More Than Middlemen: Demystifying Insurance Marketing

So probably the fact that it’s Tim and I doing the podcast today viewers at home might be thinking are we going to talk about fantasy football or hunting or hunting or fishing fishing or hockey or hockey We talk a lot about hockey We do talk a lot about hockey but you know Bruins aren’t doing great so it’s not it’s kind of a sore subject right now How is your playoffs going also not great So uh for those who don’t know I I play in a wreck league Um we won the cup last year and uh we’re in the game for the bottom spot So yeah real quick reversal in uh reversal and fortunes First to last Yeah we just didn’t want it Yeah No hunger The hunger was out fire in the belly We took the offseason the twoe off season and went to the beach and then we were just Yeah didn’t have it You may have noticed we took a little bit of a hiatus at the beginning of the year Uh personal things in the office and then just uh resources We’re a little bit behind but we’re back and we have some exciting things in 2025 including this first podcast to of the year And uh I like to say it’s raining men It’s our first time It’s my first time Tim’s first time on the podcast And it’s our first all male podcast It’s a It’s a landmark I have to So I’m sorry for all the people that are just stopping right now when they realize Christie is not on the podcast today and just feeling like they’ve been robbed I get those feelings I hope everyone’s uh yeah I hope everyone’s not too surprised and shocked by this Actually I think what we are going to talk about today is really specific to what we do at Coint Um I know people follow us for a variety of different tips a variety of different uh industries that we work with Uh but specifically Tim and I just got back from Puma in uh Clearwater Florida their winter conference and thought it’d be a great time to talk a little bit about insurance affiliate marketing So Tim do you know what Puma stands for i believe it stands for Professional Insurance Marketers Association or Marketing Yeah I think so too You know what’s really funny is I just went on Puma’s website and I was like I need to double check what Puma stands for and I could not find it anywhere on the website It’s not on their website No I know I googled it like a year ago and that’s how I found out Yeah cuz I could never remember what the P stood for Yep Professional Professional like us Yep Yeah Um so yeah it’s interesting Puma great organization for what we work with in um insurance marketing So in insurance marketing um we think about how do people buy insurance and sometimes you have your local neighborhood agent right mhm Um who shows up at your kids soccer games hockey games maybe i don’t know what local agents do anymore Do you uh no I I don’t know what they do I guess they probably have an office but nobody ever goes to it anymore Probably right about that I say that but my wife works in insurance at a traditional agency Yeah Does anybody go and say to her office and say “Amanda I want insurance.” No nobody ever does that No They call they do Zoom meetings Yeah You don’t you don’t need to travel anymore But so with that insurance that’s one way Also have people buy their insurance online through just faceless self-service Uh but what we’ve worked a lot with is affinity marketing So it’s kind of interesting is Tim what comes to your mind when people talk about affinity marketing uh the word that comes to mind is middleman So there’s a middleman or really it would be a like a company that play that’s in between that sells the insurance for and behind that is a larger carrier like Credential or these big names All State whatever it might be They’re the ones providing the insurance but there’s somebody in between that uh is the actual one selling it right so you may have heard that expression affinity marketing And usually when it is used in a broad context it it’s it’s kind of a buzzword right now where a lot of people feel like they’re getting into this thing where they’re going to promote on their social channels a product or an object or service and they’re they’re selling that And there’s a lot of like kind of quick get-rich quick schemes right now about affinity marketing So just wanted to kind of mention like what we’re talking about is something very different And the idea of that expression of you have affinity for something Well you have a you’re drawn to it You’re um connected with other people to an idea So we think about affinity groups It could be something like Tim could be is there like a national fishing association oh there’s many many Trout Unlimited There’s North America’s Sportsman’s Angler Society of course BASS Bass Angler Sportsman Society You name it there’s probably one for it I was I was like I wonder if there’s like the NRA of fishing So I guess there’s tons Yeah there’s tons of them It’s very specific Yeah So you think about that Tim loves fishing as you can tell He knows all those associations Uh the idea is that you’re connected to an association whether in some cases it’s a leisure association like you love fishing maybe you love hunting and you’re an NRA member Uh but oftentimes those associations are also connected