Are the days of traditional insurance agency marketing merely a remnant of a bygone era? Before we answer this important, let’s first define that which we would today consider traditional insurance agency marketing programs. Let’s start with 20 well known marketing initiatives, or perhaps I could better refer to them as insurance agency marketing activities, that can generate interest and awareness. These are in alphabetical order, not in order of importance or perceived efficacy:

1. Associations (Chamber of Commerce, etc.)
2. Billboards
3. Business Cards
4. Client Testimonials (Hard Copy)
5. Club Memberships (Golf, Tennis, Other)
6. Company Boards (BOD’s, nonprofit boards and advisory councils)
7. Direct Mail including Postcards
8. Face to Face Networking Organizations
9. Glossy Brochures
10. Hard Copy Newsletter
11. Literature (traditional paper based)
12. Magazine Ads
13. Newspaper Ads
14. On Site Events (for both clients and prospects)
15. Promotional Items
16. Referrals
17. Telemarketing
18. Trade Shows
19. Volunteer and community programs
20. Yellow Page Ads

Some of the activities noted above are perhaps dubious from a marketing standpoint. How does the list above compare with a Web 2.0 Insurance Agency Marketing activity list? Let’s review common Insurance Agency Web Marketing activities, again in alphabetical order:

1. Article Directories (ePublishing)
2. Blogging
3. Bookmarking (Digg, StumbleUppon, Reddit, etc.)
4. eBrochures (eFullfillment)
5. eMarketing
6. eTestimonials (Digitally written or recorded testimonials)
7. Executive email initiatives (Individually targeted emails as opposed to blasts)
8. Link Building Campaigns
9. Micro blogging (Twitter, Tumblr, etc.)
10. Pay Per Click (Google, LinkedIn, Facebook)
11. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
12. Skype Recorded Interviews
13. Social Media Marketing (Business Marketing Initiatives on Facebook, LinkedIn)
14. Social Networking (Personal interaction on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
15. Vlogging
16. Warm Calling (calls to email click-throughs, webinar registrants, etc.)
17. Webinars (Web Seminars)
18. Website development and enhancement
19. Website Video
20. YouTube

Does this Web 2.0 list supersede all of the traditional insurance marketing activities listed above, or is a combination of the traditional and web-centric advisable? For more on this important and engaging topic, read the article! And for more on the intricacies of insurance agency marketing in 2011, visit the experts.

Reaching out to a digital world, however, is much more complex than marketing methods of old. Knowing what to say, where to say it, how frequently, and how to measure results to improve upon one’s marketing strategy can prove truly stupefying. Enter the web marketing gurus. In a capitalist society, where there is a profitable void, people will inevitably flock. The upside of these economics is that it is now entirely possible to outsource one’s marketing efforts for a fraction of the cost of in-house marketing, modernizing in the process.

These effects can certainly be seen in the field of insurance. StartUpSelling delivers web marketing services specifically developed for the insurance industry. Though marketing has become  global, digital, or viral, the importance of the message content has persisted. And knowing where to find the prospects, and how to get them reading, has become an increased challenge in 2011, when fiscal deficits and attention deficits compete viciously with your marketing efforts. Insurance web marketing, or insurance emarketing, must have an intelligently targeted approach, delivering useful, engaging content to rise above the digital din. Only through an experiential, knowledge-based approach can a message be successfully delivered in the new world order of marketing.