IMCA BLOG
Welcome to IMCA’s new blog. We hope this becomes your go-to resource for staying on top of trends, tools and best practices in insurance communications. IMCA leadership, as well as other communications and marketing thought leaders, will share their ideas for how we can become more innovative and strategic.
If you have topics that you’d like to see future blogs address please email info@imcanet.com.
How do you Win a Whopping Three IMCA Awards, Including Best in Show? One Tip: Look Beyond Current Advertising Trends
IMCA spoke with Anna Hargis, director of advertising for Shelter Insurance, on her team’s IMCA award-winning projects and where she goes for inspiration. Continue reading
Multi-Award Winner Slice Insurance Agency on Winning Big at IMCA
Doing great work is rewarding in and of itself, but getting recognized for that work is important, too—especially when you’re a startup set on reshaping the insurance industry. Marketer Emily Mertz explains. Continue reading
How Do You Turn an Elevator Speech into a Graphic Element?
IMCA spoke with Renée Lunceford, assistant vice president of marketing at Midwest Employers Casualty, on her team’s award-winning project, the value of peer feedback, and how fashion, technology, and music brands influence her team’s work. Continue reading
Communicating the Value of Diversity
In July 2020, insurance marketing and communications professionals from a variety of the industry’s top companies engaged in a virtual Peer2Peer event to discuss how they communicated the value of workplace diversity and inclusion as civil unrest spread across the U.S. and millions protested racial inequality and police brutality. The candid discussion among peers provided greater insight into best communication practices, lessons learned, and the challenges ahead as organizations strive to build and sustain diverse and inclusive cultures. Members can download the full article and non-members will need to provide some basic information to receive permission to download the article. Download the article now
Tips and Tricks for Shooting Video on your Smartphone
Want to learn how to shoot video like a pro, using only your smartphone? Risk Placement Service’s Emma Shores, an insurance marketer with a passion for video engagement, tells you how. Continue reading
Creating a Winning Entry on a Shoestring
At the 2019 IMCA Showcase Awards, UFG Insurance won Best in Show in the “Creative Development on a Shoestring” category for a video the company created for Ohio agents. The goal? To quickly and effectively inform these agents about a state supreme court ruling regarding faulty workmanship and insurance. Continue reading
How VGM Insurance Services Led Last Year's Best of Show Awards
How did a small organization competing against companies that dwarf it in size, resources and budget win the most Best of Show Awards at the 2019 Showcase? Continue reading
Catch an IMCA Rising Star
Keep your eye on these three IMCA members, who are raising the bar for insurance marketing and communications. Continue reading
2020 Marketing Resolutions
It's a new year and a new decade. In addition to personal New Year's resolutions, several IMCA board members have made professional ones as well. Continue reading
Be Strategic About Content, Even Without a Strategist
There's more to content strategy than telling a good story. Continue reading
Hiring Strategies in a Tight Job Market
In an ultra-competitive market, you need to be strategic (and patient) when filling a new or existing role. Continue Reading
Taking the (Em)Path to Human-Centered Design
In UX design, empathy is a critical component for insurance marketers who want to create user satisfaction. Continue Reading
IMCA Icon Michael Z. Stahl: A Visionary Insurance Marketer
In June 2019, IMCA introduced its first Icon Award to recognize insurance marketing leaders. The first recipient of this honor was Mike Stahl of HealthMarkets, who turned a field-based agnecy into one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the United States by strategically integrating data and technology into sales and marketing. Continue Reading
The Value of IMCA Membership
IMCA Executive Chair Valerie Foster discusses how IMCA membership has supported her career and outlines her 2019-2020 strategic priorities for the association. Continue reading
Relaunching Your Personal Brand
First impressions are lasting impressions, sometimes longer than you would like. When workplace or industry colleagues have an outdated impression of you, it can undermine your credibility and hold you back in your career. Fortunately, as marketers, we’re familiar with how branding/rebranding can reposition a company or product in the marketplace. If your personal brand is out-of-date, it might be time to rebrand yourself and introduce these colleagues to the new you. Continue reading
Creating Your Roadmap for Change
A highlight of IMCA’s 2019 Annual Conference was a panel discussion on navigating change in your marketing career. IMCA board members Anna Hargis, Rachel Harris and Angela Kim provided insight into how they’ve successfully effected and responded to change in their careers. Following is a recap of selected remarks our panelists made during this discussion. Continue reading
Building a Data-Driven Marketing Strategy
One of the highlight’s of the 2019 IMCA Annual Conference in Minneapolis was John Bell’s presentation, “Marketing in the Age of the Connected Customer.” Following the conference, John, vice president, Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers, has provided IMCA with these additional insights into effectively leveraging customer data. According to John, data is the key to a personalized, customer-centric marketing approach. Continue reading
How Lo(cal) Can You Go In Target Marketing?
In a digital lead-generation campaign, the Gallagher Global Brokerage Marketing team was able to successfully promote college student personal property coverage to parents (primary audience) and students (secondary). Over a two-month period, this marketing program generated more than 11x ROI for the company’s Southeast region. Continue reading
There's Something About a Sell Sheet
There are lots of good alternatives to sell sheets. Continue reading
Using Your Brand to Make an Emotional Connection
IMCA turned to brand strategist Derrick Daye for his thoughts on why today’s brands need to make an emotional connection with agents and clients. Continue reading
Upgrade Your Marketing Agency Relationships from Good to Great
Any relationship takes work. Your marketing department’s relationship with its advertising agency or design firm is no exception. In a good relationship, your agency responds to campaign requests with several creative options, helps solve business challenges and produces projects on time and on budget. A great relationship is one where the agency — with your help — develops a working understanding of your business and understands its corporate culture. Continue reading
Why You Should Enter Marketing Award Competitions
Marketing is inherently a competitive space. Our sole purpose is to drive revenue; some may disagree, but fundamentally, every activity a marketing department performs should be to support their firm’s business objectives (read: make money) through marketing strategies. Period. Meeting this objective takes many forms. We use terms like brand equity, customer journey, omni-channel, earned media and so on, evoking the occasional eye-roll from our non-marketing peers who simply don’t speak our language. Continue reading