40 Insurance Marketing Ideas, Strategies & Tactics [2024]

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Updated: January 20th, 2022

Wondering how to market your health insurance business?

Marketing your health insurance business is certainly not easy, but there are many ways to promote and advertise your health insurance business.

We put together a list of the best marketing ideas for your health insurance business, so you can get your small business out there.

Here’s the list:

1. Affiliate Program: Launch An Affiliate Program

Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.

Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.

The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.

Topic: Affiliate
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - $50-$500
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on affiliate program ➜

2. Word of mouth: Generate Word Of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

Topic: Word Of Mouth
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Free - Happy customers will spread the word at no cost to your business.
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on word of mouth ➜

3. Direct Sales: Build A Sales Team

Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.

For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

Topic: Sales
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: High - Typical costs to consider when hiring: hiring costs, training costs, plus salary and incentives.
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on direct sales ➜

4. Pay Per Click Advertising: Set Up A Pay Per Click Campaign

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.

Topic: Affiliate
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - Average is typically $1 per click
Result: Brand Exposure

5. Referral Program: Launch A Referral Program

A referral program is the type of marketing where you state an offer to your existing customers for the act of creating a word-of-mouth referral that converts.

According to SEMrush, word-of-mouth is considered to be one of the top traffic sources for small businesses that practice affiliate marketing.

Launching a referral program is a great marketing strategy for growing a small business. An effective referral program enables startups to increase lead generation and an active audience.

Topic: Word Of Mouth
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - $10-$100
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on referral program ➜

6. SEO Strategy: Create An Effective SEO Strategy

An SEO strategy is the process of planning, optimizing, and organizing your website to help it rank better in search results.

A good SEO strategy helps you match users' search intent such that you drive traffic that is more credible and quality leads to your website.

Therefore, invest in SEO to help your business grow online.

Topic: SEO
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - SEO costs for a monthly retainer plan range from $750 to $5000 per month.
Result: SEO

Check out our full guide on seo strategy ➜

7. LinkedIn Outreach: Reach Out To Prospects Via LInkedIn InMail

LinkedIn Outreach is the process of sending direct LinkedIn messages to prospects.

Consider that direct messaging is LinkedIn's primary one-to-one communication approach. Therefore, sending direct LinkedIn message provides marketers an effective approach for reaching the target audience in a personal way.

Often referred to as LinkedIn Inmail, LinkedIn direct messaging could accelerate your lead generation pipeline.

Topic: Social Media (Organic)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - The InMails are sent on a pay-per-send basis, and cost anywhere from $0.30 to $1 per send depending on your target audience
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on linkedin outreach ➜

8. Networking Event: Attend A Networking Event

Networking event refers to social or economic activity where entrepreneurs meet with intention of forming business relationships, recognizing, creating, or acting upon business opportunities.

As an entrepreneur, creating connections and putting your brand out there is critical to the success of your business.

Attending a networking event you will meet like-minded people, exchange a business idea or two, and leave knowing you brought your brand some exposure.

Networking events could provide you a once in lifetime opportunity or connection that could take your business to the next level.

Topic: Events
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - $0-$150
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on networking event ➜

9. Webinar: Launch A Webinar

A webinar is an event held virtually and attended exclusively by an online audience. Therefore, a webinar can reach a wide range of audiences from different locations.

Webinars are a great way to build your existing audience and create new customers. Webinars can also help with promotions, establishing clout and credibility with customers, and can help build your email list.

Webinars are a particularly effective marketing tool because they allow brands to connect with their customers.

Topic: Events
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - $100-$1,500
Result: Trust & Credibility

Check out our full guide on webinar ➜

10. Guest Blogging: Start Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is a content marketing strategy that involves writing and publishing a blog post on another company’s website.

Guest posts include your byline and are highlighted by the editor of that website as being written by a guest author or contributor

Guest posts attract a new audience and ultimately boost brand credibility and awareness.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - $0-$300
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on guest blogging ➜

11. Quora: Write Viral Answers On Quora

Quora is a platform where you can contribute and obtain knowledge. It's a place to ask questions and connect with others who offer insights and answers to specific questions.

By contributing answers on Quora, you can promote your business and drive organic traffic to your site.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - -
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on quora ➜

12. Yelp reviews: Get More Positive Yelp Reviews

Yelp is a social networking site that lets users postreviews and rate businesses. Positive Yelp reviews provide valuable input when it comes to lead generation.

