The Ontario Broker - Volume 20, Issue 1 - 54

INDUSTRY & MARKETS

Marketing the Broker Channel
Norah Black, Director, Marketing & Communications, IBAO

IB AO.ORG

54

T

he story of brokers joining the
insurance industry often involves
a family connection. Brokerage
recruitment often relies on staff

leveraging personal networks to expand the
team. Both are winning strategies.
What we've witnessed from our You Should
Totally Become a Broker campaign is how
wide the talent pool of people wanting to
join the broker channel really is.
We launched the campaign last fall to attract
new brokers to your brokerages-one of the
biggest challenges you face according to
survey data and so many conversations. While
geography and the general unawareness of
growth and advancement opportunity play a
role, it's the insurance industry's image that
poses the biggest roadblock. Translation:
makeover time.
People don't tend to grow up dreaming of
becoming an insurance broker (apologies
to the exceptions) so our initial focus was
young professionals looking to pivot their
career. We highlighted jobs that can be
stifling or marginalizing to differentiate the
career possibilities of the broker channel.
Our biggest impact was with audiences
25-44. Not only within campaign metrics was
this evident, but in our conversations with
this growing talent pool.

YOUR NEXT HIRE
Campaign leads came
from a broad spectrum of
industries and professions
-here are the top ten.

10

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

9

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

8

TEACHER

7

DENTAL HYGIENIST

6

PERSONAL TRAINER

5

hundred leads-individuals who saw our
content and submitted a form for more
information on becoming a broker.

The Ontario Broker

in even though our ad spend ended in
November.
Inquiry results we anticipated were
location-the majority were from the
GTA and Ottawa area, and whether or not
individuals were students-most were
not, which was in line with content geared
towards working professionals.
What was interesting was all the other data
we collected. These leads were working
professionals from an extremely broad
spectrum of industries and professions (see
sidebar-we even enticed a church pastor).
And perhaps more interesting was what
they indicated as most appealing about
becoming a broker. We expected earning
potential to top the list, and perhaps
potential for ownership. But the most
frequent answer by far was professional
career path. Working with people was
runner up.

CARPENTER

4

NURSE

3

SERVICE INDUSTRY

2

RETAIL

In five weeks, we brought in close to a

We're loving the fact leads are still coming

1

SALES

These two points have become hugely
beneficial in our messaging and targeting,
and could be for you too. As a collective,
we're repositioning the channel as the
rewarding and unlimited career path it
is. Individually, when you're advertising
a new position within your brokerage,
emphasizing room for growth and helping
people will pull in professionals from
all sectors. They're features so many
people look for, but the broker channel
is uniquely able to deliver. It's the broker
advantage and it's how we'll attract the next
generation of talent to this industry.
http://www.IBAO.ORG
The Ontario Broker - Volume 20, Issue 1

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