Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You know, if you look at the funnel, it's basically been shattered.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: We know what the funnel was. Why is it no longer applicable today, though?
[00:00:07] Speaker A: It's just not cut and dry anymore. So trying to pinpoint the exact spot that a consumer is researching or hanging out, it's harder than ever. That awareness and that trying to capture their attention, it is completely shattered now.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: It is such a powerful tool to be where your audience lives and for them to be advocates.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: People rely on people's opinions. And so any chance that you can do to work with your clients to make them comfortable enough to, you know, share the testimonial or share their experience, that's gold all day in marketing.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: So if you have those data in analytics and you're a little intimidated by them, let AI help you decipher them and then let AI help make decisions on what you need to tweak or double down on.
Before a new client ever reaches out to you. They've already looked you up, and in 2026, there's a good chance that they asked an AI about you first. Traffic to financial services websites from AI tools grew 266% in a single year. So the way people find and choose an agent has changed. The marketing playbook most of us were handed hasn't kept up for decades.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: That playbook was the funnel awareness at the top, the sale at the bottom. Today we're introducing what's taking its place. The marketing loop. By the end of this episode, you'll know what the loop is, what, why it fits into a busy agent's week, better than the funnel ever did, and how to start building your own.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: All right, Jo. Every agent, I'm sure, has seen the funnel or heard about the funnel. Even if they've never used the word, they know that it starts with a stranger at the top and a client at the bottom. So take us back.
What is the funnel's logic? And then we'll talk about why it no longer works.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: I think when, you know, when the funnel came out, it was kind of like that visual for people to be able to utilize to help understand what exactly marketing did or the effect that it had on people. So it was that he, you have to get their attention up top. You need them to know who you are. And then as you move them closer to the sale, there's all those touch points in the middle that you have to do. It's the follow up, it's the nurturing, and then at the very bottom of it was the actual sale. So that was the bottom of the funnel, where they, they came out of being a lead and they came into being a customer for you. One of the major pieces I, I think a lot of people always knew that it was missing was that advocacy part where you turn that customer into an advocate for you.
But now we're realizing, you know, even Google years ago called it the messy middle because there was really no way to explain it besides saying it's a hot mess in that area for sure. And now I think what you're seeing is a way of explaining where it makes a bit more sense and it's a bit more logical to actually how
[00:02:39] Speaker B: it works well and there's money being left on the table if you're treating that journey as an end point when you make that sale. So we know what the funnel was. Why is it no longer applicable today though, especially in the age of AI
[00:02:53] Speaker A: and it's just not cut and dry anymore. There's so many different, you know, if you look at the funnel, it's, it's basically been shattered. There's no longer, hey, this is where people are. You think all the way back to when, you know, before, before even digital, and you think back to the newspaper era, there was one place that people went for the news. It was, your attention was focused on, on a certain few marketing platforms where you knew how to catch that consumer. You knew back then, hey, I can put an ad in the newspaper and I'm gonna catch them, I'm gonna put an ad on the radio and I'm gonna catch em on their way to work.
There was, it was very easy to be able to pinpoint where that consumer was and where they were hanging out. Fast forward to Google. Fast forward to social media. It just kept shattering.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: And so now you have websites and then all of a sudden you have all these social media channels. Well, okay, well now you have all these AI platforms. So trying to pinpoint the exact spot that a consumer is researching or hanging out, it's harder than ever. So that awareness and that, trying to capture their attention and it is completely shattered now. And now it's about really knowing your target audience better than you've ever known them to understand where it is that they're hanging out and what it is that they're doing.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: And so you can personalize the messaging and we're going to get into that right now. So what we're talking about is the marketing loop. So we're going from a funnel to a loop. And the four phases are express, tailor, amplify and evolve. So why don't we zero in on one of these at a time and explain them? So the first phase is express.
An example of that could be you out there answering client questions on Facebook. What are some other examples of what this stage looks like?
