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4th annual Astonish e-Marketing Agency of the Year candidates During the year, The Rough Notes Company Web site (www.roughnotes.com) has profiled a number of agencies that use the Astonish digital marketing system. Reviews of these agencies, known as the "e-Marketing Agency of the Month," appear on the following pages. One of these firms will be named "The Astonish e-Marketing Agency of the Year." That agency's profile will appear in the January 2014 print edition of Rough Notes magazine.
March Main Street Insurance Todd Sager and Kevin Heath, co-owners of Main Street Insurance, call themselves "old-school insurance agents." The agency is unashamedly a generalist operation. Sager says, "If we specialize in anything, it's in saying 'Yes' to every possible customer we can."
When e-commerce started taking hold around the country, Main Street Insurance was slow to jump on the bandwagon. "We had a Web site," Heath recalls, "but there was nothing really special about it." A few years ago, agency leaders realized they'd need to change if they were to prosper in today's marketplace. Now, the agency has an expanded digital footprint and new processes to handle increased Web-driven business. The biggest change, however, was cultural. "The bottom line is, we needed to start focusing on what we really are, and that is salespeople," says Sager. The agency tracks data and holds regular meetings to update staff. "We have a sales board that allows everyone to see our results—and celebrate them," he adds. Despite the increased sales focus, Main Street isn't just about selling. "Instead of trying to sell prospects something, we continually work to earn their business," explains Sales Manager Shane Overby. "It's one thing to sell a policy, but you have to service it and build up relationships to retain it. Recognizing that really helped us grow." Adds Heath, "We knew we needed to embrace digital, but we never wanted to lose touch with our customers. That's what we've done, and it's what we'll continue to do going forward."
April MAX Insurance Agency, Inc. MAX Insurance Agency got its start 12 years ago when several small mutual insurers with faith-based programs formed MutualAid eXchange. A few years ago, the agency entered the e-marketing arena, launching a content-rich, interactive Web site to attract prospects and generate leads, and complemented the site with a strong social media presence.
"We learned how important it is to create meaningful content that is easy to find and engaging," says MAX President and CEO David Wine, "and how to build various features into our site that make it easy for people to reach out to us." "Today, we do a lot on Facebook, and Karen Morrone, our marketing manager, tweets every day," explains Bob Dinkins, MAX learning and communications director. The agency is active on LinkedIn and uses an in-house studio to produce videos for its YouTube channel. Knowledge of consumer search behavior led MAX to create a new URL—faithbasedinsurance.com—to boost visibility in its target market. "Using a name that highlights our faith-based approach lets people looking for insurance from that kind of organization find us more easily," Wine explains. "Traffic to our Web site is way up. "We want to continue to grow," he notes, "and digital marketing and a strong Web presence will help us do that. But we need to deliver on the promise when people actually do find our site and learn more about MAX. We need to have the utmost integrity and do what we say we will do."
May Remland Insurance Remland Insurance's strong community focus has helped it develop an identity—a brand—as a business that cares. "We value the people we do business with here," says agency President Gary Remland, "and we try to help them and the community as much as possible."
For a number of years, the agency didn't have much of a growth strategy. "We were so service-oriented we lost sight of the importance of sales," Remland recalls. A focus shift started a few years ago when the agency implemented a digital marketing strategy. "It's one of the best decisions I've ever made for the agency," Remland says. "We've changed the mindset of people here." Employees are much more sales focused. A new Web site attracts shoppers looking online for insurance information and makes it easy to connect with the agency once they do. The agency complemented its Web site redesign and launch with strong social networking to create what Remland calls "important touch points for our customers and future customers." Marketing Director Christi Gartner says, "All of our social media and digital marketing activities are designed to help our agents do what they do best: sell insurance." A key element of the digital strategy—and one that supports the agency's community focus—is a Partners Page, featuring nearly 80 local businesses. "We want to help businesses and we want to be friends with them, but, to be honest, I want to earn the right to take a shot at writing their insurance business," Remland explains.
June John E. Peakes Insurance Agency, Inc. For years, Peakes Insurance reached prospects through community involvement, direct mail, radio, word-of-mouth referrals and Yellow Pages ads. "The Yellow Pages were the place to be and they knew it," explains agency Principal John Peakes. "Whenever we renewed, they upped the price. It had become phenomenally expensive.
"We were seeing less success from ads there," he adds. "We had to do something different." Peakes and his son, Chad, a producer at the agency, attended a presentation led by Astonish. "What they said motivated me," John says. "It pumped me up." And it started the agency's digital marketing journey. Staff learned everything from blogging and social media marketing to positioning and SEO—and how it all ties together. They implemented an e-marketing strategy built around on-site and stand-alone blogs, social media platforms and an engaging, interactive Web site. And they launched comprehensive e-mail-based customer retention and drip marketing programs. Agency Marketing Manager Edyn Sechrest says the agency complements its online work with offline engagement—including personal thank-you notes. "Interestingly, people often respond on our Facebook page about how much they appreciate getting a hand-written note. Offline turns to online, and people can see that." The digital marketing work is paying off. "We're growing," John says. "We may not always make the sale right away, but even when we don't, people we've talked to get our e-mails and we write them later."
July Wolpert Insurance & Risk Management Wolpert Insurance & Risk Management's business is in commercial lines, and much of that falls within a handful of defined niches. For years, the agency used time-tested techniques to reach prospects. "We took part in industry association meetings, we did door-to-door drops and mailers, and we used telemarketing," says Principal Bob Mucci. "But we also built niche-focused microsites."
