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 WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON
If there's any one common thread among independent agencies, it is that we are all very independent in the way we do things. For example, a new agency will have a totally different picture of how to advertise and promote its products than a well-established agency that dominates a market in a given community. So this discussion offers you tools and ideas to fit your own advertising needs rather than telling you how to advertise.
CONSIDER COST $$$
If you can't come up with all the money to complete a particular advertising job, then starting it wastes the money you do have. Before undertaking a project, you should consider the job you want to accomplish, your resources, and any outside help you can get from companies.
'UNIQUE' IS THE KEY WORD
No one, not even an insurance agent, gets excited about buying insurance. People get excited about buying new clothes, a car, or a house. Insurance is definitely not on the list. Since insurance is not something people want,the purpose of agency advertising is to make prospects and customers believe that they need you and your products, and that they should be in touch with you.
How you reach that feeling and opinion among prospects and clients depends on your agency. If your competition is using all the normal methods of advertising, then you may have to find newer, exotic methods of reaching the public. For example, a very prominent agent happens to like to race stock cars, so he advertises his agency on the side of a stock car. It's his way of getting the community's attention.
KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY
You should know the economic facts of your community before advertising. This may sound elementary, but unfortunately, most independent agencies have little or no information available on their community. On the other hand, direct writers have this information down to the zip code. They know the number of homes in a community, the average income level, the number of cars per household, and so on.
There are ways of finding out such information, so that you know to whom you are marketing your product. Clubs and franchises have economic data on the community they are serving. If you have a close friend in a service club or a community business that's a franchise (McDonald's, Montgomery Ward), have him or her get some of the data these organizations have on your area. This information might give you some insight into how another company views your community, as well as help you aim your target marketing.
This type of information can also give you insight into a community's future long-term growth potential. You might be on the outskirts of an area that you should be pushing into, or perhaps you're already in a hot spot, or in an area that's going downhill.
YOUR IMAGE REFLECTS THE COMMUNITY
Your advertising should reflect you, your agency, your people, and your markets. If your business is in a small town, anything that is written or printed should not look too slick or too fancy. You're trying to create an image of the local agency-you're one of the folks. So if your advertising is too fancy, you're going to look like an outside expert. Of course, you don't want to appear too cheap either. You don't want to use a mimeograph when everything today is photocopied or computer-printed. You need to fit whatever your market is.
One of the national associations released some marvelous advertising material recently, but the material constantly refers to the agent as 'he.' In our particular agency, the chief executive officer is a woman, and virtually all the first-line agency people are women. So the material that refers to an agent as a man does not apply to our situation. The material needs to be rewritten to fit our agency.
Also, you shouldn't run pictures furnished by companies or national associations that show everyone in a suit and tie if you don't happen to wear suits and ties.
LOOK FOR CREATIVE IDEAS
You always want to check other advertisements for ideas. One simple creative idea can catch more attention and do more for you than all the year-round advertising you could dream up. One of the greatest ad programs was done by a Denver man who sells beach towels nationwide.The company that makes the towels sent people to see him to find out what his secret was. He simply took high-quality beach towels and printed 'Beech Aircraft' on them, and then invited people to come see a Beech airplane and pick up a beach towel. No one sells more beach towels than he does, and he's a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.
Sometimes ideas like this can hit. If you find something that may work, capitalize on it. Look for a concept. One of the highest forms of intelligence is to take an idea and add to it.
RADIO ADS
When you're working with a radio station or a newspaper, they immediately try to tell you that you should advertise regularly. They of offer discounts if you do. Negotiate with them. Tell them that you want an annual contract along with the benefit of a lower rate, but you want to spread out the advertising to fit your needs. By having ads air only at the best times, you can get greater impact for the same cost or similar impact for less money.
Here is one way you can do this:
With the advent of computer billing, most of us are used to paying our bills around the first of the month. Also, most of the renewal bills are issued the first of the month. So if you concentrate your advertising during the last week of the month and the first week of the following month, you will reach a tremendous number of people whose insurance is coming up. People will be looking at the increase in their premiums, and consequently will be open to change. It doesn't do you much good to advertise the rest of the month when people don't have their bills coming in. Also, if you advertise during the hours that your office is open, you will get a better response from your advertising.
CALENDARS
Another popular form of advertising is calendars. There are two basic types of calendars: wall and desk. The wall calendar is used in many offices today. Good wall calendars cost from $3 to $5 each. You don't need to distribute many, but once you've established a spot in a local office, you tend to own that spot. People expect to see your calendar there. You literally have an obligation to furnish that calendar annually.
When purchasing a desk calendar, you should choose the best. Remember, this item is common, and competition is hot. You want a calendar that your client call write on, one that can be used as a diary. This way your clients will save it and use it year after year. When customers receive a cheaper calendar, it usually gets passed down the line to whoever needs another desk calendar. But a good calendar will become an important part of the operations of that desk, and your agency will earn a place on that desk. Be sure to choose a calendar that you can obtain easily every year. You should require a guarantee from the supplier so that you can always get a particular calendar. Recently we chose three striking calendars, only to find out that they were not continued the following year.
DIRECT MAIL LETTERS
Direct mail can do a number of things. It can tie in with radio ads, newsletters, and newspaper ads. Direct mail can be used to combat competitors and specialty houses, and define your territory. If you've recently moved your office or you are just opening up, a general mailing to everyone in your neighborhood is the best advertising you'll ever do.
For example, several years ago we opened a branch office in a growing community that was basically served by agencies bordering the town. We established ourselves and outlined our territory. But an agency from a neighboring town kept moving into our territory. So we sent some direct mail into their town. Our competition left our territory to protect their own turf-they thought we were going to expand into their area. Consequently, they started to concentrate on their territory and gave us the time to establish ourselves.
