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The marketing arena for insurance is becoming increasingly creative. The issue I have is that this creativeness isn’t coming from independent insurance agents.It’s coming from the big insurance carriers like the gecko and Flo, just to name a few. On a daily basis our clients and prospects are being bombarded with commercials such as pigs on zip lines, caveman’s talking about saving 15% in less than 15 minutes, or Flo pulling out her discount gun. These ads may not come across to the average independent insurance agent as being effective or even interesting, but we can’t deny their creativity. This has played a huge role in people’s thought process of their insurance. This creativeness is what’s transforming insurance into a commodity.
As insurance professionals, we are well aware that insurance is not a commodity. I believe that creativity is what catches the attention of people in a very busy world. These insurance carriers are finding a way to create their brand through this creative format. We need to really take our time and understand what these insurance carriers are doing and find ways to integrate some of their creative tactics in our social media marketing. For example, here is a video from Paradiso Insurance on the difference between an independent agent versus a captive:
These carriers have a pinpoint strategy of their brand, and in most cases their brand is centered on two very important keys: price and time. These brands are teaching society that insurance is nothing more than a commodity. Do you agree with that? I personally don’t agree with that idea, so my role is to get creative in our social media marketing and create videos and content explaining the importance of having the right coverage and taking your time to make sure you’re purchasing what fits inside of your financial portfolio.
Our agency brand gets more in depth than just price and speed- it gets involved in our community. Furthermore, we also get involved with the support of our veterans and our military men and women. We have a true passion for community service work and I believe that is extremely important to our agency’s brand. Don’t fall to the preconceived idea that we have to have a similar brand to those insurance carriers who constantly talk about price and time. The independent agent understands that insurance is not a commodity, and we are focused on taking the time to understand what is the right coverage is for you and your family at a reasonable price. We all know price plays a role in everything today, but at what expense?
Agencies need creative minds capable of generating interesting content for the Internet world, especially YouTube videos. Creativity really cannot be taught, but I can tell you we need to spend time energy and money looking for these innovative and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinkers. Here is another example of making a video and mixing our agency’s brand within it so prospects can see first-hand who Paradiso Insurance is and what we stand for.
Remember, Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created (such as an idea, a joke, an artistic or literary work, a painting or musical composition, a solution, an invention etc.). The ideas and concepts so conceived can then manifest themselves in any number of ways, but most often, they become something we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste.