A few years ago, the agency teamed up with Astonish to bolster its digital marketing work. The agency got an added benefit when it did that: "They really helped us tweak our internal sales culture," explains fellow Principal Mike Wolpert. "They helped our producers by generating more external business from sources and places where we had no previous relationships." The move provided new opportunities for agency staff. "For instance, we have someone who started with us a little over five years ago in the personal lines department," Mucci says. "She quickly bought into our new approach and the need to transition to more of a sales culture. "Over the last few years, she became personal lines manager and now has transitioned into the commercial lines side and is handling inside sales for commercial—focusing primarily on leads generated through the work we're doing with Astonish," he adds. She's not alone. "We're generating enough leads through our digital marketing work to feed multiple people," Wolpert says. Thanks to efficiencies gained in various areas of operation, the agency has been able to reduce the number of employees focused primarily on service and triple its producer force.
August Kimberley Vassal Insurance Services Kimberley Vassal Insurance Services is a multi-line agency, with about 60% of its P&C business in commercial lines. Not long after John Vassalotti joined the family agency, his dad came to him with a special assignment. "We needed to do something with our Web site, and I was charged with finding a way to make it better," he recalls.
He explored options and brought Astonish in to make a presentation to employees. "We all listened to the presentation and made a group decision," Vassalotti explains. Everybody agreed the firm's approach was right for the agency. Astonish created a new Web site and built a presence on social media platforms, which represented a dramatic change for the agency. "Before, we really weren't making use of digital marketing," Vassalotti explains. "Everything was old-school—everything from Yellow Pages and direct mail to advertising at the local movie theater, with our name, picture and phone number being shown among the trailers before the feature started." The agency supports its Web presence with an aggressive blogging strategy. One blog resides on the agency site; the other—focused on community events—is a stand-alone blog. "Blogging keeps our site fresh and boosts search engine relevance," Vassalotti notes. "Actually, the community blog is one of the leading sources of traffic to our site." The agency's YouTube channel features a popular home-grown series called "The Beer Snob," a non-traditional production that shows a bit of the agency's personality and drives content for the agency's other social media platforms, including Facebook.
September Schirmer Insurance Group As a small child, Gina Schirmer spent time shuffling papers on a small desk her granddad made for her at his insurance agency. "I remember pretending I was answering the phones," she notes. Today, she leads her own insurance agency and no longer just pretends to answer phones; she takes calls from prospects who found her agency online.
Driving the calls—up to 30 or more a week—is a digital marketing initiative the agency implemented a few years ago with the help of Astonish. Included in the program are a new Web site, a marketing management system, sales and marketing training, ongoing consultation, social media and search engine marketing support, customizable e-mail marketing and client communication functionality, and more. Given the coastal environment where the agency operates, the client communication piece is especially important. "We get hurricane threats every year," Schirmer explains. "Now, we can reach people quickly and efficiently, even if we head inland to ride out the storm, from a cell phone or iPad." The agency created a marketing team from among people already in the office, complementing it with interns. It also achieved a culture shift. "We've seen a 110% turnaround in terms of energy, motivation, enthusiasm," Schirmer says. "Our overall sales culture has intensified. Our people have embraced the new way of doing business." Management supports the digital work by monitoring and measuring work efforts and sharing metrics data with staff so they can find ways to improve.
October Highpoint Insurance Group Highpoint Insurance Group's tagline—"We Elevate Your Success"—is based on its philosophy of building up customers. "We truly believe that our mission is to elevate the success of our clients and their businesses," says agency CEO Heather Smyrl, CPCU, CIC. "If our customers are more successful, we will be, too."
The agency supports targeted clients with insurance products and more. "We look at how to protect their bottom line, their profits, but we offer other value-added services," she adds. "That includes access to safety training, human resources counsel and other technology-based support tools." When Smyrl considered adopting a digital marketing strategy, she asked some middle market clients, "If you weren't happy with Highpoint for whatever reason, how would you go about getting another quote?" Everyone answered, "I would Google." That led Smyrl to move forward. Today, the agency has a content-rich Web site and a strong presence on social networks. It writes business for prospects it connects with on Facebook and even uses the social platform for renewals. "Recently, I was having a trouble connecting with a commercial contact, so I Facebook messaged him and we chatted," she recalls. "I had competition on the account but, through Facebook, I was able to solidify the renewal." The digital work supports other marketing activities and Highpoint's strong sales culture. "We have a blended strategy," Smyrl explains. "We don't wait for the phone to ring. We go out and hunt for business, and use Astonish as the platform to support that."
November The Gaudreau Group In a market that agency owner Jules Gaudreau Jr., CIC, ChFC, calls "hyper-competitive," The Gaudreau Group constantly looks for ways to add value for clients. "Just because our lights are on and our staff is competent and caring doesn't set us apart," he explains. One way the agency differentiates itself is with digital marketing.
To support the work, the agency tapped Astonish. "Astonish connected us with people in similar agencies," explains Elise Gaudreau, social media manager. "We found creative ways to connect with clients and prospects and get maximum employee buy-in." The agency's Web site is central to its work. "Virtually everything we do online points people to our Web site," Jules notes. "We create pointers on the Web so when people search for 'insurance' in our region, we end up on that first page." Marketing Director and Administrator Kate Roy, CIC, adds, "When Elise writes a blog on our Web site, we post links to Facebook or Twitter. We have an off-site blog that focuses on business insurance, and we post links to that on LinkedIn." Another success factor is the agency's use of metrics. "I always say, 'Inspect what you expect because people only respect what you inspect and measure,'" Jules says. "If something isn't measured, people don't respect it. That, perhaps, is the biggest change that's taken place since we signed on with Astonish." The work has paid off. "Our conversion ratio has improved," Jules notes, "and we're more proficient at cross-selling, up-selling and re-selling accounts, so our retention is better, too."
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