National Association of Professional Insurance Agents Launches the PIA DMV: PIA’s Direct Marketing Vault

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents issued the following news release:

The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA National) today announced a partnership with ONE Brand that provides PIA members with a portal that contains marketing materials to use with direct mail and digital advertising services. The PIA DMV: PIA's Direct Marketing Vault is provided to independent agents as part of the PIA Branding Program (www.piabrandingprogram).

Through the PIA DMV, PIA members can market their businesses using customizable PIA-branded postcard templates that can be mailed utilizing the United States Postal Service's (USPS) Every Door Direct Mail program or Targeted Direct Mail. Customers have the option to create and distribute a digital suite of ads based on the postcards with their orders.

The Every Door Direct Mail program (EDDM), created by the United States Postal Service, provides a cost-effective way for businesses to saturate a localized area and get their marketing messages directly into the hands of consumers and, optionally, local businesses. Agents can use a digital mapping tool to select postal routes and filter down chosen routes based on preferred demographics such as location, income, age, type of household, and more. Marketing messages are then delivered to "every door" on the postal route.

PIA members who would like to use a more targeted approach can send personalized, Targeted Direct Mail instead. Customers can provide their own mailing list, purchase a mailing list from ONE Brand, or select a combination of the two. Purchased lists are targeted to ideal audiences based on preferences such as geography, age, gender, income level, and more.

"Finding new clients in an increasingly competitive environment can be challenging for independent agents," said PIA National President Keith Savino, CPIA, of Mahwah, New Jersey. "PIA's Direct Marketing Vault allows agents to locate their desired customers and create highly targeted postcard marketing campaigns with the option of serving digital advertisements to all postcard recipients. The one-two punch of print and digital advertising served to the same audience promises to elevate PIA members' marketing acumen to a whole new level."

PIA members who send direct mail using EDDM or Targeted Direct Mail can maximize their impact by adding-on targeted digital advertising to their order. The direct mail piece is turned into a suite of digital ads. Digital ads are delivered via geofencing software to mailed recipients' computers and smart devices.

"Creating marketing materials for your business can be time consuming and expensive," said PIA National Director of Marketing and Affiliate Relations Dana Anaman. "We wanted to reduce some of the heavy lift for PIA members and create eye-catching, PIA branded postcard templates that can easily be modified to highlight the services of your agency. The postcards come in different sizes, which allows you to use EDDM or Targeted Direct Mail."

The postcard templates are free and can only be accessed in the PIA DMV: PIA's Direct Marketing Vault.

"We have found that coupling digital ads with Every Door Direct Mailings and Targeted Direct Mailings allows our customers to deliver integrated multi-touch campaigns to the consumer," says Myke Hanna, Director of Strategic Partnerships at ONE Brand. "Our advanced geo-fencing software enables us to deliver ads to the right person at the right time."

In addition to the new direct marketing and digital advertising services now available to PIA members, PIA makes many other marketing materials available through the PIA Branding Program. These include the annual PIA Agency Marketing Guide, social media support, numerous consumer-oriented 1-pagers answering common insurance questions and an extensive series of print advertisements and radio commercials that are available in both English and Spanish for agencies to personalize and run in their local markets.

Support for the PIA Branding Program is provided in part by PIA's carrier sponsors, PIA's Pinnacle Partners. They are highly regarded insurance companies that demonstrate their commitment to the independent agency distribution system and support the development of new marketing tools for PIA members. PIA's 2019 Pinnacle Partners are Encompass Insurance, Encova Insurance, Erie Insurance, and State Auto Insurance Companies.

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Founded in 1931, PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes, and businesses. PIA members are Local Agents Serving Main Street America SM.PIA's web address is www.pianet.com.