How a ‘Middle-Aged’ Marketer Can Help Your Agency Grow

It is common knowledge that if an agency wants to employ a dedicated marketer, hire a young person. They, and only they, know what is happening in social media. By virtue of their youth, and their presumed familiarity with all things digital, they automatically know best how to communicate any insurance agency’s commercial messages. But like all accepted knowledge, you shouldn’t accept it at face value. There is another, more mature, path you can follow and it can lead you in an interesting direction.

But before you start taking applications, define the function and scope of the job. Typically, this type of marketer generates salable leads from both inside and outside of your agency — through research, by promoting your brand, and by serving as your social voice. If this is the job you want to fill, look beyond the media used to disseminate your message and focus on the individual communicator.

Age Matters

In general, people prefer to do business with individuals who approximate their own age, plus or minus 10 years. As such, you are missing out on a world of possibilities if you are intent upon hiring a low-cost college intern or the freshly graduated as your agency’s marketing guru. Consider expanding your applicant pool beyond the near-adolescent to include an under-appreciated often overlooked age group — the middle-aged individual.

The Middle Ages

Middle age (about 40-to-60 years old) can be viewed either as the gateway to obsolescence or as a repository of life experiences. And it’s this worldliness, along with their accumulated knowledge, that makes middle-agers, with solid communication skills, worthy of your hiring consideration. Here are just some of the reasons why.

• Joy. Many are underemployed (or unemployed) as a result of the economy and are excited to work in a pleasant, professional office environment. Once hired, odds are they’ll consistently show up on time, ready to work.
• Stability. They don’t chase upward career mobility whereas job-hopping is common among many young professionals. As such, middle-agers are likely to stay with you for years, evolving their craft.
• Media. These folks are usually familiar with the core social media tools, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. They are all easy to use, as they must appeal to the lowest common denominator to attract and retain so many millions of users. Besides, many have children and grandkids who can keep them abreast of the latest online trends.
• Peers. By virtue of the calendar, middle-agers can peer-connect with prospects and insureds who range from 10 years younger to 10 years older than they are, whereas millennials can only go in one direction.
• Hours. Many middle-agers are willing to accept a part-time work schedule. This serves their needs and yours, especially if they have younger children or aged parents at home. You enjoy the financial relief of not having to provide full-time pay and benefits.
• Sagacity.With age comes wisdom. For you, this might mean a more mature marketer/communicator who avoids careless faux pas, especially when posting to and dealing with people online (and off) who are hostile to your agency or insurance in general.

Explore Your Options

None of this is to say that hiring a younger marketer is a mistake. Every business likes to hire millennials to extend their reach and commercial life span. The mistake is to automatically lean towards youthful marketers without even considering more mature individuals. Age discrimination issues aside, it doesn’t make good business sense.