Direct Mail, Business Insurance Leads

It was a bloody mess.

Talk about March Madness, my face got slammed into the basketball floor.

I saw the blood all over the floor and grabbed my chin. Walked over to the bathroom mirror…sure enough it was a huge gash. I got about 11 stitches put in.. That was just over a week ago.

Last night I finally pulled out the last of my stitches in my chin.

Oh well, it could have been worse. I could have lost a tooth!

Anyway, let’s get to making you money. Recently someone told me…

“I tried the mail and it doesn’t work!”

Ohh, the foolishness…

In insurance marketing, to say that “Direct mail doesn’t work”… Is like Farmer Joe trying to use a saw to cut a log, but leaving the saw unplugged. Just keep ramming the blade into the wood…”HMM, I wonder why this gosh durn saw doesn’t work?”

Of course saws work to cut stuff, but only if you are using it properly.

This works especially well for business insurance leads, because you can target your perfect prospect.

The bottom line is this: you’ve got to use direct mail properly if you want to get insurance leads. The first big transgression most people make when using direct mail is having a crummy headline, or no headline at all.

My new series of blog posts is all about using Direct Mail to get insurance leads… one small facet of attracting leads…with a method that is responsible for bringing in over 3 million in premium over the course of just a couple years.

All this was done without a single cold call.

Savvy agents and financial professionals use direct mail to generate business insurance leads, home and auto leads, life, health, etc. It doesn’t matter what your specialty is. You need to be using direct mail.

There’s no arguing the point that direct mail works, of course it does, you just need to turn the saw on to work for you.

As you know we have a monthly marketing program called the Maverick Alliance, in that program we create marketing pieces for our members.

Whenever I write copy (advertising) I always write 10-20 headlines before choosing one. The reason for this is simple. Your mind needs time to get warmed up. Just like your body does before playing a game of hoops.

So by the time you get to the 18th or 20th headline, you find the last ones are really good, and first couple aren’t that great.

So here are the tips for writing good headlines:

1. Use a swipe file. Copy other good headlines you’ve seen. Don’t try to do this from scratch.
2. Look to the ‘Inquirer’ and ‘Star’ magazine for ideas. (Don’t be ashamed about ‘what others might think’ about you buying those magazines, get some guts!)
3. Use the headline cruncher to check if your headlines have a good chance at being successful.

The headline cruncher is this: You score your headline on a scale from 1 to 4 using each criteria. If you don’t get at least 3 criteria to score a 3 or more, you have a weak headline.

• Urgent 1-4
• Unique 1-4
• Ultra-Specific 1-4
• Useful 1-4

Here’s an example one of my clients used “Save Money On Life Insurance”. I’ll score this for you using the headline cruncher:

• Urgent; this has no urgency at all so it gets a: 1
• Unique; not unique at all, everyone says this: 1
• Ultra-Specific; no specifics at all : 1
• Useful; it’s a little useful so it gets a: 3

So how could we beef this up?

Simple, here’s an example:

“Market Crash Opens Small Window Of Opportunity For Dentists In San Jose To Save 31.23% On Life Insurance!”

Now is this urgent? Yes, ‘small window of opportunity’ creates urgency, probably a: 3
Unique? Yes, not a four but probably a: 3
Ultra Specific? Of course, Dentists, and 31.23%: 4
Useful? Still saving Dentists money, so it’s a: 3

This headline cruncher is a great, simple tool to make sure you get the most bang for your buck when creating marketing pieces. You’ll get more business insurance leads, by using a headline that calls out to your perfect prospect like this one does for dentists.

The same exact strategy can be used for life insurance leads, annuity leads, or whatever your specialty is.

So, from now on you have no excuses not to create a GREAT headline! Make sure your run em’ through the cruncher before sending it out.

Next week I’ll show you 16 actually samples of headlines I wrote when working on the Done For You marketing pieces our Alliance members get.

Now it’s your turn, Please share with us your success stories, comments, and nightmare experiences when using direct mail by leaving a comment below.

Tags: direct marketing insurance