Life insurance leads and doing proper lead generation is very competitive. You will need to learn new tactics and strategies to do your best to land more clients. Otherwise, there’s no way you will be able to bring success to your company and personal career.
Now, we know it is easier said than done and when you think about generating leads, two things happen: many ideas and strategies come to mind, or the opposite, you don’t know what to do.
Many companies try to determine what they are going through and, based on it, find solutions.
In this case, we want to help you by giving you ideas of how to get your life insurance leads when you don’t know where to start but also help you focus on the main methods you should be aiming for when you are suffering from the first issue.
Rely on Third-Party Leads
Third-party companies can be used if your company is having a hard time producing leads or you don’t like their quality and, so far, you’re unable to solve the problem and need them as soon as possible.
These companies are solely focused on selling leads to life insurer agents. The process works by giving the company your zip code and the information about how you offer your services to customers (availability, area, and more).
You also need to specify how many leads you wish to generate or bring to your company. The company will give you a list of leads within the specified geographical boundaries for a small upfront fee.
Third-party leads are a great way to save money and waste it if you don’t choose the right one.
The provider must indeed provide qualified leads and not general ones that aren’t interested in your services.
Many companies offer exclusive leads that are sold only to you. This is usually the most profitable option to avoid other companies targeting the same as you.
Third-party leads have two major drawbacks: the risk they present and how expensive they can be.
They are paid upfront, so if you don’t sell anything in the end (convert the leads into customers), your weekly paycheck will be negative. This risk is especially prevalent for new agents who are just starting to learn the ropes.
LinkedIn: Find Prospects for Your Life Insurance Business
LinkedIn is a great way to acquire new customers. However, it’s important to understand how to best use the site and optimize it.
This is why we will skip the basics and focus on what you should be doing:
- Make your profile stand out.
Your profile should be distinctive. When someone finishes reading your profile, that person should feel that he or she knows you personally and can trust you as a professional.
For this, upload a photo that best represents you as a professional and your company, and please remember, no selfies, beach photos, or pictures with friends.
The next step is about writing a concise summary.
The summary should include rich details about your professional history and experience. Here you can tell people who you are, your career highlights, and why you chose life insurance sales.
Many people will not scroll down to see your entire job history if you don’t provide a concise summary and focus on adding the most relevant aspects first.
When you talk about your job history, don’t just list the job titles and the dates. The section should be written like a resume with bullet points that highlight your achievements in each job.
However, your writing style will also influence them, so it should be more casual yet professional.
You don’t want to make your visitors feel like they’re having a coffee, but neither are you too uptight to offer a better experience.
- Share your knowledge and don’t charge for it.
LinkedIn forums provide one of the best places where you can offer industry advice and generate leads by doing so.
For it, remember not to be pushy or invasive. You can expect more people to reach out to you based on your expertise as you answer more questions.
It is about providing valuable information and helping them know that you know what you’re doing as well and, indirectly, about your services in the life insurance field.
- Keep in touch with your contact list to maintain relationships.
LinkedIn is not working if you only contact people on your list to ask for referrals or leads.
Reach out to your list to ask for help, wish them a happy birthday, or congratulate them on a recent promotion.
If they have life insurance companies to refer to, these contacts are more likely to send it to the agent with whom they have the best relationship.
- Keep an eye out for important life changes.
Sometimes, a seemingly insignificant social media post can be a clue that someone needs your services as an agent for life insurance.
Consider the sonogram image, which is always present. A new arrival indicates a significant increase in the person’s financial burden over 18 years. This is a great time to reach out and congratulate your contact and make the act of presence.
Don’t Forget About Referrals
Many people will tell you that word-of-mouth referrals are the best way to get high-quality leads, and we can agree with this but not 100%.
Nowadays, there are many other ways to reach your target audience when you think about online or digital marketing only. Besides, referrals can’t be relied upon alone to make your business more successful since it depends a lot on the desire of people and customers to suggest your services or products even if they are good.
However, it doesn’t mean they don’t work. We are just trying to say that you should integrate them in your strategy but not use them alone.
Now, how can you get them? Here are a few options:
- Direct inquiries.
Sometimes it’s enough to ask your prospects and clients to refer you to their family, friends, colleagues, or other acquaintances. Many will say “no,” others might say “yes” to be polite, but many will also mean the last answer.
