Lead generation for insurance agencies is a primary goal for any agent. New leads are, in fact, the lifeblood of the business: no agency can survive for long simply on residual income from existing clients. At this level of importance, then, lead generation deserves a thorough examination to determine the most effective means of identifying, contacting, developing, and closing new business.

Direct mail marketing and its descendant, fax marketing, have been lead generation staples for quite some time. Primarily used in the B2C space, this type of insurance marketing generally performs poorly in B2B lead generation. After all, C-level executives have numerous assistants and gatekeepers to ensure that “junk” mail never reaches their respective desks. An email blast to these decision makers is almost certain to backfire. That said, highly targeted direct mail marketing may have a place in a more comprehensive agency lead generation program. The best approach to direct mail insurance marketing is to carefully target a small group of carefully selected executives and send them something of high quality and importance: a book or package, for example, sent via FedEx instead of a postal package. . This must be sent and tracked using the “level matching” technique.

Lead lists are a key component of many lead generation and marketing campaigns. There are numerous sources from which a unique listing can be purchased. There are also subscription services that charge a monthly or yearly fee to access their databases. The key here is to do your research thoroughly. You need to know exactly what data fields the list provider offers, how often the data is validated, how often it’s updated, what criteria you can use when searching, and what percentage of the data can be expected to be accurate (we found that A 80% accuracy is a good mark to aim for, below that is unacceptable, above is excellent). List provider services vary widely in all these areas, so do your homework before making a purchase: poor quality data is actually worse than useless, it will result in a waste of time and therefore money. money.

Once you’ve got a quality prospecting list, the next step is to put it to use. Telesales is a traditional area that many agencies can still use, assuming they know how to run an effective campaign. There are basically two approaches to telesales, the shotgun and the sniper, and both can produce quality results. A good example of the shotgun approach would be a general agency that provides P&C and benefits to basically any business. A prospecting list containing all industries that meet a certain size and location criteria is obtained, and the calls begin. This approach is a numbers game: a certain number of calls generates a certain number of follow-ups, which generates a certain number of meetings, which generates a certain number of closes. Using the shotgun approach, the success rate is usually low, but the overall numbers can end up being high as this approach is basically a “numbers game”. The sniper approach is the opposite: the prospect list is small and carefully selected for very specific properties. Calls are made by senior people directly to decision makers, with speech tailored individually to the person receiving the call. This approach will generally return a higher percentage success rate, but lower total numbers. Either approach can be successful; The key to remember is that whatever approach you choose, you must fully commit to it and focus on long-term ROI. It is not unusual for a telemarketing campaign to take many months to start generating dividends, but this can mean several years of insurance commissions from the sale.

Another well-established area where a quality prospecting list can be used effectively is eMarketing. As with telesales, data quality is critical. Bad emails not only waste time and effort, they can lead to complaints and violations of the CAN-SPAM Act, a serious problem for any insurance agency or broker. In fact, the very existence of the CAN-SPAM Act combined with a general lack of in-house expertise leads many agencies to outsource this particular lead generation activity. Whether you choose to outsource your eMarketing or do it in-house, there are two basic approaches to email marketing, similar to the shotgun and sniper approach to telesales. You can choose a very large general list and send thousands of emails or you can carefully select a small list and design a very specific email tailored to that particular audience. Either approach can produce positive results; The key is to create a compelling subject line, an effective message, and a clear call to action. The target audience must also perceive the value of your email; examples might be an invitation to an educational webinar, an email-only coupon, or a notification of a special event. Sending emails also needs to be done at the right intervals – you don’t want to alienate your audience by bombarding them with non-stop emails, nor do you want them to go a year without hearing from you. Good timing is crucial to eMarketing success.

All of these approaches to lead generation can deliver compelling results if used correctly; however, if used incorrectly, they can lead to market alienation, complaints, and even No-Call or CAN-SPAM violations. Before embarking on any insurance agency direct mail, telesales, or eMarketing campaign, ask yourself these four important questions:

  1. Does my company have the internal resources and expertise to effectively execute this lead generation campaign?
  2. If the internal resources exist, do they have enough time to commit to running my lead generation campaign?
  3. If internal resources are inadequate, is my company willing to partner with a quality outsourced lead generation and marketing organization?
  4. Can my business commit both the time and financial resources necessary for an effective, long-term lead generation and marketing campaign?

Insurance lead generation should be an ongoing and evolving component of any effective marketing and growth strategy. Direct mail marketing, telesales, and electronic marketing can and should be seen as facets of a comprehensive, integrated approach to long-term growth.