How to approach life insurance marketing

Life insurance can be a delicate topic for clients. It’s not easy to plan for the loss of a loved one, but it’s a must to ensure financial security.  

This article shares some best practices and guidelines for approaching the sensitive nature of life insurance in a way that’s digestible to clients, while potentially helping with your retention and revenue. 

Life insurance trends

Insurance is a trillion-dollar industry in the United States, and the life insurance sector is one of its largest components. According to Forbes, whole life insurance policies generate the largest portion of premiums (36%), followed by indexed universal at 23%.¹ 

A few other life insurance statistics to consider: 

• The percentage of Americans with life insurance is about 52%, including individual and workplace life insurance, according to LIMRA.² 

• As of 2024, an estimated 42% of adults were uninsured or underinsured.² 

• Women are less likely to have life insurance, 46% as compared to 57% of men.¹ 

Keys to approaching life insurance marketing

Marketing strategies for life insurance have evolved, with personalization and technology playing central roles. It’s crucial for agents to deeply understand client needs and financial priorities, tailoring solutions that dispel common misconceptions about life insurance, such as perceived high costs and the sufficiency of workplace insurance.  

It’s clear the opportunity is there, however it’s not always easy to get the conversation going. Here are few tips to proactively bring up life insurance with your clients: 

Work through common misconceptions about life insurance

Every client has unique financial priorities. Some may be more focused on long-term investments, while others may be more concerned about immediate expenses. Some clients may have specific financial goals, such as paying off their mortgage or saving for their children’s education. 

LIMRA’s Life Insurance Barometer Study tracks the perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of adult consumers’ financial behaviors. The analysis identified four widely held misconceptions that keep Americans from achieving the financial security that life insurance can help provide: 

1. Life insurance is too expensive. Most Americans overestimate the cost of life insurance by as much as threefold.² This is especially true for younger generations. 43% of Millennials estimate the cost of term life insurance for a healthy 30-year-old to be more than six times higher than it actually is.³ This misperception about cost, coupled with prioritizing other financial needs, puts families needlessly at risk of financial hardship should a wage earner die unexpectedly. That’s why it’s important to help clients understand that life insurance is an investment, not just an expense.  

Talking point: Let’s figure out what you can afford. Every little bit that you’ll be able to provide could make a big difference for your family. 

2. My workplace life insurance is enough. 26% of American workers believe the coverage they get through work is enough. The median life insurance coverage offered at the workplace is either a flat sum of $20,000 or one-year’s salary.³More than half of U.S. households rely on dual incomes (54%),³ and, for many, losing one income could be devastating to the households’ finances. According to the survey, 44% of families would face financial hardship within six months, and 25% would suffer financially within a month.³ 

Talking point: The group life insurance offered through your employer may not follow you if you choose to leave the company or are laid off. I urge you to find out more about it from your employer, so you don’t find yourself without coverage. 

3. It is too difficult to buy life insurance. Over half of Americans (54%) say they have put off purchasing the coverage they know they need. This could be, in part, because they are intimidated by the process. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of simplified underwriting. 48% of consumers say they are more likely to buy life insurance using simplified underwriting.² 

Talking point: We have many great brochures that explain the benefits of life insurance; I’d be happy to send one to you. To go along with that, the best service we can offer you is the no-obligation life insurance review. It’s a fast and easy way to help us determine your exact needs. 

4. I don’t need life insurance until I am older. Younger consumers who do not yet have a spouse/partner or dependents may believe they can put off buying life insurance. In reality, life insurance is significantly less expensive for the young and healthy. Buying a policy can protect their financial future and the financial security of their loved ones.³ 

Keep these perceptions in mind to stay one step ahead as you market life insurance to your clients or potential clients. 

Talking point: Life insurance is something no one really wants to think about, but later in life, many people wish they had. 

View the full list: Handling objections to life insurance 

Use innovative insurance technology to your advantage

Insurance technology has revolutionized the way agents approach marketing and sales. By leveraging technology, such as an Agency Management System (AMS), you can streamline your processes, reduce paperwork and improve customer service. A cloud-based, encrypted, and protected AMS is especially important for protecting clients’ sensitive life insurance data. 

The ability to share information and updates seamlessly with clients is key to effective communication. Software such as Google Drive, Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive allow for document collaboration, enabling your team to provide clients with the latest policy details in a secure and accessible manner. Easy access to relevant documents and contract details can make a big decision easier with enhanced transparency and trust in your agency-client relationships. Make sure that any technological solution is safe, secure, and can comply with applicable laws and regulations. 

Show your life insurance expertise

An effective website experience can help funnel life insurance prospects and clients to contact an agent. Focus on intuitive design, engaging content and strategic calls-to-action. Ensure the website is user-friendly with clear navigation and mobile responsiveness. Provide informative content that addresses common life insurance questions and incorporate interactive tools like calculators to personalize the user experience. Build trust with testimonials and industry certifications and strategically place calls-to-action that encourage visitors to request quotes or schedule consultations. Offer multiple contact methods, such as phone, email and live chat to make it easy for potential clients to reach out, ultimately guiding them smoothly from interest to action. 

Boost client engagement

Employ marketing automation to streamline digital marketing efforts by automating email campaigns, segmenting audiences and tracking engagement metrics to optimize your outreach strategies. Effective solutions that integrate with your AMS data to craft personalized communications at scale ensure that life insurance clients receive tailored messages that resonate with their specific needs and preferences. Additionally, these tools serve as a great resource for cross-selling opportunities, allowing you to effectively target both personal lines and commercial lines customers with relevant life insurance offerings. 

Utilize customer relationship management (CRM) software to effectively manage and nurture client sales pipeline opportunities, ensuring that every interaction is recorded and leveraged for future engagement. These platforms help you maintain a comprehensive view of each prospect’s and client’s history and preferences, ensuring that no client inquiry goes unanswered and that every lead is pursued promptly. You can also plug lead sources into the CRM so what you are developing online can enter the system to begin prospecting immediately. 

Personalized life insurance solutions

Choosing the right life insurance policy can be a daunting task for many clients and their goals, financial priorities, and concerns differ. It’s your responsibility to tailor your approach to help clients understand the different types of policies available and which one best meets their needs. 

Take the time to explain the benefits of term life insurance versus whole life insurance, and the advantages of a policy with riders that can be added on to meet specific needs. By educating your clients on the different types of policies, you can help them make informed decisions and find the policy that provides the best coverage for their unique needs. 

Ways you can use personalization include:  

• Analyze historical data and behavior patterns to help identify the most suitable insurance policies for their unique circumstances. 

• Personalized email messages to acknowledge important milestones, such as policy anniversaries or birthdays, and offer reviews of existing coverage to ensure it still meets the client’s evolving needs. 

• Implement automated outreach that is triggered by specific client actions, such as visiting the life insurance section of your website or downloading a related guide, providing timely follow-ups with relevant information and offers. 

• Provide clients with personalized assessments that evaluate their insurance needs based on their financial situation, dependents, and future plans, offering customized recommendations and solutions. 

• Create personalized video messages where agents introduce themselves and explain the benefits of specific life insurance policies, adding a personal touch and building rapport with clients. 

Take the time to listen to your client’s needs, understand their financial situation, and offer a customized solution that meets their unique needs. By personalizing your approach, you can build trust with your clients and establish a long-term relationship. 

Approaching life insurance marketing can be challenging, but by following these strategies, you can connect with potential clients, build trust and establish long-term relationships. Remember to personalize your approach, understand your clients’ financial priorities and use insurance technology to your advantage. By doing so, you could potentially grow your business and help your clients protect their loved ones and their finances.