KIA&B 2015 Volume 20, Issue 5 | Page 12

| TRUSTED CHOICE COMMITTEE | Keeping score Measuring results help us target our marketing dollars where they work best KRISTY WILSON Trusted Choice Committee Chair F all is in the air! Many of us are watching our local football and volleyball teams compete, not to mention watching our very own Kansas City Royals head to the World Series. Catching the score on the 10 o’clock news or tracking the numbers online the next morning if you couldn’t stay up late enough is the information we seek out. That’s because the score is how any team measures its success. As agents, we have at least one common goal: to sell insurance. We do this by investing in our team and by investing in a local marketing campaign for our agency. KAIA supports our efforts by investing in a statewide marketing campaign to complement our local efforts. But, how do we know what works and what doesn’t? measuring results On the state level, KAIA has developed a campaign that includes a combination of radio, newspaper, billboards and online advertising – this includes sponsoring the statewide radio broadcast of the Trusted Choice High School Scoreboard Show, online advertising in conjunction with college football and basketball games, ad spots on news and ag radio shows throughout the state, and print ads in our community newspapers. And, they’re keeping score for us. In September alone, KAIA’s marketing drew 1,985 Kansas consumers to TrustedChoice.com to find their local independent agent. Of that, 55 people completed an online request for a quote from their local agent. So far this year, our statewide marketing efforts have attracted more than 14,200 visitors to TrustedChoice.com, generating more than 380 leads for KAIA member agents. 10 That means 4,000 more Kansans have visited TrustedChoice.com this year to find a local agent than we saw in the prior year – and we still have three more months of web traffic to gauge before the year is over. numbers don’t lie So, what types of marketing seem to be driving consumers in our statewide campaign? The answers might surprise you. KAIA and TrustedChoice.com keep score in two key ways – (1) how many Kansans visit the website to learn more about independent agents, and (2) how many of those consumers requested an online quote from their local agent. On the state level, we’ve found that we generate the most website traffic from our radio advertising – which includes sponsorship of the Trusted Choice High School Scoreboard Show and radio spots on news/ag shows across the state. However, we’re seeing the most online leads generated from our newspaper ads. Every market differs, but hopefully the results we’re seeing with the state-level campaign are complementing the results you’re seeing on the local level, and will help inform your agency’s own marketing decisions. immeasurable matters too One aspect of marketing that tends to be the same across the board is the impact of community-based marketing – the kind of marketing that fosters goodwill and supports the communities we serve. It may not be as measureable as other types of marketing, but it can be just as important. Getting out there with your team and promoting yourself is a very important part of an agency’s overall marketing strategy. KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER |September-October 2015|