- Partnerships.
You can also generate leads through referrals by forming partnerships with other businesses.
It is possible to establish relationships with your partners to either pay them for leads or do the same thing for your clients by recommending their services.
However, you can’t just give out business cards or phone numbers to get potential clients to call you. It’s better to create a system in which your partner asks permission to call someone and vice versa, so you both get the benefits of the partnership and leads.
- Develop networking.
Try building a network that could refer you to prospects who might need the insurance product you are selling.
Participating in local business groups and serving on the boards of local charities or organizations are some of the best ways to get into related professionals’ networks.
- Referral groups.
You are likely already aware of referral groups in your locality, but you could always start one with your network.
Referral groups are a group of local business people who meet for lunch or breakfast every week to discuss potential leads and business opportunities.
If you are worried about finding competitors, there’s no need for it since this is the best thing about referral groups: only one person from any industry is allowed in.
- Co-registration.
This could also be classified as online advertising. However, co-registration can be a great way to get high-quality leads from referrals from other companies.
Your potential clients can register on another company’s website to choose whether or not they want to receive offers from trusted friends.
If they do, you can get contact information from the prospect of your partners and communicate directly with them while also offering the same to the other company.
- Incentive programs.
If your clients are unwilling to refer you, it might be worth offering them an incentive to recommend your services. It doesn’t have to be a huge deal but just something that is worth their referral.
Although the incentive may be different each time, it must be motivating enough for people to take action.
Advertising Will Always Be Vital
Referrals are great and all, but as we mentioned before, they can’t be the only source of leads you have.
Advertising never gets old, and you should consider traditional methods to introduce yourself to wider audiences while also considering the newest ones since all of them are great ways to reach new and old audiences.
Focusing on traditional advertising first, we know what you will say: it is too old to invest in it. However, you’re wrong there.
It still works with services like yours, and you would be surprised by how many leads life insurance businesses generate with this method.
While you shouldn’t try all these sources at once, you can pick a few and see what works to help you generate leads that you wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
- Newspaper advertising.
Due to all the information online and how hard it is to find reliable sources, people still rely on newspapers as their most trustworthy, inspiring, ethical, and engaging media source.
Print newspapers have a higher aggregate advertising score than any other media and can be used to generate new leads for insurance.
You need to consider many factors, such as the ability to reach your target audience and the size and distribution of the newspaper. All of these factors have an impact on the price and effectiveness of the ad.
- Advertisements in Yellow Pages.
Although Yellow Pages are considered dead and gone for a while, they can still be used to reach certain types of leads, particularly senior market leads, since this audience isn’t willing to go online most of the time.
Besides, they are quite affordable since you only have to pay once to be added to them.
- Radio advertisements.
We know this is going to be hard to believe. Still, radio advertising has a higher rating than the Internet since at least 80% of the population and customers listen to local radio programs every week.
Radio advertising sales reps can give segment and time demographics to narrow down the time slot.
You should choose the time slot carefully to ensure you are getting qualified leads later on.
Now, radio ads can be very effective but can also be costly, and you should think twice before investing in your life insurance company since you might or not get the desired results.
- Television advertisements
We don’t have to mention that people continue to watch TV quite a lot regardless of Netflix and new options available with the Internet.
As a result, advertising on TV is more expensive than radio or print ads, but it has a few advantages.
For instance, it’s been determined that people tend to remember only 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read, but the retention rate for seeing something is as high as 80%.
We would recommend using this option when you are a large life insurance business or have been in the field for at least 2 or 3 years, and now you are just having a hard time generating leads or trying a new strategy.
- Freebie distribution.
People love free stuff, and when you give them something, they will be willing to give another in return.
This is why producing pens, pencils, and notebooks with your business name, contact details, water bottles, lighters, and other items is great: because people would consider contacting you for the service.
They’re not exactly giving you something back, but if you look at the possibility of getting them as leads and clients, you could say they are.
We Aren’t Forgetting Digital Marketing
Right now, those who aren’t online and relying on this marketing as the main one won’t have a future in business, even less in life insurance.
People are on the Internet every day, and if you want to attract leads, you have to be where they are.