Here are some areas where we have done direct mailing:
- Neighborhoods where our employees moved
- Areas where certain coverages may affect the residents a little differently than others
- An area where fire classes have been lowered (we also ran a newspaper ad)
Our agency sends a lot of mail to 'Boxholder-Neighbor,' because we feel that it's a good way of covering every person in a specific geographical area. And next to the word 'Boxholder' we include some information so that when the prospect glances at it, he will get part of the message, whether he wants to read it or not. In addition, sending such mailings in envelopes is not really necessary and adds a cost you can do without.
Direct mail can be sent in various ways: You can send it first-class, special delivery, as a mailgram, or bulk mail. Frankly, our agency had better luck with sending letters bulk mail to specific zip codes, specific post offices, and specific neighborhoods. This way we know we are truly saturating an area. Bulk mail costs approximately half the first-class rate, and it's easy and quick to do. In a matter of hours, we had 200 letters printed on a word processor and ready to go. And if your office is not automated, your secretary can type up a letter, photocopy it, and send it out.
We never recommend sending a mailing of over 500 at one time. If you send out a mailing that large and a blizzard happens to hit, the impact of the mailing will be totally wiped out. As with radio spots and newspaper ads, direct mail letters should be sent prior to the first of the month, just before your prospects begin receiving bills. Again, if the next insurance bill looks high or the prospects are unhappy with their present service, you will ring a bell with them.
We like to do a direct mailing so that it will arrive on Tuesday, which is a very light mail day, or on a weekend so most people will have a chance to read it. We have found that any mailing of any size should be sent over three to five consecutive days. If a particular direct mail doesn't get enough responses in the first few days to pay for it, we don't repeat that concept. If it has a positive response, we feel it was effective.
Too often sales letters have dates on them. In my opinion, a letter doesn't need a date (unless there is a due date). All a date does is tell you when you received a letter and when it was written. If your client doesn't happen to see that advertising piece for three weeks, he might discard it, thinking it's outdated. Also, if he sees the letter is three weeks old, he might assume that somebody else did something about it, or that you would have called if it was important.
We have found that advertising price in letters is beneficial. Some folks disagree-agents feel stating an insurance premium is not professional. But when you are selling things that people are not familiar with, such as Life insurance, Umbrella policies, and Snowmobile coverage, prospects want to know if the premium is in their ball park. They don't care if it's the lowest price around-the affordability is what matters. You can give the world's greatest selling pitch on low-cost, high-value Term Life insurance, but if your prospects think they can't afford it, nothing is going to happen.
NEWSLETTERS
A newsletter is a good vehicle for staying in touch with your client. And many types are available (such as those offered by IMMS) that will fit your agency.
It is important to select a newsletter that fits what your agency is doing, as well as your clientele. You don't want to send something that is over their heads, nor do you want a newsletter that insults someone's intelligence. Your newsletter should be personalized. Our CPA firm sends out a newsletter with their name rubber-stamped on it. Frankly, it looks cheap. On the other hand, something too flashy may not fit a particular community. Along with the name, a newsletter should have the agency's logo on it.
YELLOW PAGE ADS
Most studies indicate that the first thing people look for in the Yellow Pages is a tow truck, and the second is an insurance agency. With that kind of impact, every agency should be listed in the phone book. In my opinion, the telephone book is the modern community business directory. It is printed annually and is current. You buy advertising space to tell your message, and if you want to be affiliated with an insurance company, you can list your agency under that company as well.
In the Yellow Pages, your agency is easy as pie to find. If a person needs insurance, and you're who they spot, you'll get the call.
LETTERHEAD
You should never use white paper-it's too commonplace. Color is effective in this youth-oriented, changing world. People are used to seeing color; they look for it.
Also, logo design is very important to your advertising. And your logo doesn't necessarily have to go on the top of a page. Putting your name and address at the bottom of the page rather than the top can be quite effective. At the top of the page you can start off talking about your client's needs, and continue with how you can help him. When he finishes reading the letter, he'll come right down to your name. This way, he doesn't keep looking back to the top of the page to see who the letter is from.
WITH A LOT OF HELP FROM OUR FRIEND
With computers you have the capability of writing and tying-in your specialty letters and direct mail letters, as well as following up on your single-line clients. If you're buying a system that doesn't have this word processing capability, it is already obsolete.
With our word processor, we do direct mail, mass marketing with personal letters-sending a similar or repetitive letter to the same accounts every so often. You can keep track of business lists, homeowners lists, auto owners, boxholders, and so on with a computer.
BE YOURSELF
When advertising your agency, one of the most difficult rules to follow is to be yourself. Don't try to be something different. You must determine within your agency who and what you are and what your staff is. For example, we happen to live in a mountain area, so we bill ourselves as mountain people. We think that's important because that's the kind of folks we deal with. If you're very involved in one type of business, then you should look at yourself in that vein and promote yourself in that vein. When you relate to those people, make it clear that you are people who know that particular business.
My favorite sales story is about the two shoe companies that decided to expand into Africa. Both sent salespeople. The first salesperson arrived and wired home: 'Send money for return ticket. No one hear wears shoes.' The second salesperson wired home: 'We hit a bonanza, no one here wears shoes.' Both said exactly the same thing, both had exactly the opposite viewpoints. And both probably did what was in the best interests of their company, considering their perspectives.
If you don't think a market is right for you, don't waste time in it. Someone else may think it is perfect for them. Define what you are, see what the opportunity is, and find your degree of uniqueness to go after it.
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