Does your insurance agency leverage seasonality to sell more? If not, you could be missing out on some low-hanging fruit that’s juicer than you think.
Seasonality plays a vital role in insurance sales, and even more so in agency marketing. If customers are traveling abroad during the summer, they may be considering travel insurance for the first time. Florida residents who braved the back-to-back hurricanes in 2004 probably took a second look at their homeowners insurance afterward. Timing is everything when it comes to marketing insurance. And there’s no better time than the present to plan for seasonality. Read on for three great ways to start.
Check the Forecast
As the saying goes with insurance: You don’t know you need it…until you need it. After a hailstorm, flash flood or hurricane, there’s nothing worse than realizing that your insurance policy doesn’t cover property damage. Periodically, do an appraisal of clients’ policies and look for any gaps between the coverages they have and the coverages they need – especially before extreme weather seasons. Leading into those seasons, consider sending out an e-blast to customers who may be affected, letting them know about coverages they may need and tips to keep their loved ones – and property – safe. Not only does this demonstrate great service and initiative, it also shows your customers that they are more than just a policy number.
Leverage Timely News & Events
Is your customer base primarily located within a certain region or state? Follow their local news and events. You can even set up a Google Alert to receive emails about their breaking local news. For example, when you find out that a local basketball team in that area wins an NBA championship (hint: Miami Heat), you can leverage that event in your own marketing. Consider writing a fun blog post, such as “Celebrity Bodily Insurance: How much is LeBron James worth?” Another idea could be to write a series of Facebook posts leading up to the Oscars with “The 10 Craziest Possessions Celebrities Insure.” By leveraging timely news and events, you’re generating content that’s relatable and relevant to your audience today – and creating a connection between them and your brand.
Follow the Trends
Any successful leader knows that, sometimes, it pays to follow. That’s definitely the case when it comes to marketing. Keep an eye on what your competitors are talking about within their websites, email blasts, social media channels and other marketing collateral. Within competitors’ social media channels, look for any popular posts that receive a high volume of Likes, Comments, or Shares. Create posts within your own channels on similar topics, but offer your brand’s unique perspective and insight. Also, utilize Twitter and Facebook to follow trending topics. Hashtags can be used in both channels in order to group “like” content together. They can also indicate popular topics your target audience is talking about. If you notice the hashtag “#smartspending” is frequently used, you may want to write a series of social media posts within your own channel about insurance discounts people often overlook. Include that same trending hashtag at the end of your post series, and now you’ve contributed something valuable to the conversation.
