In the business world, whether working with a tiny company with a minimal number of employees, or a gigantic corporation with scores of disparate assets and interests, the choice between outsourcing services and performing them in-house can be a difficult one to make. This is certainly true in the case of insurance agencies, where employees may be highly skilled with a number of useful tasks, but are often best able to create value for an agency by selling. The path towards mitigating agency costs while also creating the most efficient stream of work possible may be a long one, but those who persist in the journey will find that their insurance firms are able to excel in nearly any market, at any time. As a significant element of any insurance agent or agency’s success, advertising comprises a major concern that can also quickly become a major cost. Insurance advertising agencies are available to help agents create the most effective and sleek campaigns possible, but are they worth the expense? The answer depends entirely upon the needs of the insurance salesperson, whether alone or as part of a team.
Insurance advertising agencies can be a struggling or brand new insurance company’s savior. Combining important background experience and skill with the ability to remain completely focused on advertising efforts, such agencies can listen to the specific needs and ideas of an agent or brokerage and handle all of the details of the ensuing campaign, from the creation of a well-designed visual advertisement, attractive radio clip, or written promotional piece to its publication and distribution to the public. Insurance advertising agencies are typically able to liaison with advertising space vendors and others involved in the process, leaving a minimal amount of work to be performed by the agent or agency purchasing the service. This hands-off approach is certainly a luxury, and may not be within the comfortable budget of the very firms it stands the best chance of helping. Many such firms compromise by outsourcing some, but not all, of the work to insurance advertising agencies, putting a professional face on the ads themselves while taking on the background responsibilities to cut costs.
Though the expenses associated with professional advertising are an important consideration for many insurance firms and individual agents, there are of course some companies and salespeople who are not as strictly limited by their budgets. High-profile agents and brokerages may choose to allot a significant portion of their budgets to advertising, ensuring that their materials have as positive as possible an impression on potential prospects, and allowing their sales efforts to remain strictly devoted to working directly with clients. This method isn’t always practical, and it’s important to make a realistic assessment of whether or not such a move would be a wise one for a given insurance sales operation, but it is able to produce highly effective campaigns when it is used.
Insurance agents and groups of all shapes and sizes must make individual decisions about whether or not to used a professional insurance advertising agency. While some agents may revel in the ability to outsource the entirety of their promotional work to a dedicated, professional firm, others -even those in the same lines of insurance and agency size– may benefit more from taking on all or part of the tasks associated with insurance advertising. With a wise advertising strategy in mind, any agent or team can create great impressions and experience improved business both in the short and the long term.
Are you a big volume buyer? Click the following link to learn more about our custom marketing solutions