Boost Your Insurance Business with a Lead Nurturing Program for Insurance Industry

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good old lead generation you know whether you're the owner of an experienced insurance agency or a newbie agent those words alone can create some anxiety maybe even give you a migraine but you know nevertheless generating insurance leads will it's the lifeblood of your business and there are countless lead generation strategies out there the technique that might be right for me well it may not be right for you and we know we all have our strengths and weaknesses and some will move us toward others and away from others so you know which one should you choose well we're going to take a look right now in this video and help you figure it out [Music] so what is lead generation well lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers or prospects into someone who has shown interest in your product or service exceptional lead generation comes from a relentless willingness to experiment with several different tactics combine those tactics across multiple channels so you know it's unlikely that you will find just one technique that will pave a path to success for your business you'll likely need to take advantage of multiple channels concurrently but when you put this into practice well that's going to allow you to use your time and your budget more effectively so you can focus on what works and experience better lead generation across across all your different campaigns so broadly speaking there are two categories of lead generation inbound and outbound so we're going to review the differences between both of those before we discuss some lead generation techniques that we think might work for you so inbound lead generation it's kind of the holy grail it's where we all want to be and it is the more popular method of lead generation today and that's because it reflects well the way people buy in today's digital environment the average person will research products for hours on their own before they purchase just about anything and that means that they're looking for you and you need to be able to position yourself amongst all of the information that's out there that's relevant to them so that you're going to be in the right place at the right time inbound is also referred to as permission lead generation and it works for both business to business and business to consumer it's called permission lead generation because of the fact that you are focusing on relevant content providing relevant content like breadcrumbs that will lead your prospect back to you it's the individual prospect that searches for and chooses the type and the timing of the interaction with your company and this means that your prospective client well they're already well down the sales funnel by the time they interact with you inbound lead generation will leverage search engines social media networks to put prospects in contact with your content when they need it inbound marketing has a greater return on sales conversion as the prospect is coming to you with an expressed interest in your content when it's important to them nevertheless one of the main challenges of inbound lead generation is standing out from the crowd so how do you do that well you gotta create interest by offering relevant mix of entertaining and educational content that will build a meaningful relationship with your audience so outbound lead generation alternatively well it's basically the opposite of inbound and it's also known as interruption lead generation so it's the process where you are seeking out the attention of potential prospects regardless of whether they might be looking for the information or not the type and timing of each interaction is decided by you not your prospects you're hoping that a portion of your audience who receives the communication is looking for the offers that you're providing and they're ready to move forward by contacting you further in doing business in a nutshell outbound lead generation is going out and finding customers where inbound lead generation is about being found by customers so with that said here's 14 ways that we think you can generate medicare leads number one build and maintain a website a website is a necessity and it's a necessity in today's market to build a successful business but it doesn't have to be complicated at a minimum you're going to want to highlight clearly who you are what you do and well why they should choose to do business with you it will give a place for people to learn about you and your business offer them information that could benefit them in exchange for their name and email address there are many services out there that specialize in creating and hosting websites and they can help you provide with a simple inexpensive solution the contact information that you'll receive on your site are leads that will allow you to begin the conversation now based on the page or pages that your prospects are submitting their information on well you're going to be able to begin a relevant conversation that hopefully leads to a conversion of that prospect into a customer so one of the things you want to do is learn the principles of seo or search engine optimization and provide those to your online presence this is going to help you improve the process and get that site out there you're going to need to understand keywords and phrases that people are searching for in your industry update that online information ingly so that you can be found on the search engines and you know you do number two social media presence now social media is one of the most effective methods of staying in touch with your prospective customers and seniors are the fastest growing demographic using social media so providing entertaining and educational content relevant to that relationship on an ongoing basis will give you the credibility and keep you top of mind the goal is to be consistent with your content if you generate content on a regular basis when your customer is ready to move forward with you they're going to remember you it's not a magic bullet it's just a distribution channel and if you don't have good information to distribute well then it's not much help number three video marketing now video marketing is probably one of the most underrated lead generation methods to date it's fairly simple to record a video and post it on youtube channel these days and it could be simply as just taking a video with your phone there's no need to over complicate it your videos can be short updates of important information or a series of simple educational sessions record yourself discussing a blogger article topic share it as a video most people appreciate a short to the point video with relevant information you do not need production or fancy graphics simply provide relevant information that someone can listen to rather than read it number four speaking of reading blogging or writing articles call it a blog call it a newsletter but if you haven't started one yet well you should really consider it and again don't overthink the process your customers are out there looking for information think of the questions your potential clients would normally ask and then answer those questions in an article there's an endless list of topics that you could write about in the senior insurance market again be thoughtful research what your prospects are looking for create entertaining educational content guided by that research and share it on a very regular schedule and now it might take time to get the leads flowing in but it'll be well worth it in the long run number five email marketing now technically email could be considered inbound or outbound lead generation depending on how you're using it if you're providing valuable information to people who are looking for it well then you could consider it inbound email is still the dominant form of communication today a lot of people complain about the response rate to email these days and it often speaks to the quality of the content that they are sending out who they're sending it to rather than the medium itself so bear in mind people are slam with email every day keep your emails as relevant and as valuable as possible no hard and fast answer to how many emails to send per week this is going to be dependent on the relationship that you have with your clients but one thing you can do is you can create groups from your client base based on where they enter the buyer's journey and that's a good way you can manage the type of emails those people are sending number six online events live webinars podcasts educating your customers is probably the best way to solidify your position as an industry leader and keep in mind