Maximizing Marketing Value From All Sides

Insurance organizations invest significant effort in major marketing moments. A new program launches, an industry conference approaches, or the company decides to host a webinar or publish a new report. In response, the marketing machine kicks into gear: emails are written, graphics are designed, social posts are scheduled, and everyone works to get the initiative out.

Then it happens. The campaign launches, the event ends, the webinar wraps up, and the marketing quietly disappears. On to the next thing.

Sadly, this “one-and-done” approach is common. In this industry, marketing competes with renewals, submissions, client needs, regulatory changes, and endless other priorities on any given day. To get anyone’s attention, your messaging must be clear and coordinated, with content consistently optimized across all channels and timed for maximum impact.

Consider the following tactics to ensure you’re not leaving potential value from your marketing investment on the table.

Extend the Life of Every Campaign

Consider an insurance organization attending a major industry conference. It may spend months planning. There are registration fees, travel expenses, sponsorships, booth materials, client meetings, promotional emails, social media content, plenty of internal coordination … then the event happens, and everyone flies home. If the marketing strategy ends there, a significant portion of the opportunity goes home with them.

The conversations that happened at the booth can inspire follow-up content. Questions prospects asked can become articles or webinars. Photos and insights from the conference can fuel social media. New contacts can receive thoughtful follow-up communication. A presentation developed for the event can become an educational email series or downloadable resource.

The event itself may last three days; the marketing value can last for months. The same principle applies to nearly every campaign.

You’re Probably Sitting on More Content Than You Think

Insurance folks often feel pressure to continually come up with something new to say. Fortunately, they usually don’t need to. One strong piece of content can become many things.

•

A webinar about an emerging coverage

issue can become a short article, several

social media posts, a FAQ, a series of

emails, sales talking points, and a

follow-up resource for prospects.

•

A detailed market update could become

a shorter client email, a producer-facing

summary, several graphics highlighting

individual insights, and talking points

for an upcoming meeting.

•

A frequently asked question from clients

or producers might become a blog post,

video, email, social media post, and

sales resource.

This isn’t simply recycling content for the sake of filling a marketing calendar. It’s giving valuable information more opportunities to reach the people who need it.

Remember, your audience doesn’t see everything you publish. In fact, most people see only a small percentage of it. If an idea is useful enough to communicate once, there’s a good chance it’s useful enough to communicate more than once.

Different Channels Give Ideas a Longer Shelf Life

People consume information in different ways. One prospect may read a detailed article, another may prefer to watch a two-minute video, and someone else may finally pay attention when the same concept appears in an email three weeks later. To reach your full target audience, your message doesn’t have to change dramatically–but the format does.

This is especially valuable in insurance because buying decisions rarely happen quickly. Someone may encounter an organization months (or even years) before there’s an immediate business need. Extending a campaign across multiple channels gives that audience more chances to see, understand, and remember the message.

‘One strong piece of content can become many things.’

Don’t Make Every Marketing Dollar Start From Zero

Good marketing takes resources. Even a relatively simple campaign may require strategy, writing, design, technology, staff time, data, approvals, and distribution. Events can require substantially more. When every initiative is created from scratch, the organization repeatedly pays the cost of getting from zero to launch. Getting more mileage from existing work changes that equation.

Turn an expensive webinar into six additional pieces of content. Leverage a conference investment into a three-month follow-up campaign. Adapt a new market report into sales enablement material. Edit articles to become a series of shorter communications.

The goal isn’t to squeeze every last drop out of every marketing asset until everyone is thoroughly tired of it. It’s to stop throwing away perfectly good work after just one use.

Think Beyond the Launch Date

Insurance organizations are accustomed to thinking long-term. Policies renew, relationships develop over years, producer partnerships deepen over time. Reputation is built gradually, and marketing deserves the same perspective.

Before beginning the next campaign, insurance professionals should ask a few simple questions:

What else can we create from this?

Where else can this message be useful?

Who hasn’t seen it yet?

What should happen next?

Sometimes the smartest marketing idea isn’t another new idea. It’s getting more value from the good ones you’ve already paid for.

Nevins is the director of marketing and events at Direct Connection Advertising & Marketing. Visit directconnectionusa.com to learn more.