Going Old School to Get Noticed
With the clutter in people’s email box and the noise of social media, Chip Millard uses good, old-fashioned postal mail and Google rankings to stand out.
As an independent insurance broker, Chip helps businesses, individuals and families choose their best option when it comes to disability insurance, life insurance, Medicare supplement insurance, health insurance and employee benefits.
People don’t tend to call him out of the blue asking to buy life insurance or disability insurance. Chip frequently uses Life Happens’ Real Life Stories on his website and in personal communications to help people better understand their need for these products.
Real Life Stories are mini documentaries of real-world situations that communicate to customers how life insurance provided much-needed relief in tough moments.
“Using the Life Happens stories has previously gotten people interested because it helps them understand. They know they need it, but they don’t want to think about it. The stories are hard to deny, because that family looks like them or [is in a similar situation],” said Chip.
Counter to many in the marketing world, Chip has found great success through more conventional means using Life Happens Pro’s flyers. “One thing that has helped me a lot is using postal mail recently. I’m old fashioned and send paper letters a couple times a year.”
Chip continued, “I have found success by sending a life insurance letter or disability insurance letter to previous clients the months prior to LIAM and DIAM. We find if we personally address it with their name and address, it stands out from everything else they get—it’s personal. Yes, it takes some effort, but it has a high return for us,” said Chip.
They use a one-page letter along with a one-page Real Life Stories flyer. They also include their custom website link so clients can read further on the story.
Chip sees a 5% pique in interest from the letters that really moves toward additional business. He continued, “It really does bring in new customers and great referrals, so it has a strong multiplier effect.”
Chip has also worked effectively to increase his Google search ranking.
“Most of our new clients have come within 15 minutes of my office. When people search for insurance in our area, we appear on the first page of Google results. Posting photos and content raises us way up the search ranking. We also get a lot of feedback from those posts,” said Chip.