again doesn't have to be long and complex session most people are busy they don't want to sit through a long-winded webinar so keep it short keep it relevant and remind them that you're doing that out of respect for their time address issues that are important to your prospects discuss a particular issue and follow up by answering any questions your prospects might have this will help you gain credibility and make them more willing to review your content in the future number seven direct request client referrals now word of mouth has been and will continue to be one of the most effective forms of advertising the closing rates for referred leads is extremely high the prospects already sold on the quality of the product or service that you're providing so every sale should finish with a referral request better yet add an incentive for each referral could be something as simple as a gift card doesn't have to be complicated even just sending a handwritten card with a heartfelt thank you to show your appreciation for referrals well that's the kind of thing that friends do for each other doesn't mean you have to make the client your friend but if you act like a friend well it makes the professional relationship you have just that much closer number eight lead swapping partnerships asking other professionals for referrals now you likely know other businesses that are not competing with you they're in markets adjacent to yours and if you're on good terms with them consider making an agreement to exchange leads network with an annuity specialist a long-term care specialist maybe a retirement planner or investment specialist someone else that works with seniors but doesn't want to deal with the medicare products you have the same potential clients and it would be beneficial to both parties number nine print advertising now print advertising will have better results if it's in a publication specialized to the senior market there are many community publications that are niche specific thumb through a few senior specific magazines newsletters look for something that maybe someone is already advertising in you're going to need to judge the opportunity test the waters and maybe find one or more that can produce some leads for you number 10 informational booklets or lead stands now you should be able to get really good information from one of your carriers or an fmo on making a lead stand an inexpensive technique now this method is not going to get your lamborghini but with proper placement it will consistently produce leads for you and did i say it was inexpensive number 11 direct mail now the cost of direct mail is increasing and at the same time the roi is decreasing nevertheless if it's used creatively and fine-tuned to the right group it can definitely still produce results so use like a data-driven referral code or some kind of customer management method that'll help you track your efforts and sharpen your future campaigns do not leave out contact information that will guide them to your website maybe a specific landing page blog article they may not be ready to convert when they see your mailer but if you give them something to look into on their own time frame well they just might surprise you number 12 network development speaking engagements network groups even happy hours you know some people do better with these than others but if you have the type of personality that can engage well in these activities you can quickly become seen as an expert in your field reap the referrals and the partnerships the key is attending consistently getting attendance from the right group partnering with someone who gives a seminar to a group of seniors as lead swapping technique might be a great way to get in front of a ready-made audience number 13 internet leads now purchasing internet leads can be an excellent solution for quick lead development given that you can catch the lead in real time the lifespan for an internet lead is super super short they require an almost immediate response or the odds of the sale drop dramatically now ing to the harvard business review firms that tried to contact potential customers within one hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times more likely to qualify that contact and get them into a customer and 60 times more likely than companies that waited 24 hours or longer now internet leads come as either shared or exclusive which means exactly what it sounds like shared leads might be less expensive but you're competing against numerous agents that receive the same lead and increase the urgency but regardless of whichever one you choose internet leads will make an excellent lead source especially for phone sales guys because usually these prospects are impulsed they're ready to buy right now number 14 telemarketing everybody's favorite right with the advent of the internet smartphones and various e-communication trends that continue it's no doubt the telemarketing response rates have dropped however if it's done properly it can still be a very viable and inexpensive method to to target leads and generate new sales so if you're not the most confident your phone skills maybe consider hiring a telemarketer do the dialing for you and he'll just tee up interested prospects that you can present and close but more importantly when you're considering telemarketing as an option be sure that any list you purchase is scrubbed against the national do not call list follow proper cms regulations when you're prospecting for medicare so effective lead nurturing now you're going to have to be prepared to nurture leads over a period of weeks perhaps even months if necessary the decision to purchase insurance can be a very thoughtful process and it's rarely made in one phone call so this is where utilizing a mix of both inbound and outbound lead generation methods will pay off decide which methods work best for which group of prospects communicate on a regular basis and don't be annoying now don't forget to ask for online reviews from your satisfied customers this will give you social proof as a way that you are building a great brand and great brand awareness it's much easier for people to believe that you're an expert or claim to be an expert when they see a number of glowing reviews that reinforce that fact now a few more tools of the trade make sure that you use modern tools like a crm with reminders automated follow-ups a drip email system those are some of the services that a marketing professional will give you if you want to hire it outbound but you can definitely do it in-house otherwise tracking information without technology is gonna drive you nuts and you're gonna end up crushing your oi but good technology will allow you to track effectively to know which channels are doing the best for your marketing and help you build out a good plan so in order to figure out what works for you you're going to have to test a lot of different techniques create a mix of inbound and outbound lead generation track those campaigns so that you have a full understanding of their effectiveness now a few final last thoughts one size never fits all when it comes to lead generation experiment document and find the best methods for your business inbound and or outbound utilize technology to track automate your communication with your clients combine those inbound and outbound strategies to maximize your effectiveness be proactive going out finding clients while you're maintaining an online presence to be found by your clients maximize the use of your content write an educational article on an appropriate topic email a link to that article to your entire email list record yourself talking about the same information in that article post it on your youtube channel share it on your linkedin your facebook pages instagram leave it on your website all channels you definitely want to go multi-channel with everything and be on the lookout for creative ideas online now this is an ongoing process that you'll need to produce a lot of content in order to keep your prospects interested but it's okay to borrow concepts or ideas just make sure you keep the content original so with all of that said you know what lead generation techniques have you had success with we'd really love to hear from you you know drop some comments below with what you're doing to generate leads maybe what challenges you're running into and we can keep this conversation going you know and as always if you have any questions we're here to help so give one our marketers a call here at psm we'd be happy to help you out let you experiment and cultivate some of these lead generation strategies and we'll help you get on a good path to success so thank you for tuning in we'll catch you on the flip side