by your profession So like what would be some of those Tim associations for your professions oh well there there’s an association for just about every type of professional like if you’re say a doctor um then you might have an association for the area you work in but there’s also for your specialty So there’s there’s that for of course we work with with uh physicians in that area in the state of Texas but you carry that over to just about any profession There would be one for lawyers it’d be one for realtors Uh on and on it goes Yeah So that’s really what it comes down to as far as Puma and our going down to Florida uh that conference it it’s it’s really the leaders in that space of insurance but not just insurance as a product for general distribution but again both selling insurance and marketing insurance to these groups uh people that have that affinity whether it’s because you know they work in it as a professionals such as the we work with the Texas Medical Association insurance trust and they work directly to provide insurance for physicians So it’s not just the marketing of it but it’s also the product development because you think about an association has the ability to uh tailor products um for that association for the needs of the people Uh they might have specific uh needs that other groups may not have right yeah So there’s that and then there’s also uh the relationship that they have with them So there’s a certain level of trust So when they’re part of this association um as you mentioned they’re more familiar with it but they’ll be more apt to buy something from them because they already have that relationship Um whereas they’re not just starting a new from some faceless company Yeah With that so going to Puma you’ve been Puma has two conferences a year So I just plug for Puma It’s great organization uh they do not only a lot of education in between but they put on a bianual really uh excellent in-person programs And uh how many have you been to at this point i’ve been to three now Three So I know we took Courtney to her first Puma Yep And she was she was super excited Uh what were your highlights from this winter puma um from this past winter one I would say

uh I think that the conferences that they had or the shows the programs that they had specifically with regard to the generations I thought that was very interesting and that’s kind of what uh so now it’s like everything I look at I look at okay what what are Gen Y’s doing what are millennials what are gen X’s doing and and then there that also opens up other conversations like you know Gen X’s are obviously kind of pigeonhold into certain things and how they react to things but does that change over time in other words do Gen X’s become boomers when they get to be the boomer’s age now um so yeah it was interesting And of course the the context of um the generational breaking everything down into generations was wasn’t like you might think like how you going to sell insurance to them The context was how are you going to uh make the insurance industry appealing to them because the insurance industry is really worried about who’s going to work in that industry in the future because they anticipate I think the number they threw out was like 400,000 uh professionals are going to exit that industry in the next year Who’s going to replace them because who wants to go into insurance it’s not exactly the most exciting thing out there Um so again how do you market not not trying to sell but trying to get them to work in that field and again appealing to those generations the younger ones obviously Yeah I thought that was an an I thought that was an excellent point And you know it’s interesting It’s interesting like you think about our evolution to working in this affinity insurance space as far as marketing and CPoint’s really kind of honed in in that specific industry in that subset of the industry and it’s not something we would have had on our radar right 5 years ago 10 years ago um really when we started working with a few clients in the space and understood the really unique uh propositions that it brings both for marketing and uh for for product development in the space It is something that needs to educate people because the industry does need it needs the leaders of kind of that next generation Yeah And it’s an interesting topic because you know you think about other professions like you know somebody’s going into college years and they think I want to be a lawyer or that I want to be a doctor Nobody ever says that about insurance and so and they know that So they have to figure out where are these bright young professionals going to come from Yeah I thought that was interesting And it was they they interviewed a younger man who just got out of college and he was saying his pathway of of coming into it and it really took people kind of like boots on the ground at the university talking about how you know it was interesting like he didn’t remember anything from the actual like what they did for work He kind of honed in on some of the things that were like the perks or seemed kind of lavish about working in insurance which I thought was kind of funny Um yeah I think he was talking about spending