Advertising -- Radio vs. TV

pandcbroker

Expert
21
Hello folks,

Wanted to ask a few questions about your experience with advertising in a coastal area for personal lines property and casualty.

I am considering a marketing campaign that will consist of:

1. Television/Radio. I have pictured this like one of those personal injury attorneys. For those of you that sell P&C in a coastal area, you understand. People are angry. They experience non stop rate increases and even non renewal letters. People will absolutely switch if the policy/price is good. "Have your rates increased? Have you been dropped or threated to be dropped by your carrier? Would you prefer to have all your insurance, regardless of type, with one person and one number to call? Call me today" blah blah blah. Something like that. I have other ideas for a commercial, but for some reason, that one sticks. What I cannot decide on is radio or television?

2. Leads. I have a budget set for two seperate lead companies. Hometown Quotes and Insureme. Hometown quotes are new, and I am willing to try them. Insureme has been the best that I have found, and I have tried most.

3. I own one of those free standing ice vending machines where you walk up, put money in and a bag of ice drops down for you. I intend to put my insurance information on the bags, limited though. Such as homeowners/auto/commercial. Maybe health. We usually buy 10-20,000 bags at a time, and the cost is about an extra $300 as I have to have the bags anyway.

4. Anyone have experience marketing locally with Facebook/Google? If so, I would be interested in hearing your experiences.

5. Website. I intend to pay whatever is necessary to have the best website that is available. I have been searching for different large agencies in the area and wow a good website can sell policies for you 24/7.

Any other suggestions for marketing are appreciated. I will be sharing an office with two financial professionals that have been in the business for about 28 years, with a large established book. For retention purposes, and our companies are seperate, they will refer to me as I will to them. The more we can keep under one roof, the higher retention ratios we should all have. There is also talk of adding a CPA or attorney to the office, making it truly a one stop shop.

Thoughts?
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

"Hometown quotes are new"

They actually have been around a while. Hunter (if he is still there) offered some free leads a few years ago to members of this Forum. Before paying, see if he'll let you try a few first (10 would be nice).
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

Well they offered to match the first hundred. But I would never turn down free leads!
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

Nice thought on the TV/Radio market. Actually was thinking of something similar this weekend. ...Also why not contact those attorneys and see if they offer referrals.

those whom have been injured in an accident are bound to need somewhere to spend all that 'new-found' money after the accident....

my two cents and worth every penny you paid.
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

Suggestion...sell the solutions in your ads not the negativity. People want solutions, benefits,(wiifm) with a warm fuzzy touch. Coming from someone who's tried both ways and tracked much better response/conversion from selling solutions.

purchasing a targeted list and hiring a telemarketer has been much more effective/profitable for us than buying leads that are sold to more than one agent
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

Marketing is expensive. I would prefer try one or two ways at a time unless you have a lot of money to spend. The mail drop lead companies are about the same. So it is relatively safe method of marketing. The TV and radio are unknown and expensive, so try at limited resources before expanding. Website traffic needs support for the SEO, so optimizing your web for SEO is the first thing to do.
Anyway, this is my opinion. I would like to try some of marketing methods but find my budget is limited. I spent most of my marketing money for the direct mail drop at the moment.
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

I once paid $350 for two 1 min commercials each day for a month. A lot of people I knew told me they heard it, but no one bought anything.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Here is a tv ad that one of my agents did and she said it was worth the cost.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

I don't think "one month" would be considered a marketing campaign. I just signed a six month intro. program for tv ads that will be monitored for effectiveness/demographics and adjusted accordingly. Actually, TV was much cheaper than radio and from past experiences,more effective at gaining credibility.

pomfin, I'd have to disagree with a generalized statement that marketing is expensive. We implement many marketing activities every day at little or no cost which generate significant revenue. Many agents need to stop looking for someone else to provide their "magic bullet" with marketing and get off their asses a bit more.
 
Thanks for the advice all. I am meeting with my ad guy this week to go over some options, will keep you posted.

Regarding the above commercial, thats a good one.

Also, I definately intend to highlight the positives. However, in this area, there arent many and people are angry. I can give them options, lots of them, I just have to get them to call me.
 
Re: Advertising -- Radio Vs T.V.

Suggestion...sell the solutions in your ads not the negativity. People want solutions, benefits,(wiifm) with a warm fuzzy touch. Coming from someone who's tried both ways and tracked much better response/conversion from selling solutions.

purchasing a targeted list and hiring a telemarketer has been much more effective/profitable for us than buying leads that are sold to more than one agent

I would agree with 1manshow. Show more the positive side like the solutions to the common issues on insurance. I always believe in such strategy and works well for me. The telemarketing strategy is very effective too.
 
Back
Top