Insurance is one of the largest industries in the world, contributing significantly to GDP in countries worldwide.
While the need for insurance is largely realized, many still do not understand all of the available coverages that could benefit them.
For many, health and auto insurance policies are the primary insurance policies that are important, but there are many types that all offer various benefits.
For example, many young folks may not be aware of the benefits of life insurance and so life insurance advertising is a great way to tell them.
With numerous types of both optional and mandatory insurance products, it becomes vital to use insurance advertisements as a means to enlighten people about what they need to prioritize.
In today’s article, we will share some of the most successful insurance ad ideas ever carried out as well as tips and ideas to help you with your insurance advertising.
By the end of this article, you will know more about the advertising channels and strategies that you can use for your business and also be familiar with how other insurance companies have used them successfully.
Table of Contents
Why Advertising is Important for Insurance Agencies
Apart from a profitable outcome in terms of better sales, there are a number of reasons why advertising is vital for insurance agencies.
Being insured is vital for everyone, irrespective of which insurance agency they wish to rely on. Advertising your insurance plans can help you solve two problems at once: your sales and the needs of your clients.
Here are the primary reasons why advertising is important for insurance agencies:
- Introduce your brand, products, services, unique selling proposition (USP), and promotions
- Educate your clients and prospects
- Expand your market reach
- Stay top of mind and build trust
- Generate more leads and sales
- Stay competitive with your competitors
Here is the first example of a successful insurance ad idea and the advertisement is barely even about insurance.
To Create Awareness
The above video may not even seem like it is about insurance but it certainly does a good job creating awareness for State Farm the insurance company who paid for it.
By combining two NBA stars, a script, music, choreography, and a short story they did a good job of capturing people’s attention and getting their brand and unique selling proposition in front of the audience.
Many people are unaware of the different types of insurance as well as their roles, like take health insurance for example and how it’s vital for receiving adequate medical care.
With medical expenses rising, insurance agencies can be a guiding hand for people everywhere to make the right choice early on. Advertising is a great way to make people who are unaware of their need for health insurance to aware of how it could benefit them.
The bottom line is that advertising is a great way to capture people’s attention and create awareness about your brand, products, services, and unique selling proposition.
To Educate People
If you take a look at general insurance statistics in the US, you will see that not as many people have insurance as required by law. And this can be really worrying considering the rising cost of living, the mortgages most people have, piling debt, and so on.
Teaching potential clients about how insurance can help in the long run can make people prioritize insurance over other trivial expenses in the long run.
Improved Sales
Good insurance ad ideas have been known to improve sales significantly and for good reason. A great advertisement sticks in people’s minds and gets them thinking about insurance and its benefits, giving them a boost to get insured.
Conveying offers
With offers in tow, insurance seems a little more attainable and affordable for a lot of people. Advertisements are a great way to convey the latest updates in the insurance world to a sea of potential customers.
Types of Advertising for Your Insurance Ad Ideas
There are many different advertising channels that insurance companies spend marketing dollars on.
The different types of advertising about your insurance products give you the chance to reach out to every kind of audience, young and old.
In this section, we will go over many of the best advertising channels for you to reach your target audience.
Online Ads
Online ads are currently the most widely used form of advertisement, with almost every generation of people having an online presence in some form or another. Online advertising includes multiple types of media including text, images, and videos.
From social media like Facebook ads and blogs to other online avenues, online ads allow people to be targeted with insurance ads based on their personality and their online patterns.
Online ads can reach all age groups nowadays including baby boomers. However, you are likely to see more folks under the age of 55 utilizing online channels compared to folks over the age of 65.
Television
The good ol’ television has given us some of the greatest ads over the years and continues to do so. With compelling ad ideas that make people start thinking, most insurance companies know exactly what ads make the most impact.
This 2016 Super Bowl ad from Cure Auto Insurance certainly got people’s attention, ironically the title of the video is “Avoid Distractions”.
Check out our guide to video marketing for tips on insurance video marketing.
Newspapers
Although social media has taken over, many people still opt to read newspapers (even online versions!). And a majority of this crowd is still your audience.
There is no age where insurance isn’t a necessity. You can convey that through your newspaper ads.
Magazines
A number of industry-related magazines allow insurance companies to promote themselves on ones that are BFSI-specific. However, using popular magazines for your ads is another method to try.
Radio
A lot of people still listen to the radio and a lot of these people do not have an insurance policy they like.
As people age, they become more worried about giving their children a better life over their own needs. However, making them realize that planning right can give them a better retirement plan and their kids a better life at the same time is crucial.
Outdoor Advertisements
We’ve all seen billboards that have stopped us in our tracks, as well as billboards that we’ve barely spared a second glance for.
On another note, if you have a brick and mortar location, having a literal sign outside your window is an easy way to tell people that you’re available and ready for their business.
Transit Ads
Many people spend the majority of their time in transit. It could be a bus, taxi or rideshare vehicle, a train, a shuttle, or anything at all. And a lot of brands have hit the jackpot when it comes to transit advertising.
With insurance being the perfect fall-back companion for people, transit advertising is ideal for insurance companies more than any other field.
You have the chance to talk about everything, from auto insurance and healthcare to other types of insurance on a daily basis.
Emails and newsletters have worked wonders over the years to get people informed about the latest updates on insurance policies and more. By sending an email, you make the interaction more personal than an outdoor ad or one in a newspaper.
