We’ve moved to a new address! http://marketing.iBoomerang.com
We’re up and running on our new site, marketing.iBoomerang.com, so be sure to check us out there for new posts. And just because we moved doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends; the only thing that has changed is the address. The content and style will still be rich in information and focused on you, our loyal reader.
So what are you waiting for? Head over to marketing.iBoomerang.com for our latest post and all the latest in news, ideads and advice that return a profit!
Pack your blogs…We’re moving!
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
If you’ve been coming by the blog this week hoping for another fantastically informative post with more stats than you cared to know only to find a link to our Facebook fan page and a whole lot of nothing new, I thank you and apologize all at the same time. BUT, there’s good reason for the lack of updates this week (and there’s a marketing lesson involved, so keep reading):
The blog is moving to a new address/domain! And just like any move in the physical world, we have to fix up our new place and get all of the stuff from our old place situated just the way we like it. I’ll post the new address when we’re up and running and, if you normally visit from a back office link, don’t worry- we’ll update the links there as well.
So why the move? Glad you asked. If you’re a fellow blogger, or are thinking about starting a blog, here’s your lesson for the day: If you want to capitalize on the SEO (search engine optimization) you can get from a blog, it’s important that the blog be a subdomain of your actual website and not a separate entity. It’s also critical because it establishes a direct link with your business and the products/services you offer. With the success this blog has had thus far, I figured it was time to practice what I and many other marketing experts preach.
That being said, we’ll be moving to an iBoomerang.com subdomain, no offense to the fine people at WordPress, whose software we will still be utilizing (so there won’t be that much of a visual change in the new blog and because it’s fantastic software). We’ll hopefully be ready to launch tomorrow at a new address and with a fresh new post packed with more great information and unnecessary pop-culture references. Until then, keep reading and thanks for stopping by.
Check out our new Facebook page and ‘Like’ what you see!
From product screenshots to news and updates, we’ve revamped our Facebook Fan Page to bring you all you want to know about everything iBoomerang. Check it out here!
Where’s the best region to market? Survey says…
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
…The South. According to a 2008 study conducted by ProspectZone, health insurance agents may want to look south if they want to expand their business. The study examined over 400,000 leads that came into their system over a several month period in 2008, breaking each lead down into region, age, gender and insurability.
Here are some of the highlights:
- 45% of the leads received were from the South (which included Texas and Oklahoma as its Western-most states. This is congruent with other statistics that peg the South as the most uninsured region of the country.
- The Northeast, Midwest and West each contributed between 16-19% of the total leads.
- 25% of those searching for health insurance information were already insured.
- In every region, women made up a larger percentage of the insurance shoppers, again with greater disparity in the South.
These numbers (especially given the disparity between the South and the rest of the country) mean you should probably look into securing licenses in some of these states if you don’t have some already.
What Insecticide Can Teach You About Advertising
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
Advertising is everywhere in America. I don’t think you would shock anyone with that statement. What may astound you, however, is just how much advertising Americans are really exposed to. Digital media analyzer comScore (if you’ve read this blog since its inception, you can probably guess by now that comScore sends me a lot of press releases) released a study revealing Internet display ads generated over 1 trillion total impressions in the first quarter of 2010 at a cost of $2.7 billion (impressions being the total number of times all ads were viewed).
That is ridiculous.
As always, this raises the question “Why/How does this effect agents?” For starters, it tells you that there are a ton of online ads out there. I remember watching a documentary about marketing that compared advertising to spraying insecticide- the more you spray the insects (consumers), the more immune to the insecticide (advertisements) they will become, creating the need to create stronger and more abundant insecticide. (Isn’t it flattering to know that’s how the ad industry views you?)
Want proof of this notion in the ad industry? Think about your own online experience for a second. According to these numbers, you were exposed to ads about 4,000 times, give or take, in the past quarter. How many of these ads do you remember or did you click on? If you can honestly say more than a handful, I’d be impressed with the sponginess of your mind.