a afternoon on somebody’s yacht in Miami Yeah that was that was the selling point for him Yeah which is interesting because I I do find you go to these conferences especially like with Puma and there is a lot of bright articulate people that have been drawn to the industry and and and meeting these individuals but they’ve all kind of come from non-traditional paths They’re just not you know as you said they didn’t just wake up and been like you know what I just I can’t wait to my future in the insurance industry Yeah that was one of the things they did is they did a live poll right there for us and we all just how did you get into the industry of course we’re marketing so we didn’t answer but uh those who did the overwhelming majority was they fell into it Yeah So and I mean we fell into it as well Sure In reality because again Coint’s got clients in other sectors uh but it just found something that we really really understood that there was kind of a there was a need in marketing in the infinity space Yeah absolutely I do think it’s uh to me it’s really interesting is that you have this wellestablished industry subset in the ind in the insurance industry of working you know packaging things in the infinity space Uh but a lot of how it’s been marketed is by is 10 to 15 years old tactics like really that dependence on direct mail Uh it’s interesting that there hasn’t well the industry is trying to recruit younger people and forward thinkers and you see that like as far as people are talking about products Um I thought I always find it really interesting too some of these products that come um and I was thinking uh for instance the the gamification uh the people that were talking about gamification of health um things to keep people moving and lowering their risk and insurance like you have those people there on the product side but it it hasn’t really gotten that adoption in in the marketing side um kind of tactic-wise Yeah that’s it’s all very interesting Um let’s define gamification because there’s there’s different there’s different parts of that Of course there’s different terminologies but gamification define that for us Bill So in in this context there was there’s vendors that have been um talking about for instance activities um you know again health insurance the risks of your uh lifestyle you know people that are just behind the desk So the idea that hey if you hit a certain amount of uh walking points like turning it into app into a game you know really it’s it’s the motivate us as the end user to do something not because we’re being told to uh but the incentivization like I think most of us have our smart watches and mine yaps at me stand up go take walks you haven’t walked enough and you know and I like it kind of I feel resentful for it sometimes right like don’t tell me what to to watch You’re not the boss of me But you know that idea of turning it into a game like now you’re competing or now you’re trying to you know reach certain rewards it’s like turning turning in your uh your health into Candy Crush Yeah Exactly Yes So Puma uh I they’ve been a great partner Really enjoy them as association Um I think that you know they put on some really top-notch programs So this summer is their 50th in Kansas City In Kansas City So it’s where it started That’s why Not because Kansas City is like an exciting place Not that it isn’t Oh come on But Kansas City Tourism Board we’re here for you Yeah Exactly Yes But that’s where Puma started So they go back to their roots for their 50th Yes It was kind of I think everyone was like “Where are we going to go for summer Puma?” and thought it’d be some like exotic location and then it was like Kansas City Kansas City Yeah I know Uh one of our clients was hoping it would be in Hawaii but it’s in Kansas City Yes So all right But if you were going to give a quick elevator pitch maybe somebody who is working works in insurance maybe has an affinity group um like let’s talk TPA right third party administrators uh that may not engage with Puma what would be your sales pitch to tell people to come to Puma this summer come to Puma So yeah Puma’s all in one place And what you’ll see at Puma is obviously there’s there’s different people You have the carriers you have marketers like us and you have the affinity um folks themselves the entities Um but you also have the people some of them are TPAs Uh others just have a new product that they’re trying to sell and they’re there and that’s primarily why they’re there And you can pick those guys out of a crowd They they’re out there They’re they’ve got an agenda and they want to sell But that’s really not what Puma is all about Puma is really uh for networking So you can get a broad overview and so you can see all of those different levels of it And it’s just and and you’ll see you’ll have people that are in direct competition with one another but they sit there they bounce ideas off one another the collaboration and really that’s what what Puma is all about Yeah that’s I think what I’ve really enjoyed about it as well You know we’ve been involved in Puma I think about four years now Uh that as a a group of professionals again they’re competitors and yet everyone is extremely welcoming