When you compare the Internet stats with any of the previous options, you will always get a huge percentage difference, and it makes sense. After all, you are a great example. Aren’t you on the Internet to get this information?
Overall, people search for local businesses online, including life insurance services, especially around them.
9 out of 10 people visit or call a local business after finding it online, and the best part about this marketing is that it is usually free.
What do you need to do to make it work? We have compiled several factors and strategies you should include to generate life insurance leads:
- Internet presence.
You need to build your presence, and this won’t take a few days but rather weeks or months, and your website is the first step to having an online presence.
In it, you will need to get in detail with what you offer, who you are, and provide all the relevant information about your services and company.
While some may only include contact information and a value proposition, others will need to provide relevant and engaging content to encourage potential leads to visit the website or scroll down while having a look.
If you don’t work on your website, there’s no way to be successful in generating leads since you won’t have a place to send them to.
- Managing your reputation and local directories.
This is one of the very few ways to get online exposure that doesn’t require a website. Though, we consider it more a complement than an actual individual method.
What is it about? Your NAP (Name. Address. Phone.) can be added to a few social platforms and online directories that are similar to yellow pages. In this way, people and potential clients will find you easily while searching for professionals like you there.
Some directories require you to pay a fee in order to include your information, but there are also free directories you can rely on.
Also, they are great for local SEO, which means you will be higher in local searches for insurance and place your website at the top as well.
- Content marketing.
Engaging, relevant, and interesting content like text, images, videos, or any other one that comes to mind, allows you to make visitors stay with you and bring them to your website in the first place.
But content creation is only half of the battle.
To maximize your content creation efforts, you need to engage in influencer outreach and active marketing.
Prospects will be more likely to find the information they are looking for and book an appointment with you to discuss what you have to offer when using all the available options to boost the content.
- Search engine optimization.
Search engine results are ranked higher for certain keywords using SEO techniques. However, learning about all the factors it involves can be overwhelming.
With some effort and time, anyone can optimize their website. It might be worth hiring an SEO expert if time is scarce or if you want to get it done as soon as possible.
- Advertising via pay-per-click.
And… we are back at advertising, but now, it is all completely online.
You’ll see that sponsored listings appear above organic results when you search for something using Google, Bing, or any other search engine, and those are the ads we will be referring to.
PPC advertising systems, including Google Ads and Facebook Ads, are mostly bid-based.
This means that a higher price for a keyword will result in your ad appearing higher up the search results pages.
Essentially, they work the same as SEO to bring organic traffic. Instead of organic, it will be paid and focused for your life insurance company to help you get higher in the search engine results without much effort in other techniques.
These platforms can be used to target your ideal audience based upon search terms or audience demographics. They can also be used for retargeting past visitors to your site.
- Banner ads.
Although banner ads are one of the oldest forms of online advertising, they still work. Remember what we said earlier about the effectiveness of visual information?
These are concerns as you need to ensure that your ad is placed on a website that has users who match your target demographic.
You’ll most likely be paying for impressions rather than clicks. Only a few users will click on the ad, so price and response must be taken into consideration.
- Blogging.
A blog is a key element of content marketing. Relevant, valuable blog articles can do wonders for attracting the right audience to your site via search engines and links, thanks to the keywords you will be adding.
It is important to keep in mind your target market when blogging. The person searching Google likely has the same questions, concerns, and objections as your face-to-face prospects.
To earn the trust of search engine users, make sure you address these topics in your content.
You want to generate leads, so make sure to include at the very least one call-to-action in each piece of content.
- Guest blogging.
You can also post your content to other relevant websites. This is a great way of generating new leads.
You’re firstly reaching their communities and readership. If people find your article useful, they will click the link to your site. Inbound links from guest posting should lead to higher search engine rankings as well as website traffic.
- Requests for links.
Ranking factors for SEO include backlinks (links to other websites that link to your website, blog article, or both).
It is not always enough to have quality content on your website to attract other authors to link to it. Sometimes you will just need to ask.
- Social media.
Small business owners who spend 6 hours a week using social media are twice as likely as those who spend less than 5 hours a week.
Social media has many benefits, including increased exposure, traffic, and better search rankings. All of these factors have an impact on your ability to generate high-quality leads for your company.
- Podcasts.
