Celebrations Such As LIAM Mix Fun With Facts

“I just want to CELEBRATE!”

This opening line of Rare Earth’s song of the same name is one of the most positive and energetic anthems from the 1970s. Their bold proclamation, celebrating life and living, is a message that reverberates even today and will echo well into the future.

In the early days of social media, our team wanted to have a significant, ongoing presence that balanced information and entertainment — fun along with facts. One of my longtime friends and clients has a nationally broadcast radio program, during which he used to feature funny days of observance as a part of the show. This could be anything from National Frozen Food Day to World Plant a Tree Day. We had fun doing this as well, and we soon became known for these social media posts in addition to posts that focused on topics more closely associated with what we do as financial professionals.

Several years later, the concept seemed tired. So we transitioned the “fun” part of our social media program to align more with our evolving brand of the classic rocker aimed at our baby boomer target market.

Yet along with keeping the more traditional holidays on the calendar, we were certain to keep several important observances. These included Insure Your Love in February, Disability Insurance Awareness Month in May and Life Insurance Awareness Month in September.

As both insurance agents and securities-registered financial advisors, our practice offers investments in addition to life and disability insurance and annuities when serving our clients.

And sometimes those with one type of product or service might not remember that we offer others. These special monthlong campaigns are reminders that we can help meet their life and disability insurance needs in addition to assisting with their retirement planning.

One of our greatest challenges as insurance and financial advisors is balancing the hearts and minds of our clients and prospects — and their emotions with logic. Campaigns such as LIAM provide an excellent opportunity to overcome this challenge. We schedule our social media posts more than a month in advance and are sure to include a predetermined mix of fun and facts, appealing both to one’s intellect and emotion.

A good friend and colleague refers to life insurance as love insurance, with the belief that you should only purchase it if you love someone. This highlights the fact that buying life insurance is an emotional decision. Yet this must be done with an understanding of how life insurance works, as well as determining the appropriate type and amount of coverage.

We balance personal stories of those who have lost loved ones, both with and without coverage, along with impactful statistics. The traditional approach to life insurance sales, “backing the hearse up to the door,” doesn’t usually elicit as positive a response unless supplemented with the more personal, warm and fuzzy messages we include in our campaigns.

LIAM and IYL help remind us why we should protect our loved ones … because they’re loved. Third-party resources, such as those from Life Happens, provide very visible, impactful messages and celebrity spokespersons we’re sure to leverage in our campaigns. Again, a successful social media campaign should have a careful blend of emotion and logic, statistics, and stories. Highlighting famous personalities from actress Brooke Shields to race car driver Danica Patrick surely draws positive attention. Yet the simple story of a widow or widower who was able to maintain dignity for their family because their spouse had sufficient life insurance coverage can bring an even stronger emotional reaction.

With the current pandemic and other recent disasters and crises, clients and prospects alike are even more open to hearing and responding to the message of “love insurance.” These simple yet powerful posts create both interest and action, as our insurance sales and referrals always increase during these campaigns.

A great thing about material from organizations such as LIFE Happens, FinancialSecurity.org (NAIFA) and the Alliance for Lifetime Income (protectedincome.org) is that they’re not from a specific insurance company or agent. This, along with their celebrity spokespeople, enhances their credibility among consumers. We especially enjoyed using materials from the Alliance for Lifetime Income as their sponsorship of the recent North American Rolling Stones tours fits well with our baby boomer branding.

Like Rare Earth’s timeless classic, Life Insurance Awareness Month is an opportunity to celebrate another day of living — as life insurance is for the living and resonates long into future generations.

Bryon Holz is a 25-year MDRT member. He and his team of associates in Tampa Bay, Fla., have been helping build brighter tomorrows for their clients since 1983, specializing in asset protection, income planning and wealth conservation strategies. He may be contacted at [email protected].