50 Ways to Market Personal Lines Insurance

With apologies to Paul Simon’s classic song, there must be at least 50 ways to promote personal lines policies. Below is my list. I stopped at 50 due to the song, so if you wanted more, it’s Paul’s fault, not mine!

12 Social Media

• Fun video where you “fast read” all the potential [car] policy discounts you offer.
• Run radio ads on YouTube as audio behind a slideshow.
• Post Vine and Instagram mini-videos touting services or discounts.
• Policy-specific Facebook ads and promoted tweets targeted to local prospects.
• Offer free “executive level” insurance reviews to LinkedIn connections.
• Display entertaining mini-posters on Pinterest linked to relevant landing pages.
• Post fun personal insurance quizzes. Have prospects contact you for the answers.
• Post tip sheets to inform shoppers of personal insurance basics.
• Tweet insurance-related images along with your text.
• Offer free insurance tips to first-time home buyers.
• Display images of the many recreational vehicle types you insure.
• Post vehicle-specific promos for pickups, minivans, crossovers, etc.

10 Captive Audiences

• Poster-type ads in restrooms.
• Car insurance flyers placed under windshield wipers.
• Display ads on busses and taxis.
• Ads on supermarket shopping carts.
• “Fishbowl” business card drawings for free lunches at local restaurants.
• Entertaining insurance handouts at county fairs, etc.
• Offer outdoor quotes at sidewalk sales (strip mall-based offices only).
• Give a business card to neighbors of new home insureds “in case of emergency.”
• Present condo insurance tips at homeowners association meetings.
• Work with property managers to offer renters insurance to tenants.

6 Web-Related

• Offer online real-time personal lines quotes.
• Feature quote request forms when real-time quotes are unavailable.
• “Blind” Web banner ads with a single promotional message.

Clicks to a landing page revealing who you are.

• Post discount checklists for major personal lines policies.
• Display typical agency new business dollar savings by policy type (when known).
• Post a graph comparing premiums for the same policy specs among multiple insurers, when you have winning rates.

5 Internal Marketing

• Offer personal lines to commercial lines insureds.
• Cross-sell “missing” policies and upsell needed coverages to agency insureds.
• Resolicit desirable cancelled policies and failed quotes.
• Solicit group auto insurance from employers and groups you insure.
• Ask quality clients for “just one” referral.

5 Office-Based

• Limited weekend and evening hours.
• Offer teen driver insurance seminars to the community.
• Provide defensive driver courses to attract prospects.
• Waiting room slideshow of recently paid property claim photos (with permission).
• Provide old insurance paper shredding sessions for new prospects and insureds.

6 Printed Places

• Use personal URLs in conjunction with diret mail (and email) campaigns.
• Add QR codes to direct mail to send folks to online quote pages.
• Advertise in local road rally or vehicle-specific auto club publications.
• Place inserts for various personal lines policies in area newspapers.
• Consistently run small 2-inch ads in newspapers that focus on a single policy.
• Buy front-page Post-It note ads that direct readers to a special Web landing page.

3 Giveaways

• Distribute door hanger bags with a policy price comparison graph and small giveaway.
• Give kids kites imprinted with the message “If your family [auto] policy premium is too high…”
• Give drink umbrellas to eligible shoppers to entice them to get an umbrella quote.

3 Team-Ups

• Join up with non-competing pros for a financial fair.
• Exchange permission referrals with car dealers, marinas, etc.
• Tout the cumulative value of stacked discounts… Multi-policy, pay in advance, digital policies, etc.