Think Like a MarketerMarketing Ideation for Insurance Agents

Emily NguyenMarketing Coordinator

Housekeeping

• A recording of this presentation will be posted at resources.getitc.com/masters-of-marketing

• Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #MastersMktg. (Follow us at @InsTechCorp!)

• Leave questions in the webinar chat box.

• Join us on February 15th at 12 p.m. CT for 10 Email Marketing Faux Pas You’re Probably Making, hosted by AgencyBuzz Product Manager Heather Cherry.

A little about me

• Part of the ITC tribe since 2016

• Content, email, social media, marketing materials, and more!

A little about you

• You are a marketer

• Website? Advertising?

Email? SEO?

• Doing a lot with a little

Thinking like a marketer

• Be open

• Be a sponge

• Be flexible

• Be ready to change

• Don’t be like HeiHei

The ideation thing

• It’s brainstorming

BusinessJournal

“Ideation is the raw materials that innovation is made of.”

“The better the materials, or ideas, the more stable and

monumental the innovation is.”

Key considerations, pt. I

• Ideation is part of your overall marketing strategy.

• Once you’ve identified your marketing goals, it’s time to brainstorm how to reach them.

Learn how to create a marketing plan for your agency:

resources.getitc.com/modern-agency

Get into the mindset

“The relationship between ideation and marketing should be based on relentless challenging of assumptions and beliefs, even if they are ingrained to the point of bias.”

“Great marketing ideas happen when a product, service, or

company is viewed without assumptions and beliefs first,

then [with] the litmus test of assumptions and beliefs added.”

Brainstorming exercises

• Here are a few exercises to get creative juices flowing

• Good for groups

• Can be modified to work for the individual

Brainwriting

• Write a problem on a few sheets of paper.

• Ex - “Generating More Walk-Ins”

• Each participant gets a sheet.

• Participants will write their ideas on that topic for two minutes.

• After two minutes, pass the papers on to the next person.

• The next person reads what was written and adds to it.

• Repeat.

• Good for: Presenting ideas equally, with plenty of details

Pain and gain

• Identify a type of customer to your agency.

• Identify the pains that drove the person to become a customer.

• Think about the gains, or positives, that drove them to seek out your agency.

• Repeat this process for multiple types of customers or lines of business

• Good for: Deeply understanding types of people your agency serves

Going all out

• Let your imagination run wild.

• Think of the most extreme solutions to your given problem.

• Discuss these in detail.

• Aim to prompt now but more realistic concepts to pursue.

• Then, think of how an idea could be scaled down.

• Good for: Uncovering new strategies

Building and breaking

• Build up a specific idea

• Grow it to a broad perspective

• Or, break a general idea down into small parts

• Use the smalls to expand on new details

• Good for: Completing or polishing up ideas

Other resources

• Pull inspiration from your daily life.

• Look at your competition.

• Look outside the insurance industry.

Get inspired

• Subscribe to newsletters

• Attend webinars

• Read online articles

• Follow interesting people on social media

• Attend conferences and events

Shameless plug alert!

www.resources.getitc.com• Blog posts

• Operation Agency Success Videos

• This is the Way profiles

• Whitepapers

• E-books

• How-To Guides

• Webinars

“Write this down” - George Strait

• Keep track of your ideas by writing them down.

• Add them to your calendar for follow up.

• Trello

Make ideas last

• Keep your ideas visible

• Map them out

• Add stakes

• Action

Key considerations, pt. II

• Have a good handle on who your audience is.

• Go back to your mission statement.

A big idea

• Ideation as a foundation for change

• Use it to challenge assumptions

• Think outside the box

Thank Youresources.getitc.com/masters-of-marketing