Um there’s not a lot of ego involved Uh everyone’s willing to help each other out Um and I I just find it a very unique uh structure that they have there And I agree with you It’s it’s kind of funny because you get like that occasional person who’s very like they showed up to sell like a salesperson and they’re very very aggressive even like meeting people and it’s almost like it it’s a little jarring because the that’s not the feel of it Yeah That’s not the vibe And and especially if just to warn people if you’re going there for the first time they sometimes what they do or most times what they do is the first breakfast that they have they have the the first timer’s table And so you go you sit there and you’re kind of nervous because you’ll if you’re early like me you’ll be the only one sitting there But everyone like you said is very welcoming They’ll come up they’ll approach you they’ll even if they’re not a first- timer they’ll see that you’re sitting there by yourself and they’ll come and say hi introduce themselves and you know like like you said it’s not they’re very welcoming They’re not just trying to sell something or have some sort of agenda They just want to meet everybody there Yeah it’s such a great I we talk about networking um you know not just networking of meeting people that may have a business opportunity for you I I think just the overall networking of meeting people that are extremely seasoned you know a lot of seauite in the insurance space that have years and years of experience and it’s a very unique situation where you’re able to get some one-on-one time to like the growth of it Um I think it to me has really been the the most valuable part about it Yeah Yeah I can definitely see that and and it’s not all about work obviously that’s your focus but you know there’s an opportunity they have an app where you can put in your personal interests and then you can you can sort everybody there with that interest and I had a guy looking me up that noticed that I was a fly fisherman so he wanted to get together I I looked for him forever I never did find him but we had gone back and forth quite a bit about um where we were so there’s there’s uh there’s lots of opportunities even for that sort of thing yeah totally totally agree Also wasn’t bad to go to Florida in January Absolutely Absolutely We had uh we had some nice the water wasn’t warm but the water was some nice days Yeah But at least not uh have all the snow that we got got hit up here in the Northeast this winter It’s nice to get to Florida in January That’s for sure Yeah So good job Puma not scheduling a January in Michigan Puma Exactly Next year’s Cape Coral So yeah another Florida one for the winter Hopefully even warmer Yep So all right Well I think we I think we did a nice I think we did a I think we did a justice to a review of our Puma conference this winter I think so I think everybody gets a much better idea of what what the conference is all about And also I think just understanding what we do at Seepoint in that insurance space because we do have clients that are a traditional agency insurance clients uh but specific when we might write blogs or talk about the affinity space I thought it was a good opportunity for us to talk about kind of that demarcation that when we talk about affinity marketing we’re not talking about what many people have in mind of this idea of like drop shipping on Amazon and and you know using their social channels to promote these things or you know kind of that idea of you know the get-richqu idea what we’re talking about is a very specific uh group of insurance marketing and and tactics and uh it’s it’s a very different things Yeah absolutely So well thanks for joining us today on our all things insurance marketing episode and our also getting Tim on his first podcast Yeah it’s about time They’ve been hiding me in a closet all these all these months but I finally got in front of the camera disappointed it wasn’t Christy interviewing Tim but I have a feeling that’s coming up at this point It’s okay I don’t know what we’re gonna talk about but we’ll find something Yes we’re gonna be talking all about account management Maybe we get you and Courtney and you guys can hash out like account management Account management Maybe when Mark’s here the three of us could Oh man That would be great Yeah Yeah we should do that The accounts team But just as a note with that uh thanks for those who are tuning in and we’re wondering maybe what happened to us uh the last couple months Just let you know we do have a lot of exciting things coming up in the podcast this year Uh both uh talking about uh tactics in marketing and then what agency life is like And uh for the first time we’re going to actually do a podcast on the road this spring Uh Christy and I are going to film a podcast in France Oh my goodness That’s right Yes We plan on eating baguettes with berets And you got to wear a beret both of you Yes And and and and you know put in the comments any other French stereotypes you’d like us to include in our in our French podcast And it’s it’s going to be awesome Yeah Looking forward to that one Yeah All right Till next time everyone Bye everybody Free dive podcast