FREE Insurance Sales & Marketing IDEAS » QUESTION #1
From the Q&A Column in Agency Ideas® newsletter

Q>

We are personal lines agency with a lot of walk-in traffic. And we just launched our first website.  We plan on promoting it aggressively through direct mail, email marketing, web banner ads, by postcard, and in a short series of print ads.  Which of these methods will work best for promoting the site to our current insureds? 

A>

Any or all of the methods can work -- depending on your appeal.  Here's another way to promote it that you may not have thought of.  Since you have a lot of walk-in traffic, why not display your new website on one or more PCs in the waiting area of your office. Think of them as electronic agency brochures.

Almost any spare contemporary computer will work, or you can look in your storeroom for an obsolete model. Any Pentium PC will do nicely. Or if you are fresh out of old computers, stop by a used computer shop or check the want ads in your daily paper. A few hundred will often buy you what you need.  Clean up the old workhorse and make sure that it operates properly.  You’ll want at least 512MB of RAM (memory).  More is better.  Much better.  But don’t worry about disk space. You only need to install Windows XP (or later), a web browser that works with the operating system, and a local copy of your new website.  Set the browser to your home page on the hard drive.

Visitors can then surf your new site while waiting in your office. Note: You’ll have to edit this copy before you load it to remove any hyperlinks to external web pages.  That’s because this PC won’t actually be connected to the Internet (unless you want it to be). You can also include a brief introduction that explains the new features and benefits of your new website. This will encourage office visitors to use it while waiting and to explore the full version at home.  

Also consider including a copy of home estimator software on the PC for your guests to use. Although the software isn’t part of your website, insureds and prospects might enjoy calculating their home’s replacement value while they wait. If you have the space, you can also add HO rating software and a commercial building estimator. These computer programs usually run just fine on older PCs.