Push Notifications
Push notifications have truly become a valuable advertisement option for insurance companies with the death-grip that most people have on their phones.
People carry their phones everywhere and push notifications work best for every phone, without the need for good internet.
Of course, you will need to create an app for push notifications so this option may only be applicable for existing customers.
The Best Insurance Advertisement Samples You Need to Watch
More often than not, people tend to avoid watching ads that are based on topics they are not interested in. Insurance-themed ads are quickly avoided if they start out boring. Over the years, insurance companies have managed to create advertisements that are both impactful and eye-catching.
One could even say they’ve identified what works and made insurance ads more interesting and relatable.
Here are some of the best insurance advertisement samples from the last few decades and the reasons why it worked for them:
Humana’s ‘Grandparents’ Commercial
A notable ad counted among the best for insurance agencies was one by Humana based on grandparents. Taking an emotional route, the ad has kids interacting with their grandparents, mentioning how they love their grandparents.
The ad makes you go ‘awww’ at all the right moments and certainly has your heart-melting by the end.
What Worked for Them — Creating an Emotional Connection
Humana’s ‘Grandparents’ commercial is the perfect example of creating an emotional connection through your ads. Tugging at your heartstrings, it has a compelling storyline that gives the audience a feel-good moment with an important message.
Why It Can Work for You
In a study conducted by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, it was found that emotional content performed two times better than content that was rational. So, creating emotional dynamics among the people within the ad can make the ad become popular in no time.
With a better understanding of why emotional ads work best, you can base your campaigns for a stronger emotional connection with your audience.
The Allstate Corp Insurance Ad
Here’s one ad that got our hearts stopping out of sheer fear. A classic example of outdoor advertising.
To draw people’s attention, Allstate Corp had a car dangling from a high-rise building with a billboard that read, “Are you in good hands?”
Promoting their accident forgiveness feature, Allstate had people take notice and wonder if the fate of their automobiles (and their lives) is really in the right hands in case of an accident.
What Worked for Them — Focusing on Their USPs
A brand’s unique selling point (USP) can very well be bait on a hook for the audience. When you offer something that not many within industry offer to their customers, you know exactly what your communication should be.
In the case of Allstate Corp, their accidental forgiveness feature was wonderfully depicted through their advertising idea and got their message across without saying a lot.
Why It Can Work for You
Understand that a USP is, well, unique! It can drive a large part of your audience towards you.
By jotting down your insurance agency’s USPs and taking into account your target audience, you can create a communication route that hits the bullseye.
Prudential’s ‘Ribbon Experiment’
The ‘Ribbon Experiment’ advertisement by Prudential took a simple route by asking relevant questions. By involving real people in the ad, they made the ad more realistic for people, making them look the facts in the eye and think for themselves too.
A question like “How much money do you think you’ll need to retire?” is a burning one that makes one really think and start planning when they understand the real numbers.
The ad did what it wanted to: it shocked people into action.
What Worked for Them — Raising Valid Questions
When you look at the ‘Ribbon Experiment’ advertisement by Prudential, it’s plain to see what makes the ad so impactful.
They made sure they asked a burning question to a real audience to give them the ability to take the right action about their situation. Most even admit that they can never save up enough for their retirement unless they have an insurance plan to fall back on. This not only includes health insurance but every other kind of insurance that people generally require.
Why It Can Work for You
Your ad ideas can influence your audience to think in a certain direction by giving them a gentle nudge. Rather than waiting for your audience to ask the right questions, you can do it through your ads, simultaneously providing them with the answers.
To be precise, you portray yourself as the solution to their newly unearthed problems.
Aflac’s ‘Bad Golfer’
The Aflac Duck has managed to give us endless laughs and quite a few hilarious moments.
Aflac came through with their promise yet again in their ‘Bad Golfer’ ad campaign that had the Aflac Duck trying his hand at golf and failing miserably as two onlookers discuss his golfing skills.
The saving grace is when one of them mentions how he may be a terrible golfer but was spectacular in getting his claims paid within four days.
Now, that’s impressive!
While there are countless other insurance advertisement samples that we could have mentioned, we decided to go ahead with these to help you understand what went right with these ad ideas.
What Worked for Them — Relate to Your Audience
Notice how Aflac managed to cover people’s most feared part of the insurance process — getting a claim paid — with a humorous take.
The struggling duck makes the ad funny and relatable for people, building an instant connection with the brand.
Everyone’s always complaining about how long it takes for a claim to be processed and this advertisement by Aflac clearly shows that while they’re not perfect, they’re here to help process your claims quickly.
Why It Can Work for You
Taking a cue from Aflac, you must remember to keep your ideas and communication relatable so that it holds the attention of your audience.
Newer circumstances bring up concerns that plague people when it comes to insurance. You have the power to put their mind at ease through what you offer and the way you communicate to your audience.
Find out what most people relate to in terms of insurance fears and take a step to counter these fears through your communication.
Our Take
Compelling insurance ad ideas are in demand in 2021 and beyond.
By understanding the many channels of advertising and the behavioral patterns of your audience, you can create advertisements that stay with them for years and help them understand why they should opt for your services.
Speak to their emotions, raise valid questions, and focus on your USPs to make a lasting impact while earning the trust of your audience.
For more information on advertising and insurance ad ideas, check out this guide to Facebook ads for life insurance agents and this guide to life insurance advertising.