So, before you accuse me of rambling aimlessly with no real point, let me make not one, but two whole points:
- In order to compete for someone’s attention, you need to put yourself in as many places as possible. This can be done using a potent mixture of social media, your site and e-mail marketing. You obviously don’t want to bombard someone, but keep yourself on their mind, even if it’s in passing as they scan their inbox.
- Don’t be afraid to get creative. I know in my last post I cautioned against going outside of the box, but that’s only if you’re going to get really adventurous with your overall strategy. Here, I’m merely suggesting graphical creativity, or perhaps use a different theme or voice for your ad content.
I know it’s repetitive and I tend to harp on social media at times, but all of these things are necessary to make yourself memorable. As a salesperson, you cannot afford to fade into the background. The casual fan doesn’t remember the drummer in the rock band, the punter on the football team or the seventh man on the basketball team. They remember the lead singer, the Quarterback, the starting phenom at Guard. If you don’t find a way to stand out, your chances of ever being noticed are 1 in a trillion.
A Lesson in Social Media Starring Sara Baker
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
I’ve talked a fair amount about the bonuses social media can bring to the table in terms of marketing and client retention, but I recently read this article on TheHealthCareBlog.com and took pause. The article describes a situation in which a health care service provider created a Facebook account for phantom consumer Sara Baker. While the marketing ploy is fairly transparent in that Miss Baker, hair playfully dancing across her face as she smiles carelessly with the joy only her creator company could bring to the otherwise dismal world of health information technology, admits to being a figment of some creative marketing strategists imagination, it raises real issues about the ethical and intelligent use of social media as a marketing tool.
While I have a good many opinions about this ad I’d love to share with you, let’s look at it from the standpoint of what questions arise from it and what answers can you as an agent take away from it.
Deceit. Alright, this is a no brainer. Many people took issue with Sara Baker because they thought she was a real person at first, second and even third glance (as I said before, it states at the top of the page she is merely a symbol of our shared human experience in the quest to access medical information online). People even commented on pictures of her fake twins. There lesson here isn’t “don’t lie” (you should already know that), it is to make sure you are VERY transparent in everything you say and do in social media interaction with clients/prospects. If people feel duped, regardless of whose fault it is, they’re going to be angry.
It’s dangerous outside of the box. We all want to be the bold pioneers of some idea that’s so crazy it might just work, but that’s a risky move in marketing. If you’re not sure how your audience will react to an idea, then either 1) don’t do it or 2) take it down a level. We know not to believe everything we see on TV (unless it’s a 24 hour news channel host that shares our political affiliations), but Facebook is relatively new to the game, so any rocking of the boat will be slightly exaggerated in terms of waves made.
Facebook Fan Page. Sara was created as a fan page, which should have been hint numero uno she wasn’t your average Sally Citizen- she had a reason and intent to promote. Know who else has promotional intent? You do! Even if you have a normal Facebook page, why not make a fan page for yourself? The Internet’s a big place, so don’t feel bad about throwing yourself out there as much as possible.
Establish guidelines. There are already some guidelines set forth by different entities in the insurance industry regarding appropriate social media use. You would be wise to adhere to these, even if they don’t pertain directly to your sector of the market. ASJ ran an article reviewing FINRA’s social media guidelines for agents selling securities but could be implemented by anyone.
So there are some lessons we can all learn from the tale of Sara Baker. Personally, I thought it was a good, but poorly executed idea. Short of her pulling a modern-day Pinocchio, it looks like the only moral Sara Baker is going to teach us is to think before you market.
Diversify or Die
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
Sacrifice, or a failure to adapt? Read on to find out!
We’ve discussed health reform a little bit before, and now that certain provisions of the plan are starting to be implemented, we wanted to go into a little bit more detail about some of the specifics of how to tackle insurance sales post-reform.
In a previous post (March 23, to be exact), I talked about the importance of staying focused on sales and briefly touched on the importance of your ability to adapt to what will surely be a very different market. As the market changes, so to must your strategy and the way you attack it. The difficulties in figuring out just how to adapt to these policy changes are compounded by two other major (and equally dynamic) factors in the health insurance sector: technology and demographics. And all three of these components (policy, technology and demographics) are fairly complexly intertwined.
