The TRUTH about marketing Medicare on the internet
This Post originally appeared on LinkedIn on My 24, 2023 and is written by Scott Nichols.
Today we focus on Medicare marketing on the internet. This is something I know a lot about and have the scares to prove it!
Pay attention to this article because if you are thinking that this is the route for you to build a huge book of business and get rich in the Medicare insurance market, I’m about to save you a lot of headaches and money! From 2016 through 2018 I invested big time in the idea of marketing Medicare online. The idea was through the use of Medicare educational videos and a directory of our independent agents throughout the USA we could get more business.
I believed it was kismet! How could it fail?
There was no cost to the consumer to use the site and no cost to the agent to be on the site. It was a win / win! I hired a full time videographer and we went to work making over 65 basic Medicare educational videos for the public. We even made a set in Spanish.
We stand completely compliant and generic. We created a Youtube channel. We advertised it all over Google, Facebook, Instagram, TV and even Radio. We got results too! In the first year there were over 1 mil views of those videos. I was so excited that in 2017 I doubled down and we built an APP for smart phone and tablets. That year even more videos were watched by seniors!
One problem……no one contacted the agents. No one filled out the forms on the site to be contacted.
It was the largest sponge ever created.
This enormous senior sponge soaked up every ounce of information we offered and produced no increase in business.
By 2018 I was done with this futile attempt at marketing genius and with my tail between my legs took down the site and the APP. Here is the funny part. No one even noticed that I took them down!
I learned a lot from that very expensive exercise and wish to give you some pointers if you are being enticed into the online marketing world.
- You can build your own landing page or website. You do not need some fancy website or landing page. People will not use any of the fancy stuff. Save the money!
- Lose any idea of people enrolling themselves on your site. No one will use it and it will cost you a fortune, not to mention the annual compliance nightmare.
- Use your landing page or website to tell the people where you sell about your services and reputation only.
- Tell them what you sell and fill your landing page or website with customer testimonials in either print or video.
- Do your videos yourself. Use your phone or tablet camera. It is more authentic and people will believe it more.
- Also, use your landing page or website to promote events in your community. Yes, you have to interact with people to make sales! The digital age for Medicare is not here and will not be here for quite a while so accept this and save money!
- Promote your landing page and website on social media. Nextdoor, Facebook, Instagram are great for this but you have to join other groups to promote your business. No one is looking for an insurance agent page or site. Also, LinkedIn is NOT a social media site to get Medicare business. It is for B2B interaction. I see so many agents singing to the choir on this site about Medicare services.
- Finally, don’t post inspirational nonsense on social media. It is not going to get you any business or promote your marketing efforts. Post testimonials and events and promote the site or page on social media.
If you are looking for a Medicare system & CRM that will provide you accuracy, privacy, and security for your book of business use Search & Save. The first line of our privacy policy reads “We will never mine, sell, or share, your client data with anyone ever!” Join over 2700+ agents using Search & Save. We offer you a 30-day free trial with no credit card needed.
–Scott Nichols
