Got marketing? Here are 5 pieces of advice

Whether you like it or not, it’s probably time to spruce up your social media pages and marketing strategies. After all, it is 2024 and people are using the internet and tech to their full advantage, which includes taking a peek at LinkedIn before meeting up with a potential client.

“When people have a meeting with you, this is what they do now: They go find out about you and whether they are going to like you before they even meet you,” Reid Rasmussen, co-founder and president of freshbennies, unwrapped in the Marketing in 2024 and Beyond session at the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo.

Within the benefits industry, there are multiple marketing perspectives, including the carrier rep, the broker, the solution provider, and the marketing manager. All of which need to market themselves, products, and their companies in order to gain new clients and secure their pipeline. Here are five pieces of advice for marketing in 2024.

The carrier rep: “You always want to work with people you know like and trust. No one is going to sit there and want to work with someone they don’t know. To me, social media is today’s version of cold calling,” said Vince Lewis, chief sales and marketing officer, Underwriting Management Experts. “If you can somehow find a way to tie in your personality into someone looking for solutions, it becomes more prevalent you need to figure out a way to get stuff out there to let people know who you are, how you are doing things, and what makes you different.”

The broker: “It’s really hard to feel like you’re not screaming into the void and it’s hard to differentiate yourself from your competition,” said Lindsay Clarke-Youngwerth, strategic benefits consultant, The Shandro Group. “Finding the time to put consistent content out… Embracing it and taking the first step and not being the perfectionist. People are trying to see if they want to see if they like you. People are not going to buy just because they saw a 30 second video on LinkedIn.”

The solution provider: “When we started my company, I had no idea how to do videos. At the time, videos were not all that popular on LinkedIn,” said Sarah Borders, compliance consultant, Benefits Compliance Solutions. “But it’s meant everything to us because it’s built that familiarity and social proof that can help when selling and a specific target audience. They can see you as a thought leader and can trust you before you can ever speak to them.”

“You need to know who you customer is and that’s who you are putting out content for,” said Rasmussen.

The marketing manager: “On thing I’ve learned from the social media and marketing aspect is my job is not what most people think it is. My job isn’t to go on social media and post about compliance, whitepapers, and upcoming webinars. Those posts average single digit engagement rates,” said Arwyn Robinson, director of marketing, Advanced Benefits. “People want to do business with people that they like and who like them.”

Related:

2024 sales and marketing tips: Creating a more diverse industry

2024 sales & marketing tips: Building a better brokerage