Each year, PIMA recognizes companies that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in marketing strategies for insurance products. The Prudential Company of America took the Gold Award in the Acquisition category for its life insurance marketing campaign involving the State Bar of Texas.
Life Insurance Marketing Campaign Development
For over 40 years, The Prudential Company of America has been offering life insurance as a benefit to members of the State Bar of Texas. That much hasn’t changed. In 2022, however, the opportunity came about to expand its offerings with the inclusion of term life insurance for the first time. The product would be offered in complimentary amounts of up to $20,000 to any member under the age of 80.
Naturally, the primary goal of this life insurance campaign would be to introduce the new basic life insurance product to members while making the offer as attractive as possible to drive high rates of life insurance enrollment. However, the decision was made to add another layer to the campaign, largely due to the fact that Prudential had the attention of Texas State Bar members. It was to increase the current number of plan participants.
The reason for this was two-fold. The first was to grow the plan through the traditional paid option. The second involved the ability to retarget members in the future as a way of recapturing potential leads that were likely to convert — a standard practice, as you probably know, for how to market life insurance products within the affinity space.
Once all the details were settled, Prudential opted for a soft launch with this new life insurance campaign. It would all start with the basic offer in conjunction with the 2022 annual meeting for members of the State Bar of Texas. Prior to the meeting, Prudential sent an email announcement to provide details on the new product.
The focus of the correspondence — and throughout the rest of the life insurance campaign — was on the complimentary coverage, of course, but also the member-exclusivity of the offer. The Prudential marketing team also took advantage of the upselling opportunity to encourage Texas State Bar members to apply for additional term life coverage.
Prudential ultimately decided to create a presence at the meeting itself. A booth was erected, staffed with team members and filled with eye-catching giveaways (i.e., Texas-themed cookies, hang tags, etc.). iPads were also available for those interested in the new product to enroll on-site.
As expected, the life insurance campaign didn’t end at the annual meeting. The second stage was about to launch, and it involved a direct mail component. Prudential made the determination to employ two waves of direct marketing — all targeting members under the age of 55. The first wave arrived about the second week of August, designed as an invitation.
The hope was to make the communication feel special and stand out from any other mailers that the recipients might receive. The kit included a letter detailing the new product, as well as a four-color insert outlining all the details, not just for the basic but also the optional coverage.
Online enrollment was the only option to activate the basic life offer, providing yet another opportunity to upsell on the other coverage. Members were already on the site, so it was easy to just accept the additional coverage. Plus, the team was able to forgo the traditional enrollment form, making the entire experience seamless.
When the time came for the second wave, the collateral was a bit more administrative in nature. It aligned more closely to past campaign materials to capitalize on the trust that Prudential had already established with members and add that element of authenticity in marketing that all consumers have come to expect these days. While the messaging still focused on the new basic offer, an urgency was also woven into the campaign to drive life insurance enrollment.
In addition to the direct mail campaign, Prudential also ran in the Texas Bar Journal. It sent an additional email toward the end of the campaign to drive the messaging home.
Results of Prudential’s Life Insurance Campaign
The results were better than expected. The campaign generated over 8,700 basic enrollments. During the same time frame, an additional 626 members applied for the paid life coverage. Moreover, 56% of these members requested coverage in line with the streamlined online enrollment experience. To have that optional paid coverage available during the paid enrollment period paid off, as over half of the Texas State Bar members that enrolled took advantage of the additional optional coverage. This was the highest number of life applications ever generated to date — 39% higher than the year prior.
Considerations for Developing Similar Life Insurance Marketing Strategies
When asked, the one thing that the marketing team from Prudential will tell you is to enter into campaign development with a full understanding of the audience. It ensures that the content will be engaging, useful, and relevant to the intended customers. If you don’t take the time to get to know the customer, the campaign will fall flat and not provide the results that you’d hoped.
Published January 4, 2024
PIMA® (Professional Insurance Marketing Association®) is a member-driven trade association focused exclusively on the affinity market.
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