Where Are All The Good Insurance Leads?
If you are in the insurance business and you lack a steady and reliable ingress of high-quality insurance leads, then my guess is you're facing some tough challenges either getting or staying ahead of your competition. Let's define terms. High-quality leads share a few things in common that all insurance professionals can agree upon. They are timely. That is to say they are the fresh product of very recent consumer interest. They are relevant, meaning; they are a relatively good match to your ideal customer profile. And they are exclusive. High-quality leads are not shared with your competitors. A steady flow of inbound leads that are timely, relevant, and exclusive to your agency will drive new revenue to the top line and more profitable business to the bottom line. Leads like this are racing fuel for your business engine.
The upside potential to drive sustainable growth through optimized lead creation is obvious. But the downside risk to your online brand by remaining invisible, unproductive or poorly regarded can render it nearly impossible to attract and convert new clients you need for your business to grow. The risk is twofold. First, many of your competitors are establishing their online brands in your absence. Hence, significant attrition can occur within your current book if your increasingly price-conscious policy holders begin researching other options online where they are introduced to your competitors offering. An authority presence on the internet can be very persuasive. This is ground you may not want to yield to your competitors when your customers are busy satisfying their insurance curiosity on Google.
The harm done from being invisible, irrelevant or poorly regarded online may be harder to measure than are the many benefits of being found when your customers are looking. It goes to the matters of timeliness and relevance. While exclusivity of leads cannot be guaranteed, a consumer initiated connection with you while their interest is keen is only shared with others if the consumer is actively engaging others at the same time. On the other hand, if your content is sufficiently resonant with the consumer, there is every chance you are already viewed as an authority in your field and well-qualified to meet their needs. Most people don't want a barrage of incoming information. Finding the provider who feels right and then requesting appropriate follow-up from them is the game starter for many.
This year, 80-90% of your business will come from a combination of renewals and referrals. If so, renewals and referrals represent the cornerstone of your business and their maintenance belongs at the top of your priority list. The remaining 10-20% of this year's revenue production will have to come from somewhere else. Your renewals and referrals provide your business stability. Your rate of growth is a function of your ability to attract and retain customers that are new to your business. Assuming for the moment that you have your current book of business firmly established, how do you most effectively address the growth side of the business? Specifically, how do you get those high-quality insurance leads on a consistent basis without spending an arm and a leg or falling victim to some internet marketing pirate who is only after your gold?
Old school methods don't bring new school results
Old school marketing approaches have largely fallen out of favor with consumers and agents alike. Many methods are as tired as the jokes they illicit, however well deserved they may be. For the most part, the new interconnected economy doesn't want to meet you by the old methods alone. How's your Yellow Page advertising working? Bothering people at dinner or sending bulk mail to either expensive or worthless name-lists are very low percentage plays that can often cost more in time, effort and postage than the occasional sale is worth. And spam is never appreciated and often blacklisted.
Paying for leads can be an expensive habit - especially paying for shared leads. The practice puts you in a footrace with dozens of your direct competitors that virtually guarantees it will become a price war that does little to leverage your agency's strengths or attract sustainable business to your agency. In like fashion, direct marketing campaigns can be expensive and difficult to scale. Traditional direct marketing is comprised of part-time events running in parallel or in series. While the whole can prove to be greater than the sum of its parts, there is no guarantee that it will. And whether it hits or misses the mark, it costs a lot of money and production cycles to make a direct marketing campaign come anywhere close to the production output of a finely tuned online marketing machine running 24x7 to populate your agency with timely, relevant and exclusive lead flow.
While your direct marketing initiatives are important to your brand and may remain central to your agency's marketing strategy, they should all be aimed at driving relevant traffic to your site for three primary reasons; to capture contact information, provide a richer experience for the consumer, and guide their action steps through your conversion process. In other words, no matter what amount of direct marketing you do, the main objective should be to direct interested persons to your primary online presence - typically, your website - where a more interactive experience and audit trail can be had.
Connect online or send a postcard from the abyss
The internet is by far the world's fastest growing marketing medium and search is the fastest growing part of the internet. According to the latest numbers from Forrester Research, 80% of all product searches begin online whether the product is to be purchased online or otherwise. That is a staggering number. If the reach and power of the internet (specifically the web) is dominating the worldwide marketing culture, then Google is dominating the internet. Note to self: think Google.
"Google it" is now a part of our common lexicon. To rank highly in the first page or two of a relevant Google search is the coveted grand prize. The social web has revolutionized the way word-of-mouth advertising is done. Blogging has causing the decline and near extinction of many newspapers, magazines and even network TV is feeling the shift. The Whitehouse is Tweeting its foreign and domestic policy statements. HR departments scour social media profiles before granting interviews. The landscape is not changing, friends; it has changed. The task before any insurance professional who wants to gain or retain a strong competitive posture in an increasingly interconnected marketplace is to develop and promote a successful online brand that enjoys high search ranking and social relevance. With the knowledge, skills and resources to do powerful and effective internet marketing so readily available, there is no excuse for failing to pick success this field of low hanging fruit.
However you chose to wrestle your online brand into submission, once you have done so, you can begin to enjoy the seemingly elusive yet inexhaustible supply of high-quality leads just waiting for your agency's attention. A word of caution is in order. There are no "secrets" to effective internet marketing. Don't be fooled by those who say otherwise. Have a conversation with someone qualified to speak to your agency's online marketing strategy. Don't be afraid to take it on. It is easier than you think and the rewards of a success can be extraordinary.
Stephen Crossley is a Senior Consultant with Pantera Marketing, a professional life and business coach, and a 25-year veteran of the B2B sales and Marketing community.