Old habits die hard
First and foremost, you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone. Shrinking commissions mean you’ll need to expand your horizons. Operating in a niche system, whether it’s a particular type of healthcare product or a particular carrier, is probably not your safest bet. You can find examples throughout any financial sector in America: diversifying your portfolio (in this case, your product/carrier portfolio) is critical to both protect your current assets and increase your future profits.
You need to first identify the markets where you think demand for your services will be highest, educate yourself on the products and carriers you think stand the best chance of succeeding in that market (some carriers inability to adjust may lead to their non-existence in a few years), set your goals, and then lay out a plan of attack. If there was ever a time for the old saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” this is it.
Don’t be the last one off the Titanic
Your marketing strategies need to keep up with both policy changes and population changes. The biggest example of this is aging baby boomers and Medicare/Medicare Supplements. Consider these numbers from a 2009 Pew Internet Usage study:
- 74% of internet users age 64 and older send and receive email, making email the most popular online activity for this age group.
- Researching health information is the third most popular online activity with the most senior age group, after email and online search.
- Health questions drive internet users age 73 and older to the internet just as frequently as they drive Generation Y users.
- 56% of internet users ages 64-72 and 47% of internet users age 73 and older buy products online.
Taking into account those numbers reflect the oldest demographics online, we can conclude that these stats will only increase as baby boomers (who are markedly more experienced with the Internet and account for 35% of all adult Internet users) get older. Now consider the fact that the first of the boomers will be eligible for Medicare as of 2011. While Medicare Supplements are currently not sold online, you can bet yours or any family farm that demand will change that in a heartbeat.
On top of all of that, Medicare Supplements are poised to take off in the coming years, according to a recent article in Agent Sales Journal. Again, this is just one example of where things are heading, but the point remains the same. The agents that are successful in this new market will be the ones that recognize these trends and adapt accordingly. Agents that refuse to adapt will see their careers go the way of Leonardo DiCaprio at the end of Titanic: Slowly freezing to death in a vast, indiscriminate sea of the left-behind.
Watering the Seeds of Sales with Drip Marketing
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
As is often the case with this blog, our story today begins when I haphazardly stumbled upon some statistics that piqued my interest. This week, it was drip marketing. Not to be out-statisticked (definitely not a word) by Ms. Luke, I fired up Google with the intent to find further evidence of drip marketing’s effectiveness. Numbers were hard to come by, but when combined with a few extra tidbits of advice and info, I was able to generate this fantastically informative post that is in no way intended to make you think “Maybe I should look into the iBoomerang E-mail Template Tool, which has full drip marketing capabilities.”
Since you’re a busy person and may not have followed the link posted above, I’ll give you the gist of some of the stats that Kristen Luke, Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, threw down on her blog:
- Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts.
- 80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact.
This means that drip marketing, which is the practice of gradually exposing your prospects to your message/product over an extended period of time, can be critical in achieving your sales goals.
A few other figures I found seem to corroborate these numbers (or at least seem to follow suit):
- It takes between 3-30 repetitions for a message to “take hold” in a prospect’s consciousness.
- 71% of people surveyed in the Edelman Trust Barometer need to hear a message at least three times before they believe something about a company to be true.
Drip marketing will not only build your business through establishing trust, but will ensure you keep that business through continued follow-up with clients. On top of that, the process is almost self-evaluating. It’s pretty apparent which messages are effective and which are not, allowing for fine-tuning of each marketing piece as you go.
A few tips to keep in mind as you create content for your drip marketing campaign:
- Don’t be redundant. A prospect receiving the same message or talking-point will eventually discard all of your marketing communiqué at little more than a glance.
- Similarly, vary the medium of your message. A strong mix of e-mail and direct mail postcards, newsletters, brochures, etc… will be much more effective than the expected monthly e-mail from “that insurance guy.”
- Offer valuable information in your content. Create a call-to-action through education, not self-promotion. (A point Kristen makes as well.)
- If you do decide to favor e-mail in your campaign, investing in an automatic system will allow you to schedule the entire campaign and reduce the time commitment on your part.