According to Customer reviews data, 97% of people make a purchase after visiting Yelp. Besides, 80% of consumers visiting Yelp share businesses they find with other people.

Therefore, positive Yelp reviews can lead to greater social proof needed to inspire consumer confidence and foster customer loyalty.

Topic: Social Media (Organic)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - Satisfied customers will leave Yelp reviews voluntarily
Result: Trust & Credibility

Check out our full guide on yelp reviews ➜

13. Yelp ads: Create Yelp Ads

Yelp Ads refers to the placement of promotional content on Yelp with the intention to reach more customers who visit Yelp.

The Yelp advertisements will appear in the search results and on business listings.

Through Yelp ads, you can bring more people back to your Yelp business page so that they learn more about your business and ultimately decide to contact you.

Topic: Social Media - (Paid)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - $0-$350
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on yelp ads ➜

14. Testimonials: Ask Customers For Testimonials

A customer testimonial is a recommendation from satisfied customers affirming the value of a product or service.

Happy customers give customer testimonials voluntarily or upon a company’s request.

According to Optinmonster, 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.

When combined with a sharp content strategy, customer testimonials help prospects overcome objections, hence boosting online sales and turns customers to brand ambassadors.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - Satisfied customers will leave testimonials at no cost to your business
Result: Trust & Credibility

Check out our full guide on testimonials ➜

15. Trade Show: Attend A Trade Show

Tradeshows refer to an exhibition where companies in a specific industry display and demonstrate their products or services.

Although this tactic may seem traditional, tradeshows remain an effective and important marketing strategy in business today.

With attending a tradeshow, startups can reach their target audienceand also attract new customers.

Topic: Events
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - $200-$5,000
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on trade show ➜

16. Podcast advertising: Advertise Your Brand On A Podcast

Podcast advertising refers to promoting your brand during a podcast.

According to Buzzsprout, podcasts currently reach over 68 million Americans on a weekly basis, and the number will continue to increase.

With so many Americans listening to podcasts, it is easy to get your message in front of potential customers. Therefore, embracing podcast advertising can boost your brand awareness.

Topic: Social Media - (Paid)
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - $15 for a 10-second ad CPM. $18 for a 30-second ad CPM. $25 for a 60-second ad CPM
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on podcast advertising ➜

17. Search engine marketing (SEM): Create A SEM Marketing Campagin

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) refers to an advertising strategy that generates ads in search engines to position brands among the top results.

Unlike SEO, SEM strategy works through paying for keywords so that your content appears in the top position in search.

SEM can be effective in driving traffic to your website and improving conversion rates.

Topic: Social Media - (Paid)
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: High - On average, SMBs spend $9K to $10K per month on SEM, which includes ad spend and management costs
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on search engine marketing (sem) ➜

18. LinkedIn ads: Advertise On LinkedIn

LinkedIn Advertising refers to the use of paid LinkedIn Ads targeting the platform users.

The LinkedIn paid ads provide an exceptional benefit that will help brands to meet the specific business goals.

LinkedIn advertising is ideal for businesses that want to reach customers via a professional network.

Topic: Social Media - (Paid)
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - On average: $5.26 per click, $6.59 per 1000 impressions, and $0.80 per send.
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on linkedin ads ➜

19. Business cards: Create Business Cards

A business card is a card bearing information about a business or an individual.

Business cards may seem like an "old" way to market yourself, but they still may be worth it.

A skillfully designed business card can be your best marketing tool especially if you meet many clients in person.

Topic: Print + Traditional
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - $25-$200. Price depends on how many business cards you order.
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on business cards ➜

20. Conversion Rate Optimization: Optimize conversion rates

Website Conversion = # of times a web user completes a goal / site traffic.

Conversion rate optimization refers to the process of optimizing promoted search ads, landing pages, and the overall website.

Optimizing conversion rate allows the digital marketer to capitalize on the traffic and leads they manage to acquire.

Topic: SEO
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - $0-$500
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on conversion rate optimization ➜

21. Promotional videos: Create A Stellar Promotional Video

A promotional video is any type of video you record and post with the intention of promoting a particular marketing initiative, sale, or event.

According to Wyzowl, 83% of video marketers say video gives them a great ROI.

Creating a stellar promotional video grabs the audience's attention and draws them to learn more about the featured product or service.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - $100-$10,000
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on promotional videos ➜

22. Case Study: Create A Case Study For Your Website

Case studies are a great way to show your audience real-life success stories from other customers.

