Burial Insurance Headline Work/Marketing Strategy

Hello everybody,

My name's Dave - I sell burial insurance to 55 to 80 year olds, and am looking to get some insight on a new lead piece I plan on trying next week.

Currently, I buy leads weekly from a lead distributor that uses a somewhat misleading lead piece, as do most lead vendors for burial insurance. Because the lead uses "Official-looking Government Verbage," around 30% of people think it's some type of burial insurance sponsored by Social Security.

Basically, people who have a modicum of interest fill out a Business Reply Card with their personal information send it off in the mail, and I get it back and work the lead after about 3 weeks of them sending it in.

Nevertheless, even though the response level is of lower quality, the piece works well enough, consistently enough, that I close 20% to 30% of leads, week-in week-out, but it requires a lot of ground work to door-knock them, as many seniors are still working, heavily screen phone calls, or downright don't remember sending the card in.

Since 90% of burial insurance leads marketed to this group are almost identical to the ones I'm running - and since response rates are decreasing - I tried a new lead piece 3 weeks ago on a 8.5x5.5 goldenrod card.

The piece was very direct about who it targeted (Headline read - Attention: Protect Your Loved Ones From Your Funeral Costs!), and, instead of using business response cards, I had them dial a toll-free number to listen to my 10 minute pitch -- basically an abbreviated version of my presentation. That way, my pitch qualifies them ahead of time, the lead leaves their name and number if what I pitch sounds good, and literally buy myself hours and hours of time I could sell more qualified prospects.

My ROI has been 4:1, with a potential few more policies in the works from late-coming leads. I'm pleased with this ROI, but I would prefer more like 6:1.

The ultimate goal is to get the system efficient enough to where I can ramp up the leads dropped per week where I deal with only highly-qualified leads and sell a boatload more policies.

Now, I'm trying the new lead piece below. It will be on a 4x6 goldenrod postcard mailed to 3000 people in a rural area.

The goal is to get them to read the entirety of the postcard and entice the ones who worry about not having enough coverage, while simultaneously leaving out enough answers to get the prospect to dial my number for more information.

Here's the text of the postcard:

A SERIOUS QUESTION...


If so, then let me show you a new, guaranteed, state regulated Senior Burial Insurance Program you may qualify for.
I've already helped 136 men and women in good and bad health in Marion, Sequatchie, and Bledsoe County in the past 3 months with this very same program.
Call my 24-hour free recorded message hotline at (888) 234-9872 to discover how this program could change your life. But hurry - Enrollment period ends Thursday, April 28th, 2012.

A couple pointers as to why I worded it the way I did:

• I figure using their name will get their attention.
• Saying one might suddenly die after reading the card, I think, would entice them to read further.
• The question I pose is the main reason why people purchase burial insurance. Most people don't want to be remembered being a loser and hurting their loved ones. And most people can honestly answer yes or no based on their financial and insurance situations to this question rather quickly.
• I use state-regulated because it sounds like it's a government-sponsored program - a lot of times that's disarming enough to get people to be curious. But honestly, these programs are heavily regulated by the state although they are private companies offering the programs.
• I named it a "Senior Burial Insurance Program" as opposed to life insurance, as it gives a little added extra value.
• "That you may qualify for" - a lot of my prospects have health conditions or had health conditions -- that's why I mention in the next program that folks qualifying for it are in "good and bad health." I debate on whether using you are guaranteed to qualify for, or using the "take-away" saying they "may" qualify for - figure the takeaway would get them more enticed to call.
• I list a specific number of people I've helped, as well as the counties I have to build some sort of credibility.
• I use the 24-hour hotline to disarm salesperson resistance, I think that'll increase response.
• And finally, to create urgency, I used the term "Enrollment." Lots of my clients are on Medicare and the term enrollment is used heavily. The idea is to reinforce a limited amount of time on these somnambulant sloths (as they are the world's best procrastinators when it comes to life insurance) to call, and to sound a little more "official."

So what do y'all think? The main thing I want is my head to literally grab out and shake the ones awake who should be my clients. If there's a way to make this more outrageous, that's what matters most to me. Secondly, I want to tease them with enough information to perk their ears up while simultaneously having a looming deadline (thinking 7-10 days out from the mail drop date), but not "spilling the beans," so more will call me.

No return address will be used. I want the headline to take of 33% to 50% of the postcard.

Sorry this ran so long - just want to give my thoughts on this prior to getting some feedback. Any constructive criticism or comments is welcomed.

Thanks for a fantastic, amazing forum.


Best,
Dave