Podcasts offer a unique opportunity to make a good impression on potential leads, especially those who commute long distances.
Start your own podcast to establish yourself as an authority on a topic. You don’t need to have a business or create a podcast. Instead, find a spot as a guest on a podcast with a large audience.
You can also find an advertisement spot if none of the options are suitable.
The Local Lead Generation Process for Your Life Insurance Business
All right! So, everything is about building properties and generating leads. But how does the process actually take place? Are there other steps I need to know?
The steps I mention below are what students from our local lead generation program follow to generate leads for businesses like yourself. So I’ll help you see what we do. And how if you join our program, you can simply generate leads for your own business (unless you want to start a side hustle and build a laptop lifestyle business).
Essentially, our lead generation can be divided into four steps:
The first is prospecting. You need to take the time to do market research on a niche (industry) and determine how many phone-driven businesses are there.
Keep in mind that this is local research as you need to know how many companies need leads. For example, you may search for “plumbing services Youngstown OH.”
You will find dozens or even hundreds of businesses trying to get themselves in front of the customers by ranking on Map Listings, organic results, and even Ad.
The second step, building. When you find a niche (plumbing, tree services, a software company, real estate…), you will need to start building your digital properties. You don’t need to be an expert in HTML or coding. It can be easy with the right tools.
The third step is now taking time to rank your lead gen website. With the site done, you need to work on SEO strategies and start dominating those Google search results. If you’re new to SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization.
To keep it simple, it consists of the entire process of growing a company’s visibility on search engines like Google and generating organic traffic. And remember this, local lead generation is part of the strategies.
Moving on to step four, once you rank the site, you will start getting your ROI and profits. You only need to rent it out to a local business interested in the leads the site generates. You can offer a couple of free leads to their move on with the actual pay per lead.
To review steps 1-4 above, I described it to a normal student who is building a lead gen business to help local service providers generate more calls. But replace the student with you as the business owner. And replace sending the leads to a business to simply siphoning the leads to your personal business.
By the way, fun fact, about 20% of our students in our local lead gen program are actually business owners who went through the program. And they use the skillsets we teach to generate leads for their own business.
An Example of Lead Generation: Home Advisor
You must be thinking, “if lead generation sounds so good so far, how come I haven’t seen any company?” That’s the thing; there are many out there. You just don’t know they are dedicated to it.
HomeAdvisor is one of the best examples you can find on the Internet as it is a top lead generation company that has spent millions building its brand but also earned even more zeros for this same reason.
They started small as everyone else but invested in building their brand awareness to make people who are looking for home services go to their website and find what they need. They are over 75% of people’s first choice when they need those services.
If you don’t get HomeAdvisor that much or need a refresh, users need to submit their information to request a service and get a professional or expert who can provide it.
HomeAdvisor’s job is to share your information, which makes you a lead, with local companies so they can contact you and offer the service you’re requesting. For sharing this lead information, HomeAdvisor gets paid by the companies. This happens for every single lead they send to multiple businesses.
Business owners who don’t have marketing skills or don’t even know how to have any online presence will always rely on those pages to list their services. They will save time and effort, but companies like HomeAdvisor can make them spend lots of money as leads aren’t exclusive (one lead is sent to multiple companies after all).
Using Facebook Ads aka Paid Ad Platforms: Do They Generate Leads?
They DO generate leads. If not, no one would use them.
However, you need to remember two facts:
- Paid ads or platforms can be expensive.
- They don’t generate “natural” leads.
Whenever someone sees or clicks in one of those ads, over 80% of them did it by accident or are trying to close/report it.
Why? Because they aren’t looking for those services. At least not at the moment.
What those ads do instead is interrupt their time on the platforms. Users aren’t there to find companies or businesses unless they are searching for a specific company’s user, and for that, there’s a search bar. This is why it is hard to convert them to actual customers who will show interest in the companies’ services. Also, you’re limited by a budget.
When using lead generation, everything is organic. You aren’t forcing others to pay attention to your business but rather being there when they need you. This is why Google’s organic traffic will always beat paid ads, and the reason companies continue investing in it, which is a lot cheaper as well.
What Is Local SEO?
Don’t worry… I didn’t get it at first either. Following the short explanation, local SEO focuses on scaling businesses’ visibility on search engines. However, this is only for those who serve their communities face-to-face.
