If you get your insurance marketing leads using lead generation forms, either on your website or from lead generation services, drip marketing is one of the most popular strategies for handling them. Drip marketing involves sending out a steady stream of sales messages to prospects at regular intervals, either by postal mail or email. These campaigns are typically automated with a computer program or as part of a CRM system. Over time, these efforts may develop into a sale. One consultant advises sending 24 messages over two years. The first message may be an introductory letter from you requesting the prospect to act soon. The second message might be just a postcard (or email with html graphics), illustrating the perils of putting off a decision, and so on.
Low cost, high efficiency. In its classic form, drip marketing is a pretty impersonal strategy since it usually involves no human sales calls. Its biggest advantage is efficiency. You can handle hundreds of prospects this way and, especially if you are using email to contact them, the cost is very low. This kind of strategy works well with individual life, health, auto and other personal lines sales.
Business prospects are different. Nurturing leads from business prospects generally requires an approach that’s a little less mechanized. Whether your business leads come from a lead generator or from researching local or niche directories, being involved with referral circles, or working with social contacts through your chamber of commerce or service organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary — as the majority of quality commercial business will — you probably want to use a slightly different “drip” strategy than you would when selling to individuals.
Businesses know they need insurance. Your challenge is to persuade businesses to do business with you instead of their current agent. Canned sales letters and postcards are not likely to be as impressive to this audience as a professional newsletter that showcases your expertise, builds your credibility and provides added value rather than a steady stream of sales pitches. Also, your newsletter should probably be printed, since that greatly increases its likelihood of being seen and even read versus email. Usually the value of landing a business account will be worth the extra expense of printing and mailing. You could call this the insurance newsletter drip strategy.
With the insurance newsletter drip strategy, it’s worth your while to pepper your mailings with a personal phone call from time to time. Ask prospects if they’re receiving the newsletter, say you hope they are finding it useful and ask for an opportunity to provide an insurance quote or policy review, either now or at their anniversary.
The key to drip marketing for individual and business clients is consistency and taking a long-term approach to the sales cycle.
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