How to Get In Front of an Insurance Niche

How To Get In Front Of An Insurance Niche by Kelly Donahue Piro
Agency Performance Partners
Agency Appeal

Have you heard about insurance niche marketing? Well, it’s something you should consider. Why be a jack of all trades when you can be a bad a$$ at one? Many agents aren’t sure where to start or what to look for. Well, the good news is that you are reading this article that will outline the best niche marketing plan. If you follow it, it will work! If you follow only parts of it, it won’t work as well. Make a commitment to your career and a niche, and it will pay you back!

The first step to niche marketing is: selecting a niche. We recommend doing some soul searching. What is something you really like that if you could be around every day would make you happy? If you love food, maybe restaurants. If you like pets, maybe dog groomers. If you like attorneys… wait not many people like attorneys! What you need to do is resist the urge to follow the carrier hot lists. These may be only hot for a short time, and you may end up with a niche you don’t love. It should be something you have some passion about, so you can be passionate about protecting them.

Your next goal is to create a strategy that surrounds the niche. It can take 7+ times for someone to recognize you and your brand name. Surrounding the niche helps to increase your brand image and accelerate the process. This is going to take some work, hard work, but it will pay you back!

Here are our recommendations for surrounding a niche:

Find any lost or unsold accounts within the target market to call. Make sure you are compelling and have something to speak about, maybe an industry change or update.
Identify 30 target prospects in the area you would like to write. This should be your dream list so feel free to dream big.
Identify 5 prospects that you drive by on your way home every day. This is great for Main Street type businesses. What’s your excuse to not stop by?
Look to see if there are any industry trade shows in the coming year that you could attend. Be bold and go meet new people. There is a reason all of them are gathered together.
Contact your current clients in the niche, and ask them for referrals. This is key – asking to be introduced may be out of your comfort zone, but that means it’s worth it.
Build an area on your website targeted to this market and hire an SEO specialist to optimize it for search. This may require you to make a few investments, but it will pay you back.
Subscribe to industry publications and e-blasts. This is a great way to have something to talk about rather than get a quote now.
Connect to industry groups on Linkedin. This is a great way to boost your LinkedIn Prowess.
Create an email database of decision makers to send a monthly email to. You need to stay front and center with your niche.
Create an online assessment to to send to the target market (qzzr.com is popular see example: http://www.agencyperformancepartners.com/test/)
Connect with prospects on LinkedIn, Twitter, Yelp, Facebook and Instagram. Comment and post reviews when you interact with them.
Join any industry associations in the area, and look to obtain their list.
Identify 10 centers of influence that can introduce you to prospective clients.
Create blog content.
Offer to write or do seminars on how insurance can impact their industry.
Attend community events where your target markets are.
Create a hand out or leave behind that is unique.

This is a comprehensive list of a full strategy you can execute to really capitalize and launch your niche. Feel free to have fun with it. You don’t need to be the suit and tie niche if your target market is contractors. Match your niche and do some things that make you stick out. Getting attention is critical!

About Kelly Donahue-Piro

As a dynamic public speaker and consultant I have spent the last decade focusing on how small business owners can capitalize on opportunities within their reach. With over 5 years experience in the local insurance agent sector I can bring training, marketing and technology to your agency that helps you effective and efficiently grow your agency. My specialties include consulting and coaching on upselling, account rounding, agency culture change, sales scripting, executive level coaching and benchmarking as well as agency retention skills. Contact me today to learn more about how I can help your agency grow!