Remember, if you have a question, link or idea you would like the iBoomerang Blog to cover, send it over to tmunn@iBoomerang.com.
Making the Brand
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
How do clients and prospects distinguish you from other agents? Sure, they might associate you with your agency, but what then? How do you even set yourself apart from anyone within your own agency? These are important questions to ask, and if you can’t answer them, then you need to work on building your brand.
If branding isn’t the number one way companies draw interest from their target audience and then build loyalty from that audience, it’s a close second. So what does it mean to build a brand? Think about Mountain Dew. The words “Youth” and “Extreme Sports” are probably the first things that come to mind. While you’re probably not targeting young skateboarders (unless you’re really pushing accident insurance), the point remains the same. Branding is developing the abstract, deeper meaning of your business. What do you stand for? What, other than the product, is your customer really getting from you? In other words, what are you really selling?
The first thing you need to do when developing your brand is come up with a list of words that describe you and your business. These can be core values, products you offer, personality traits, anything. From that list, create your brand statement. Ideally, this will convey what you offer both in the physical sense and abstract sense. For example, a life insurance agent’s brand statement might be “Rest easy, my friend.” The insinuation is that this agent will provide financial peace of mind so you don’t have to worry about money when the end is near…and he is more than just a cold, calculating salesman. (I promise I thought that up on my own before Google-ing it and seeing a thousand different life insurance companies already using some variant of it.)
One of the major elements in developing your brand is consistency. You need to stick to your message and reinforce it whenever possible. It may take time, but a repetitive, confident and clear message will give your clients and prospects more of a sense of security and comfort than if you were all over the place with your message. If you can’t commit to your brand, how can your clients?
As always, the more media outlets you use to promote your brand, the faster you’ll distinguish yourself from your colleagues. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your Web site, local print media, e-mail and direct mail campaigns- all are viable means of spreading the word.
Again, even if you’re with an agency, you need to differentiate yourself from other Agency X agents. It’s great to be able to play off the company’s brand, but that doesn’t say what makes you worth a prospects time and money.
Have you had any particular successes or failures in an attempt to create your own brand?
Referrals: The Building Blocks of Success
By Tyler Munn, www.iBoomerang.com
Referrals are vital to the success of top health insurance producers. They are easier to close, cost little by way of marketing and usually tend to be more loyal. Indeed, referrals are as close to a sure thing as you can get in the world of insurance leads.
This, of course, is not to say it’s a walk in the park to secure referrals and turn them into long-term clients. The referral process begins, as you might expect, with your current clients. But long before you ask them to divulge the names of potential profit proliferators, you need to cultivate a deeper relationship with them. You need to have demonstrated your value and expertise from Day 1 and continue to build on feelings of security and trust throughout the relationship. This should already be common practice for any agent, but it’s especially important if you want to build a referral-based business. Think about it: you’re not going to give someone your best friend’s phone number if you think they’re going to feel hassled by a product-peddling salesperson.
Once you’ve built a comfortable relationship with your clients, you can begin developing a system by which to ask for referrals. Think about what makes your clients more comfortable as opposed to what makes you more comfortable. This will often depend on your rapport with each individual client. Some may feel more comfortable with e-mail queries while others would prefer to discuss such matters after an in-person review of their own policy. Either way, tailor your delivery to the client. If you are meeting with your client and their spouse, don’t be afraid to utilize the spouse for names as well.
Once you’ve acquired a few names from your client, ALWAYS be sure to send them a thank you note or a gift of some sort. You can even offer incentives as part of your personal “referral program” if they need a little help remembering that cousin’s number whose carrier just raised premiums.
So, how do we approach the client once we’ve gotten their information? Some agents will send a referral card or pre-approach letter. Either way, the concept is the same: let them know who you are, how you got their name, and that you will be giving them a call in a couple of days. A personal introduction from your current client to the referred prospect would be ideal, but I wouldn’t force the issue.
After you’ve broken the ice with your referral, it’s business as usual. Sell like you know how to sell and start the process all over again. Eventually, your network- and your business- will expand to new levels of unprecedented success.
