marketing for

brokers

Mike Millard

DIRECTOR WE DO THE WORDS

RedPaint

In brokers’ search for the most effective marketing messages, Mike Millard cites the ‘Red Paint’ test as the perfect means to measure your marketing output

hat is marketing? The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that ‘marketing’ is the transitive form of ‘market’, which as we all know is a place where things are sold.

W

Marketing is selling. Hold that thought.

When I sit down to write a feature on broker marketing I normally try to think of an analogy that will bring it to life and, hopefully get my point across. This approach has taken my readers into the world of superheroes and, once, the categorisation of customers into cats and dogs. But today I’m sidestepping analogies because I want to talk about the “Red Paint” test and analogies don’t sit very well with this particular marketing test. What is the Red Paint test? Thought up by a fellow director, it’s

12 insurancepeople APRIL 2010

the perfect example of an effective marketing message - it’s ‘Red’ and its ‘Paint’, what more do you need to know? We frequently use it to measure our own marketing output. You would do well to consider it too.

It’s easy to confuse scruffy rodents wearing cravats, or fat opera singers in coffee shops as marketing, but it’s not the full story. Customers are exposed to mammalian manors and celebrity dragons trolleying around supermarkets all the time. They frequently entertain, but never underestimate the audience. They still know they’re being sold something.

Remember: marketing is selling. Many more of us think of marketing in terms of how marketing messages are sent - emails, leaflets, posters,

websites etc. These are important considerations of course, but the really important aspect, so often overlooked, is

the actual marketing message!

You need to be clear about what you want to convey to get it right. If your marketing messages pass the ‘Red Paint’ test, your customers will understand them. Better understanding equals more sales. Failing the ‘Red Paint’ test only creates confusion.

So how can you find the clarity needed to pass the ‘Red Paint’ test? Well, don’t start in the wrong place. I’ll expand on that by using a practical example - websites. Websites are without doubt one of the more confused areas of a broker’s marketing portfolio. The considerations

brokers tell us they think about are:

● What is the site’s purpose?

● How many pages should there be?

● What products should be covered?

● What colours and images should be used?

All undoubtedly practical issues that need to be addressed, but it’s not the right place to start. Websites shouldn’t begin life until the following questions are answered:

● What are the marketing messages you want to get across?

● What needs to be incorporated so visitors can find out what they need to know? Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36