What does this mean?
Experts and professionals like painters, plumbers, and dentists (but not only them) offer their services to their local customers. Why? Because they can’t deliver them unless they are located in the same area of their customers.
To make sure those businesses get more leads, you need to rank them locally by claiming the business listing on Google to place them on Map Listings. Local SEO also involves online reviews, citation management, and how you manage your entire online presence in the local area.
If you are going to bet on lead gen, you need to adapt yourself to today’s world: The Internet.
Keep in mind that although traditional channels and methods like billboards, warm calls, and pamphlets still work, they aren’t part of your tools. Whenever someone needs a service, they go to Google and search for it.
“Dentist in Miami” or “plumbing services in Orlando,” etc. And you can keep coming up with services or professionals people need and look for. Thus, you need to make sure you’re using Google to get the companies in front of their clients.
Users will always click on the first search results (those near the top), and many of them will be either Ad links (people paid to place their websites there), Map Listing, and then you get websites. Almost all of them are your goal and where you should always aim to place yourself.
Can My Life Insurance Business Utilize a Local Lead Generation Strategy?
If you want customers, you better know you need it. Following the previous explanation, lead gen is all about placing businesses in front of their customers, choosing them over their competitors.
Put it simply – it’s all about closing deals and having clients for those companies to make money. The main difference with the usual methods companies use for this is how lead generation approaches different channels to get them in the right place of the market to get customers.
Those channels are all focused on the Internet as most people are searching for products but also services across the net. The issue is that the Internet is way too broad, and businesses don’t know how to place themselves. They usually try, but they get one common result: losing money and time.
How Powerful Are Organic Life Insurance Leads from Google?
For companies looking for customers, it’s everything. For you? Pretty much the same. When you build a business with digital properties, you get to make thousands of dollars a month.
This isn’t a “get started today and get rich tomorrow” thing, but it is HIGHLY scalable, and ROI + positive results are guaranteed. Learning a fairly decent and very needed set of skills to create your digital properties and start ranking them on Google is required.
I have invested in several online businesses over the years, and if there’s something uncertain, whether you will get your ROI or not, even more than the actual profit.
However, this business moved my earnings from five figures a year to a month in ONLY passive income while sitting comfortably at home.
On my laptop. Anywhere. Anytime.
You can look at one of the first sites I built back in 2016, and it continues making me over $1.000+ every month. The best part is that I don’t need to touch it or the rest I’ve built over the years, just like this digital property.
What Makes Lead Generation SO Alluring?
Here it goes: you can work from home.
The main issue with regular business opportunities is how much you need to invest in staff, equipment, or rent to have a place to sell your products or offer your services.
We all know the hassles of traditional businesses that involve regular expenses, which are extremely high. Can you afford it? I don’t think so, and even if you can, is it worth it? Now, it isn’t only about the money. You also need to put in a lot of work, and it isn’t only during the first couple of months or years. Usually, it is as long as you continue running it.
You can save yourself those headaches and bone-breaking tasks and expenses with lead gen since it is more about generating leads with digital channels—mainly websites.
Websites can be VERY cheap to build, and with many tools online, you get to do it in a couple of hours instead of days. Any virtual or digital business is scalable and won’t need constant maintenance.
So, let’s summarize this:
- You save money in regular expenses with traditional and most online businesses as what you need is yourself and digital properties (websites).
- You can bet on passive income.
- There’s no need to hire more people to get started.
- You can generate leads in multiple industries, which allows you to work on any niche you want.
How Can I Get Started in the Local Lead Generation Program?
Anyone can start and learn. That’s the beauty of this business model. I knew nothing about SEO, Map Listing, and everything I’ve mentioned so far. It is all about learning the skills, gaining experience, and deciding to take the step.
Remember that this business model will never get old as business owners are always looking for leads. They need to do business and scale their companies. Why not do the same while helping others and still making money?
You can start with this local lead generation course highly recommended for anyone wanting to grow in the business. It is a close training that will take you through each step and make sure you are able to get your ROI, profits and take control of your life.
You will be added to an incredible lead generation family ready to help you 24/7 when asking questions on the group. Anyone is welcome who’s willing to put in the work. Click here to watch the lead gen webinar.