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It’s 8:00am, and you’re going over the things you have to do for the day. It appears you have 48 hours of work to fit into the 8-10 hours you’re planning on spending at work today. Yikes… a little overwhelming.
On the plus side, you have marketing automation on your side. Hubspot defines marketing automation as “software that automates your marketing for you. The software is designed to help you prioritize and execute your marketing tasks in a more streamlined and efficient way.” Basically, it helps you create and maintain meaningful communication with your clients and prospects on a deep level without a ton of time and effort on your part.
But, marketing automation doesn’t mean just this for insurance agencies. It means a lot more. Most insurance agencies are (or should be!) using some sort of CRM or agency management system (AMS). They allow the agency to track industry-specific information like policies, client information, agents, commissions, and of course prospects and sales. So, the power of marketing automation for insurance agencies lies in its integration with the agency’s CRM or AMS. The efficiencies of marketing automation come from strategically using the data already in the CRM or AMS to streamline daily tasks, automate communications (both internally and externally) and manage your sales cycle.
There are two major benefits of using integrated marketing automation tools:
- Streamlined day-to-day activities. We know that one of agents’ biggest concerns is lead generation. But we also know it’s important to you to maintain communication with your current clients. So, it’s important to have the right tools in place to automate both of these as much as possible. With integrated marketing automation tools, you can streamline day-to-day activities like follow-ups (think policy renewal reminders). You can also automate some messages for cross-selling purposes. Within your AMS, you could identify cross-sell opportunities (AgencyBloc does this with its “Cross-Sell Report”) and send those individuals a mass email highlighting other products you sell that they might be interested in. Lastly, you can automate some of your lead generation efforts using integrated lead forms. Set up a lead form in your AMS, place on your website and other online locations, and funnel those leads directly back into your AMS. From there, internally assign that lead to an agent and simultaneously send an email to that lead letting them know you’ll be in touch. These are only a couple examples of the power integrated marketing automation tools can have over your day-to-day.
- More meaningful, efficient communication. Whether it’s internally or externally, automating your communications makes you more efficient. Think about all of the messages you’d like to send to new clients: summary of their new coverage, other products you offer, asking for referrals, etc. Instead of trying to remember to shoot out those emails each time you gain a new client, why not just set up the campaign of emails once and have it automatically send when their status goes from “prospect/lead” to “client” in your AMS. Again, that’s the power of integrated marketing automation tools. Another example of creating efficiencies in your communication is internally. Maybe you manage a lot of agents and you are responsible for assigning new leads to them. You could automatically assign leads to agents, and you could have the necessary internal notification emailed to them upon assigning that lead. This could be accomplished through using integrated lead forms. Not only does this make you more efficient, but it’s helpful for E&O purposes as well.
Again, these are only a few examples of what integrated marketing automation can do for you. But, I want to keep stressing that the true power of integrated marketing automation tools is that they’re integrated. They work with your agency management system, or better yet, they’re built within it. The data already within your AMS is being used strategically to streamline your day-to-day activities and to create more meaningful, efficient communication with your clients, prospects, agents and other staff members.
