Current marketing advice for homeowners insurance agents mostly centers around digital advertising. While internet marketing has its place, many agencies have learned not to ignore traditional media when they want to increase business and promote their brands. In particular, advertising home insurance on the radio can offer an affordable and effective way to brand and market a local agency to the right audience. Seventy percent of Americans are within the reach of a local radio station, and people spend an average of about two hours a day listening.
Are you new to radio advertising or frustrated with your results from past attempts? If so, you might consider these three steps before you start trying to actually buy radio spots.
- Define A Clear Objective for Your Radio Ads
Before you develop any marketing campaign, you should set clear objectives that help support your business goals. You'll need to know what you hope your ads will accomplish in order to develop content and purchase ads from the right radio stations and in the right time slots.
These are some common objectives to consider:
- Initially, you may simply hope to grow brand awareness in your local area.
- In order to increase engagement with your agency, you might even get some carriers to co-brand ads to help share costs and associate your agency with major insurance companies.
- Of course, your main objectives will probably include getting new clients to pick up the phone or walk in the front door.
- Understand How to Buy Radio Spots
The expected audience for a certain station and time slot can impact your costs and your spot's effectiveness greatly. Depending upon your own assessment of your ideal clients, you might find that the most expensive spots aren't always the most effective ones for your homeowners insurance agency.
For example, there is a difference in the cost and typical audience for early morning, daytime, afternoon, and evening spots. As highlighted in the Insurance Journal, one agency enjoyed success with morning spots. They reached morning commuters and decision-making, stay-at-home moms with time slots that cost less than afternoon or evening spots.
- Set Reasonable Expectations
With radio ads, home insurance agents have enjoyed better results when they ran ads over a period of several months or even years. Typical clients need to hear a message multiple times before they act upon it. In addition, it's important to get that message heard just when a client needs new homeowners insurance because their rates have increased, their old insurer didn't satisfy them, the homeowners have just purchased another property, or they got a cancelations notice.
Even agents who say that radio ads helped them build their business usually say that they enjoyed the greatest payoffs when they committed to a consistent effort.
Are You Ready for Radio Ads?
To summarize, there are three things to do before creating advertisements or buying time on the radio. Set objectives in line with business goals, know how to buy advertising time to reach the right audience, and commit to reasonable expectations for a consistent effort.
Are you also interested in TV advertising? Be sure to check out our blog, "TV Advertising for Insurance Agents: Can You Afford It?" to learn what the benefits are for your agency.
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