14 Life Insurance Marketing Ideas

Life insurance is one of those items that people always think about getting, but often put off because they feel like they just don’t need it yet. You don’t want to tell people that an accident can happen at any time and have a fear-based marketing campaign, but you do want to stress the importance of being able to provide for one’s family.

It all begins with your ability to engage with people and build relationships. There are so many direct mail campaigns waged by national companies that you’ll just become background noise if you don’t have a direct relationship with your community. Get involved locally, be seen consistently, and don’t be afraid to offer a lending hand to someone without expecting a return. These efforts build your reputation and a good reputation is required for a good relationship.

Great Marketing Ideas for Life Insurance

1. Form Partnerships
If you’ve got people who are willing to promote your services to others while you promote others, you’re creating a formula for mutual success. Look for relationships that won’t be one-sided in the partnership because you don’t want to be promoting someone who won’t promote you in return.

2. Direct Marketing Can Sometimes Work
Even though you’ve got a lot of competition in the direct mail world, you can still stand out from the pack because you’re a local option. People generally support local agents before they’ll support national ones… as long as you can provide a fair, competitive price for a policy.

3. Seek Out Word of Mouth Referrals
Most people will get a life insurance policy if they hear about a good experience from someone they trust. Encourage this by offering discounts, upgrades, or other enhancements for those that are willing to provide a good word on your behalf.

4. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify
Having a solid target demographic is something that every life insurance agent needs for success. Don’t get stuck in a rut and just market to this one demographic, however, because other segments of your local population need life insurance too! Take a look at your targets and diversify your broadcast if necessary to widen your net.

5. Invest In Yourself
Helping someone just because they need help will always pay off in the long run. You always want to invest your time into someone because if you don’t, you’re sending them the message that they are not worth your time. Someone else will communicate that they ARE worth a time investment and that means lost business.

6. Provide Evidence
If you’re providing term life, show the evidence of what an investment could mean and then provide a comparison. Where would they be if they had invested 5 years ago? What could potentially happen if they invest into a policy right now?

7. Personalize
People are all individuals, so they’re not going to fit into a general plan of action as much as you try to make them do so. Be willing to tailor any plan to meet their needs and their goals. This helps to build relationships and it will work to improve your credibility.

8. Get On It
If you aren’t proactive in all of your marketing efforts, people won’t come to you. One of the easiest ways to improve your returns is to just pick up the phone and make a call. Got an extra 5 minutes? Make a contact. Even just 3 extra phone contacts per day means 60 extra phone contacts per month that might develop into a sale.

9. Maximize the Newsletter
Newsletters are an easy way to show how much value you can provide local customers and distributing that through email is an affordable marketing effort. Don’t just limit your newsletter to email marketing, however, because you’ve got more value than just a max 20% open rate. Upload a PDF of the newsletter to your website for instant download. Send it out as part of a direct mail campaign. Distribute it through local businesses who will allow it. The more it gets out there, the better the chance it will meet the eyes of someone who needs to see it.

10. Experience Counts
People want to purchase from those with the most experience, not the least and your C/V will help to prove your experience. Don’t make your bio sheet be something that’s an ego trip. Just list what you’ve done, what you can do now, and why that matters.

11. Offer Free Presentations
Sometimes people don’t know the real value of what you’ve got and they won’t listen unless you provide them with value in the first place. A free seminar or presentation about the value of life insurance in general can provide just that. Don’t make it a sales presentation. Make it be about the people who come to hear you! If they like what they hear, then they’ll ask about the policies you’ve got to offer.

12. Don’t Ignore the Upsell
A lot of people tend to purchase a policy that is beneath what they qualify to have because they’re trying to balance what they can afford and what they actually need. Talk about their qualification, what the increased rates can help to provide, and why it might be important to invest now instead of later.

13. Press Releases Aren’t Just Local
If you’re not writing press releases at least once per quarter, you’re missing out on a lot of potential free local press. Thanks to online distribution agencies, press releases don’t have to be confined to just local media outlets. Create a good PR, distribute it online, and have it point back to your website so interested people can find out who you are and what you represent.

14. Join the CoC
Your local Chamber of Commerce is a networking opportunity that can’t be overlooked. Your local Chamber will help you network with local businesses and get your name out there. Some counties have a CoC that can get your name known in your region. If you can afford it, consider a state or even national level membership for additional exposure.