” typically­ references the scramble to satisfy carriers.

Independent agents say they’re “marketing a piece of business to a carrier.” Organizations assign companion titles such as “director of marketing.”

With this sort of thinking, “marketing” becomes an intra-industry exercise and depends completely on sale of a policy.

But what drives more new business opportunities, referrals, quotes—and more sales—in the first place? Yes, “marketing,” but in the traditional sense: to customers and prospects.

Here are three ways to begin improving the marketing function at your agency:

Allocate a person. Assign customer and prospect marketing to a responsible party at your agency, even if the employee works part time. If this isn’t a possibility, consider outsourcing marketing to a local consultancy.

The employee should have a professional background in marketing or at least be willing to take classes or training to learn fast. They should also understand the balance between offline and digital marketing, creating ways to leverage both seamlessly.

Community and philanthropic activities are a perfect example—photos and video of the agency staff at events can be used in dozens of ways. So can customer and community leader testimonials.

Allocate funds. You must back up the marketing function with a budget [see sidebar]. Annually, Big “I” Best Practices agencies invest 1–3% of agency revenues in marketing activities. The percentage gets lower as agency revenues grow.

Don’t keep it a secret. Put your specific marketing plan on a shared calendar. Include deadlines, and make sure the plan supports your agency’s overall business plan. It may sound obvious, but marketing often becomes a seat-of-the-pants exercise or something static that gets stuck in a manila folder.

And give the designated employee or consulting firm a seat at the table for at least part of the conversation when your leaders discuss production goals and new activity. That may be the best way for producers to understand what “marketing” can mean for future health and growth.

Peter van Aartrijk is an IA contributor.