According to estimates, there are roughly 409,950 life insurance agents in the US.
If you’re a final expense sales agent, that’s a lot of competition to top. What’s more, final expense can be a tough sell. Most consumers don’t want to think about their passing, and life insurance doesn’t have the same near-term gratification that other products do.
At the same time, final expense sales can be a very lucrative line if you can figure out how to crack its code.
The secret?
Enhanced lead generation strategies.
Without the right final expense lead generation tactics in place, you won’t have enough leads to convert into sales.
Fortunately, there are various strategies you can implement to ensure a steady flow of final expense leads.
Keen to know what these are? Carry on reading as we outline the top 10 proven lead generation tactics you should be leveraging as a final expense insurance sales agent.
1. Building a Sales Funnel
One of the overarching requirements for effective lead generation is having a good sales funnel in place.
A sales funnel acts to attract and then guide prospects towards making a purchase through you.
To be effective, your sales funnel needs to cater to the buyer journey. The buyer journey is made up of the following three stages:
- The awareness stage: the buyer becomes aware they have a need/problem
- The consideration stage: the buyer compares products
- The decision stages: the buyer decides on an option
To create a sales funnel, you will need to target prospects at each of these stages appropriately. For instance, hard-selling final expense to someone who is only just realizing they need a financial safety net for their passing-away expenses won’t be very effective.
However, offering free information about final expense products’ benefits might draw these prospects into your funnel. From here, you can supply them with detailed product comparisons to further help them in the buyer journey.
When they are ready to make a buying decision, you will likely stick out in their minds as the go-to source.
2. Purchasing Final Expense Telemarketing Leads
Along with building a targeted sales funnel, you should also look into purchasing final expense telemarketing leads.
Purchasing telemarketing leads is a pivotal method for fast-tracking sales.
Although it’s critical that you implement organic lead generation methods—such as content and social media marketing—these strategies take time. Buying telemarketing leads is a streamlined way to generate leads fast.
Once you’ve purchased your leads, you can start working them right away and convert them into sales.
Purchased leads are an essential tactic for final expense agents because it allows you quickly build up your commission stream while you wait for your other lead generation tactics to bear fruit.
3. Getting Social
According to estimates, 72% of adults in the US are on social media.
Social media marketing is a powerful lead generation method. It can win you trust, grow your reach, establish you as an authority, and feed final expense leads into your sales funnel.
Social media also gives you the opportunity to create short-form, relatable content and engage with your following on a one-on-one level. This helps you to build relationships and establish yourself as a go-to point for anything final expense-related.
If you have yet to get going with social media marketing, start by establishing which platforms you wish to target. Facebook is one of the best platforms for generating final expense leads as it has a more mature user base.
You should also develop a posting schedule, hash out your upcoming content, and strategize how this will draw people into your funnel.
Take note that overly self-promotional posts don’t typically do very well on social media. Instead, try to entertain, inform, and provide value to your audience.
4. Building a Referral Program
Another valuable method of lead generation that many insurance agents overlook is referrals.
Referral leads are typical of great quality. They come with a pre-established level of trust and are typically at a more advanced stage in the buyer journey.
There are various ways you can encourage referrals. One of the easiest is simply asking your existing clients to refer you to any friends or family of theirs who need final expense insurance.
Another highly effective method for referral lead generation is to set up a referral program that offers an incentive for every referral who makes a purchase.
5. Creating Content Around Your Target Customers’ Pain Points
Content marketing is another proven method for final expense lead generation. However, before you start creating content, make sure that it directly addresses your target market’s pain points and questions.
If you have been selling final expense insurance for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed various common pain points and questions that come up when you speak to clients.
Make a list of these, and use them in your content marketing.
If you address your prospects’ needs and questions in your content (and optimize for search), you’ll be bound to attract leads who are looking for answers related to final expense insurance.
If they land on your blog, this will establish you as an authority in their eyes. What’s more, from your blog content (or other content), you can lead visitors towards the next step in your funnel, such as signing up for your email list.
6. Carry Out Email Marketing
A lot of insurance sales work revolves around manually contacting and following up with leads. However, email marketing offers a way for you to keep in touch with leads and clients and continually draw them into your sales funnel
By sending out well-crafted emails at the appropriate frequency and volume, you can remind leads of your offerings, inform them of special offers, and share free value with them (such as blog posts and other content).
7. Storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful method for connecting with leads and drawing them into your sales funnel. What’s more, there are various ways you can leverage storytelling in final expense insurance marketing.
For instance, you can include case studies on your site where you reveal how final expense insurance safeguarded your clients’ peace of mind and financially protected their loved ones from unforeseen costs.
You can also tell your own story and how it drives you to serve your clients.
At the end of the day, brand building is all about storytelling. Even if you are an independent agent working alone, branding is still essential. Whether you are branding yourself or creating a brand separate from you, storytelling will make you stick out in people’s minds and create emotional connections.
8. Offering Lead Magnets
As we said above, email marketing is a proven lead generation method.
However, to generate leads through email marketing, you need to have an email list to begin with. A great way to build your email list and reel in leads is by offering a lead magnet in exchange for their email address.
This could be anything from a free e-book to guides, original research, templates, checklists, etc.
If you offer a lead magnet, you may find that your email list starts to grow at a much faster pace.
9. Invest in Video Marketing for Enhanced Lead Generation
Did you know that 68% of people prefer to learn about a new business through a video?
Video is a powerful medium for gaining trust, exposure, and reach. Because viewers can see your face and hear your voice, they’ll be more likely to trust you as a person. They will also get to know you, relate to you, and view you as a friend and advisor rather than just someone who’s trying to sell them something.
Of course, video does take a little more input to create than other types of content. However, the extra investment is well worthwhile, given how impactful video content can be.
Not only is video preferred by new leads, but it also receives 1200% more shares on social media than text and image content combined.
10. Enhance Your Exposure Through Interviews, Guest Posts, and Events
Besides creating content, video, and social posts, you should also look into other ways of gaining exposure.
Does someone want to interview you on their webinar or podcast? If so, this is a great way to grow your reach and enhance your lead generation efforts.
You can also look into guest posting on reputable sites such as Forbes.
Lastly, make it a point to attend events and networking get-togethers in your area even if they are virtual. While you might not gain as many leads from these activities as from buying leads directly—all of these strategies can help.
Kick Start Your Lead Generation Strategies With Quality Telemarketing Leads
As you can see, there are numerous ways you can generate final expense leads. However, a lot of lead generation methods take time to generate results.
Things like blogging and social media marketing are a slow burn and won’t pile leads into your lap overnight. However, there is one thing that can do this, and that is paid leads.
If you want to get your hands on a batch of final expense leads immediately, so you can start working those leads right away—you’re in the right place.
We specialize in supplying insurance agents with high-quality, exclusive leads. Check out our lead packages today to fast-track your final expense commission streams.