June 1st marks the start of Annuity Awareness Month. IAMS has been working diligently to advocate for and provide education about the use of annuities as a sustainable retirement vehicle. Those efforts are beginning to pay off in a big way. In conjunction with our partners at NAFA (the National Association for Fixed Annuities), IAMS has successfully lobbied the state of Nebraska to officially recognize June as Annuity Awareness Month. We feel this is the first step of many to come that will help advisors better engage their clients and prospects about the benefits of annuities.
With that, we would like to pass on some valuable tips and resources to help guide your annuity marketing efforts.
Social Media
Social media marketing is an absolute necessity for agents and advisors. It makes sense then that a good portion of your Annuity Awareness Month efforts take place on social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. One of the most effective ways to do so is by sharing articles covering how annuities work. Ideally, at least a few of these articles will be original content posted to your blog/website. But any well-written, consumer-facing pieces will work if they catch the consumer’s attention. When crafting your posts, use relevant hashtags to help boost engagement. Such as:
- #annuity
- #annuities
- #AnnuityAwareness
- #AnnuityAwarenessMonth
- #retirement
- #retirementsolutions
Take a quick look at your email distribution list. Do you have a segment of subscribers who previously expressed interest in annuities? Or maybe you already have a drip campaign going for those prospects. Now is the time to increase the volume of those campaigns. While you should avoid overdoing the email blasts, an extra message this month might be enough to get a few prospects to pick up the phone. Make sure to personalize where possible and use a strong call-to-action to make the email a little more enticing. Additionally, those of you who blast out a monthly newsletter should definitely focus on annuity education this month.
Pick Up The Phone
Calling existing clients or even prospects who might be close to conversion is perhaps the most straight-forward and personal way to get them thinking about annuities. Start with clients who are due for a policy review or any you might need to catch up with. From there, work through your list and strike up a conversation. This is much more time consuming than other marketing efforts, but it never hurts to reach out and say hello to your valued clients anyway, right? Even if they aren’t interested in annuities, this is your opportunity to chat about other products that might match their current needs.
Additional Resources
Whitepapers, fact sheets, presentations, and other consumer-facing materials can all be powerful and effective marketing tools. These resources are a great visual aid and, oftentimes, help consumers better understand how an annuity can benefit their situation. Emails and social media posts that offer free downloadable resources are not only more engaging, but also drive traffic to your website and can be a great way to get a prospect’s contact information. Customizing these materials to your brand and business is a subtle, yet effective way to boost your credibility and professionalism in the eyes of a potential client.
To help agents and advisors like you, IAMS, Inc. has prepared our 2021 Annuity Awareness Month Kit. This complimentary package contains a wealth of annuity information to help you educate your clients on this valuable financial tool.
Our kit includes:
- Annuity Basics Guide
- Annuity Slide Presentation
- Shareable Social Posts
- 2021 Annual Tax Equivalent Tax Yields
- Consumer-Facing Annuity Concept Pages
- Letter and email templates.
- And more!
Click below to request your 2021 IAMS Annuity Awareness Month Kit.