When a potential lead see's how your product/service made a difference for an existing customer, they are likely to have more confidence in your brand and convert into a customer. Case studies are essentially used as social proof, which can be a very persuasive form of marketing.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - Case studies can be created on a simple word document or powerpoint. To create a powerful case study, all you need is time and focus.
Result: Trust & Credibility

Check out our full guide on case study ➜

23. Direct Mail Campaign: Design A Successful Direct Mail Campaign

Marketing through direct mail is a process where a business sends print advertising to their customer using the mail system.

Although this may seem like an old school way of doing marketing, it's proven to create brand awareness and convert customers.

This form of marketing can be done through various different methods, such as brochures, letters, postcards, flyers and much more.

Topic: Print + Traditional
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - $.50-$3.00 per piece of mail
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on direct mail campaign ➜

24. Checklist Content: Create A Checklist For Your Blog

Checklists provide readers with a concise list of tasks for how to solve a specific problem.

This type of content typically drives your customer to download, use, and share your content - all great ways to improve your SEO and brand exposure.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - There is no cost to create a checklist.
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on checklist content ➜

25. Lead Nurturing Sequence: Create an Email Lead Magnet Nurturing Sequence

Nurturing emails are a series of emails that that suit the needs of your customers based on where they are at in their buyer journey.

These emails are typically full of useful content and information and can be designed to promote a number of different offerings - such as marketing materials, website content, discounted deals, etc.

By creating targeted, segmented emails, you show your customer that you are aware of their interests which can help with conversions.

Topic: Email
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Free - No cost
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on lead nurturing sequence ➜

26. Caption Contest: Run A Caption Contest

A caption contest giveaway is when brands share an image on social media and ask their audience to come up with a description for it.

Typically, whoever creates the best caption is chosen and rewarded with a gift or prize.

Not only can this engage your audience, but the results are often so clever that they can be used for future marketing material. You could even use the best entries to create a hilarious meme for your business. The opportunities are endless.

Topic: Social Media (Organic)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - $10-$500. Depending on the giveaway prize, the cost may vary.
Result: Engagement

Check out our full guide on caption contest ➜

27. TV Advertising: Create A TV Ad Campaign

Television advertising refers to broadcasting programmed promotional messages that target potential TV viewers.

Brands use TV commercials to convey promotional messages that market a product or a service.

Throughout the decades, brands have used TV commercials to attract a massive customer base for their products and services.

Topic: Print + Traditional
Level of Difficulty: Hard
Cost: High - $115,000 per 30 second commercial
Result: Brand Exposure

Check out our full guide on tv advertising ➜

28. Data-Driven Content: Create A Data-Driven Content Marketing Campaign

Data driven content is a strategy used for content marketing campaigns. This data is typically obtained from your brands buyer persona to create an effective marketing campaign.

Data driven content uses factual information generated from experiments (surveys or testing) to form conclusions.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - $10-$300.
Result: Trust & Credibility

Check out our full guide on data-driven content ➜

29. Optimize Landing Pages: Landing Page Optimization

Landing page optimization refers to the process of improving or enhancing each element on your landing page to increase conversions.

In essence, you do not need to create new content or redesigning the website. Instead, you will use data and anecdotal evidence to create optimized landing pages.

Note that landing page optimization is a process. Thus, it might take weeks or even months to achieve an optimized page.

Topic: SEO
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low - Companies can spend anywhere from $75 to upwards of $3000 on the design and optimization of a landing page depending on the complexity, time to build, and add ons
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on optimize landing pages ➜

30. Brand Story Email: Create A Brand Story Email Campaign

A brand story email narrates the story of how and why your business was started and expresses how that narrative is still apart of you today.

Emails that explain your brand story can be a very effective way to connect with your customer.

Topic: Email
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - -
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on brand story email ➜

31. Whitepaper: Publish A Whitepaper

A whitepaper is a persuasive, authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution.

Ideally, a white paper covers a complex issue and its purpose is to advocate that a certain position is the best way to go.

When used for a marketing purpose, the white paper focuses on influencing the decision-making of current and prospective customers

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Hard
Cost: Medium - $50-$4,500. If designed on own, the cost to publish a white-paper is next to zero. However, many businesses outsource this to an expert as it can be time-consuming and challenging, which usually costs an average of $4,500.
Result: SEO

Check out our full guide on whitepaper ➜

32. Print Media Marketing: Create A Print Media Marketing Campaign

Print media marketing is a form of advertising that uses physically printed media to reach consumers, business customers, and prospects.

