Marketing Insurance with Postcards

The success of the nation’s top direct insurance marketers impacts many locally owned agencies. The reason that these sellers can close a sale, without face-to-face contact, isn’t as simple as a lower quote (it’s not always the case). Frequently, it’s because they are better known than their in-town rivals. As a result, locally generated proposals are relegated to second-class status, whenever they encounter “brand name” competition. Deep-pocketed insurance marketers enhance their name recognition, while touting hundreds in savings, through their incessant advertising. As a result, they are rewarded with a growing share of the nation’s insurance business. Smaller offices need an edge to challenge these national operators. Otherwise, they are condemned to compete based on terms dictated by their faceless rivals. Fortunately, there is an easy and affordable tool to get the message out: the humble postcard.

Postcards Deliver

Postcards work. Just check your mailbox. You’ll see at least one from some marketer almost every day. In time, you’ll probably notice that many are from the same sender. That’s because for these colorful squares of paper to deliver their message, they must be sent repeatedly to the same list of prospects. Extra mailings mean better results. However, as important as quantity is, there are other factors as well.

Originality Counts

Too many postcards use common clipart on the front and tired text on the back. Creative photographs and copy, first-class postage, and quality paper all improve your results. They account for 20 percent of Ed Mayer’s famous 40-40-20 direct marketing success rule. The first 40 percent is mailing to the right audience (the list); the other 40 percent is who you are and what you are offering (name recognition and the “deal” you propose).

Continuous marketing, including sending postcards, helps to get you better known. So use your imagination. Take your own print-quality digital photos and stylize them with editing software like Adobe PhotoShop Elements. Then match your offer and copy to each group of targeted recipients. For instance, if you are soliciting painters, promote speedy certificates, prompt bond service, plus special “painter [artisan] packages” and rates. Also feature the image of a painter on a ladder or a brush and paint can instead of some generic photo of a contractor. Be as target-conscious as possible in your authoring efforts.

Additional Postcard Tips

Soap opera content. Do you remember those old Tasters Choice TV commercials where a man and woman endlessly borrowed coffee from each other and appeared to initiate a relationship? Follow this popular formula by designing and mailing out a series of agency postcards that tells a compelling insurance tale in three or four installments. The first few cards set up the story. Perhaps portray the favorable impact of replacement cost coverage and a stolen big screen TV. Then conclude the happy saga on a special Web page. This online-only ending is a fun way to attract visitors.

Double-check your mailing list. When marketing by direct mail, nothing is more important than your list (the first 40 percent). If the leads don’t match up with your offer or too many addresses are outdated, then your postcard effort is doomed. So, keep your list as clean as possible. Check for and remove duplicates before you mail and delete bad addresses promptly after the post office returns cards as undeliverable.

Test for the best. Send out different postcards to subsets of prospects within the same overall group of leads to identify which work the best. Tip: Self-print these initial mailings on a nice color printer on quality postcard paper before committing to buying and mailing out thousands of commercially-printed cards.

Mail out enough postcards. Experts say that it takes many repeat mailings before you get a buyer’s attention. One rule of thumb is to send a postcard to the same prospect no more than once a month, but no less than once a quarter. Others demand more mailings that are closer together. Soon, you’ll find your own ideal mailing schedule, which varies by the type of policy that’s being marketed and your target audience.

Business reply. For the same 26¢ in first-class postage (less if you presort), you can mail out a standard 4 x 6 inch two-sided postcard or a professionally-printed double card with four available sides. Doubles are a nice investment because of their extra real estate and attached business reply card. They make it simple for recipients to respond. There is no postage for them to add and no one to call. You pay the return postage plus a modest surcharge for each card that’s returned.

Conclusion

Postcards are an affordable complement to other agency promotions. Continuous local marketing helps independently owned offices to stay in the game. Without it, it’s difficult for small (non-specialty) offices to compete, even in their own hometown. Nonstop agency marketing is not a luxury; it’s an investment in your firm’s survival. Or, if you prefer an expense-based raison d’être, think of it as an essential never-ending cost of doing business, much like rent, payroll, and errors and omissions insurance.