It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the business. You’re painfully aware of how little people want to talk about your product: insurance.

Death, disability, liability … pain and strain. Doom and gloom. Nobody wants to think about it, let alone talk about it. It’s no wonder you have to work so hard!

The most successful insurance brokers employ best practices to stay at the top of their prospective clients’ minds until they’re ready to talk. Here are 5 steps to getting a marketing plan in place.

1. Stake your claim on digital real estate.

Too many insurance brokers don’t have a website. There’s a simple reason why: they don’t know what to do with it. (This is common. We’re not just picking on insurance agents.)

What most agents DO understand is the value of physical real estate. It’s home base. It’s where you store resources. It’s where your support staff conducts business. Duh, right?

What your physical office doesn’t do is just exist out in the middle of nowhere where no one can find it. If that were the case, why have an office at all? Same logic for a website. Build it simply, but build it well, and then utilize it. This is an essential first step because everything else follows!

2. Plan your next direct mail campaign.

We’re back to the physical world, now. The goal is to design your direct mail pieces to be bright, relevant and clear.

• Bright = positive, upbeat or hopeful. Fear can be a powerful motivator, but it can backfire with a direct mail piece, which is easily thrown away and ignored.
• Relevant = concerning subject matter the recipient is likely to be already thinking about. Tie life insurance, for example, to a common major life change like having a baby.
• Clear = no question what you want the recipient to do, and it should be easy. Tell them to go to your website for a reason: to get a quote, to watch a video, to enter a drawing, etc.

3. Get branded thank you cards and use them a LOT.

Thank you cards stand out in a world full of digital communication options.

Use them to follow up with everyone you make contact with. Invite them to visit you in person or get their questions answered by visiting … you guessed it … your website! There, they should find lots of great resources, including a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section.

4. Create and share informative content.

“Content” basically means videos and articles that you post to your blog, the dynamic (frequently updated) part of your website. By and large, the insurance brokers getting the closest to the top of Google search results have blogs that answer real questions that real people have.

Content is geared toward people who live in flood plains, frequent work travelers, employers not sure whether to offer group health plans, etc. If you have a few minutes to post a video of yourself sharing a few thoughts to go with the article, even better. If you don’t have video, ALWAYS post an interesting original photo, or at least a stock photo you’ve purchased the rights to use, along with the text.

5. Be diligent, and have fun, with social media.

The agents who really rock are the ones who seem accessible. They take pictures of themselves meeting with clients and underwriters like they are best friends with everybody. They post blurbs about what’s going on in the lives of their staff and write about how proud they are of their people. They’re not afraid to post live video on special occasions, like at events.

They pick one or two platforms – let’s say Facebook and Twitter, for example – and they rock them often. At least every few days, if not every day. And in between these life-on-display “accessibility” posts, they are posting links to new or archived blog content at their website at least once a week.

See? It all starts with a solid website. Then look what all you can do with it! You’re in a field with relevance to almost everyone, so use all that knowledge. Publish useful information people really need, then point your clients & prospects to it with direct mail, thank you cards and social media.

You can do it, but sometimes you need help keeping up. That’s what we’re here for! There’s no better time than right now to contact the Farmhouse.

(Though maybe if it’s, like, 2 am, use the contact form instead of calling? Looking forward to chatting in the morning!)