Examples of physically printed media are magazines, newspapers, newsletters, consumer and trade magazines, and direct letters to target customers.

By creating print media marketing campaigns, businesses are able to reach a very wide audience and target different readerships.

Topic: Print + Traditional
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - $500-$20,000
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on print media marketing ➜

33. Infographic: Design An Infographic

Infographics are a visual document that shows data and complex concepts about a specific topic.

Infographics are a great way to present facts and statistics about your product or service.

Presenting information in a visually appealing way allows visitors to spend time on your site and share your content.

Additionally, infographics can make your product more credible if there's research-driven data involved.

Topic: Content
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - Infographics can be created using the free version of Canva or even using a google doc.
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on infographic ➜

34. Newspaper Ad: Experiment With Newspaper Advertising

Newspaper advertising refers to running an ad for your business in a print publication.

Placing ads in newspapers and magazines has been an effective way to reach a wide range of customers. Advertisers can use newspapers and magazines to run targeted advertising.

To ensure effectively targeted marketing using newspaper and magazine ads, the advertiser must research the interests of the target audience.

Topic: Print + Traditional
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium - $500-$20,000
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on newspaper ad ➜

35. Twitter Advanced Search: Find Customers Through Advanced Search In Twitter

Twitter advanced search is an underrated, little-known tool that's been extremely effective for marketers and small business owners.

Advanced search is available when using the web app and is perfect for:

Finding new customers
Measuring the satisfaction of current customers.

This search puts leads right in front of you and allows you to reach people who have a specific problem that your business could help with.

Topic: Social Media (Organic)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - -
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on twitter advanced search ➜

36. Twitter Polls: Conduct Twitter Polls

Twitter Polls are native surveys designed to collect feedback and give people the chance to weigh in on questions.

One great way to increase engagement is conducting Twitter polls.

Not only are these fun for your followers to interact with, but they can also be used to conduct market research and gain constructive feedback for your brand or industry.

Topic: Social Media (Organic)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - Twitter does not charge you to run a Twitter Poll
Result: Engagement

Check out our full guide on twitter polls ➜

37. Sell Sheet: Create A Sell Sheet

A sell-sheet is a one-page document that details how your product or service solves customer problems.

The sell-sheet should be visually compelling and formatted neatly to capture the prospect's attention. You may distribute the sell sheets to prospects through email, share during a physical meeting, or send via traditional mail.

When done right, a sell-sheet is a compelling piece of communication that does the selling for you

Topic: Sales
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free - You can design a compelling sell-sheet using free sell-sheet templates available online
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on sell sheet ➜

38. Happy Birthday Email: Develop A Happy Birthday Automation Email For Your Customers

A Happy Birthday email is an automated message sent to customers or subscribers on the date mentioned as their birthday. The email messages are triggered to the subscribers or customers on their birthday or before the event.

Sending a happy birthday email to your customers is a great way to let them know you care and can encourage them to remain loyal to your brand.

Typically, birthday emails include a special deal, offer, or a free gift. Often, happy birthday deals can be redeemed online or in-store, and validity is extended to few days after the celebration date.

Topic: Email
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - On average, a mid-size business can expect to spend $0 - $1,000 per month depending on the email marketing platform and number of emails.
Result: Brand Loyalty

Check out our full guide on happy birthday email ➜

39. Campus Brand Ambassadors: Hire Brand Ambassadors To Promote Your Brand On College Campuses

A student brand ambassador is an influencer who is paid to market the brand's products to their college counterparts.

To get the word out, student brand ambassadors host company events, market through word of mouth, create social media posts, and can be tasked to hand out brand freebies to their fellow students.

Hiring brand ambassadors is one of the potential ways to become a household name among college students.

Topic: Sales
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - Campus ambassador wages are between $ 15 and $ 25 an hour
Result: Brand Awareness

Check out our full guide on campus brand ambassadors ➜

40. Postcard: Design & Send A Postcard

A postcard is a commercially printed card with space for a message, an address, a postage stamp, and often a photographic.

According to Data & Marketing Association, postcards get a high response rate. Therefore, adding postcards to your direct mail campaign is a great lead generation tactic.

Ideally, the message conveyed on postcards gets right to the point. In that regard, postcards are a high-impact marketing technique.

Topic: Print + Traditional
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Low - Design costs may vary depending on the agency, design aspects and quality
Result: Lead Generation

Check out our full guide on postcard ➜

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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