Lead Generation
Just like any other professional services business, Insurance Leads can be generated or collected using several methods by insurance agencies and producers. Insurance Lead Generation using the internet is the recent addition to the traditional methods of identifying prospective customers. As consumer research surveys indicate over 70% of the American consumers use the Internet to research and analyze the products and services they are about to buy. This ratio is much higher, if you consider the younger generation. Hence the internet as a medium of lead generation cannot be ignored by insurance professionals any more.
Traditional Methods of Insurance Lead Generation
Traditionally, insurance agents identify prospective customers either through advertising in local media or networking and referrals. This approach still works but the share of the contribution is shrinking fast. The following demand generation modes are well known to all of us:
- Yellow pages advertising
- Advertising in Local print magazines / journal
- Local Television ads
- Local Radio ads
- Chamber of Commerce meetings
- Networking in professional / trade organizations meetings
- Referrals
- Trade shows / Conferences
- Cold Calling (via telephone / in person)
- Direct Mailing to lists purchased
Lead Generation for the Internet Generation Consumers
All the above leads sources are shrinking; some are going down at alarming rates, while some are heading down at slow pace. Some sources such as referrals and networking will continue to produce results, but the rate may be much less.
This generation of Consumers demand quick and instant results and have more choice than ever before. With the proliferation of internet usage (80% of households have internet in United States) and smart phones such as iPhones, prospective customers are driving in droves to the Internet to do research and source their services and identify insurance vendors. Hence, whether we like it or not, we as professional insurance service providers are forced to face the market trends and adopt the same.
Ways to Get Insurance Leads from the Internet
The most ideal way to get leads from the internet is to setup your website. Setting up one or more web sites could be the easiest step of this process. But getting the visitors to your website is a critical and difficult task. Web traffic generation is carried out using a plethora of tools and methods. Here are some:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Pay Per Click Advertising (PPO)
- Email Marketing
- Article writing / marketing (using sites as EzineArticles)
- Web blogs
- Participating in online Forums
- Conducting Webinars
- Video Content publishing (using tools such as YouTube)
- Content publishing (via DocStoc, Scribd, SlideShare, etc.)
- Social Networking Media tools (such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
Let us discuss and explore these lead generation methods and web traffic strategies in future posts on this blog.
Buying Insurance Leads from Lead Companies
The above list of possible opportunities / ways to generate internet leads, would have made you sit and take notice. Are you going to be an insurance agent proving insurance related services or planning to become a technology wizard to learn and keep up with all the latest buzzwords? Well, there is an option for those of you who would like to stay as insurance service providers! You may consider buy leads generated by insurance lead companies who specialize in identifying consumers and businesses who have insurance needs.
Please take a look at the posts on buying insurance leads from lead companies and how to convert the leads into insurance policies. Most of the insurance lead companies provide a bunch of free insurance leads to test out their leads and see if it works for you. Unfortunately, what work on one day may not work on another day! Hence you need to constantly monitor the lead quality and conversion rates and make changes as necessary.
Happy Selling!