[00:04:29] Speaker A: I love that example that you just gave because it's, it's taking it right to the heart of it. It's education. It's no longer those sales messages. It's not the half page ad or the radio ad that's saying, hey, come buy a car or hey, do this. It's, it really is the education side of things about what's the smart way to buy a car. And, and it's putting things behind there. So if we apply that over to us, it's not just about, hey, here's what the, the best plans are out there and here's what the pricing is. It's understanding from the users or the consumer's perspective what are their needs and what is it that they should be looking for when they are looking at plans. And it's not just about price anymore. It's about what is going to fit their future and what's going to protect them the most.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Next up is Tailor.
That, for example, is knowing your Medicare audience from your life insurance audience. You're speaking to them differently and they're, they're with you on a different journey. What are some other examples of tailoring to your audience and strategies that you can deploy?
[00:05:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the better you know your audience, the better that you can speak to them and the better that you can relate to them. You see so many people that take their own interest and they morph it into what it is that they do every day.
For instance, there are a lot of Medicare agents out there who call themselves a coach and they call themselves a coach because they actually are a coach they used to coach or it's a, it's a passion of theirs to be a coach in a sports world. It's something that they, they still do. So what they do is they bring their personal style over to it and they tailor and they're reaching out to people who want to learn they have an audience. And the way that they're approaching it is tailoring it to them and it's hitting what they care about and it's also being relatable to all of them. So it's no longer about mass marketing and the same message to everybody. You really are tailoring your messages to who your target audience is.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: I love bringing in that word coach. Another aspect of coaching is that it's a two way street. You, you can ask a coach questions, you can interact with that coach. And the old days, as you were mentioning radio ads and TV ads, that is a one way communication. You are just speaking at that audience and hoping that it resonates. Now you have an opportunity to turn that messaging into a full blown conversation, allowing your audience to get to know you better than they ever have been before.
Let's move on to the next phase, Jo, and that is amplify. So one example of this phase could be your happy clients telling their friends about you. What are some other amplify opportunities for our audience?
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Absolutely. So I think those testimonials are great, those referrals ways are great. Also creating of the shorts, taking, taking something that you know is working and, and utilizing different channels, utilizing different ways that people want to learn or, or want to connect with you. I think an example that we've used, and it came out in a survey that we recently did when we were talking to agents is webinars. You know, use, use webinars to help amplify your message or you know, help get those that information out there. So it really is about not just use it and put it aside. Use it, keep using it, keep reiterating upon it. Especially when you find something that works, don't just toss it aside. That's when you want to keep amplifying it, you want to keep putting it out there and you want to make sure that, you know, you stay strong with your messaging.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: And those opportunities are opportunities for your audience to further amplify your message by sharing a social post that you put out there or referring a friend after the webinar they attended and make it easy for them.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: I think that's something that a lot of people miss is not making it easy for people to share your messages. So we know we've seen in the past where a lot of people will say, hey, go leave me a review on Google. Well, the fact is is there's plenty of other channels where you could be leaving reviews. Also it could be on Facebook. Facebook. It could be in Reddit feeds, it could be in community forums. You, you can, it's fine to ask your partners or your clients if they had a really good experience to please share that on your behalf. And so I wouldn't just tie it to one or two channels. I would definitely take a look at where your audience is hanging out and look at those channels as opportunities.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: While we're on the topic, I have to bring this up. I recently screenshotted it shared it with you guys in our teams chat. I was surfing Facebook one day and came across a group post, one St. Petersburg community group, and somebody was reaching out for a life insurance agent recommendation. And I am not even kidding. There were, if not over 100, maybe over 200 comments on this post of just people referring their own agent, their family members, their friends. But it is such a powerful tool to be where your audience lives and for them to be advocates on your.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: And you're seeing that grow more and more. I mean, look at what Reddit's done over the last couple of years and the growth that Reddit seen. And that literally is a forum for people to go and give their opinions and share their experiences. And it's the growth. I mean, obviously partnering with Google definitely helped them, but I'm just saying that growth is pretty incredible because people rely on people's opinions.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: And so any chance that you, you know, that you can do to, to work with your clients to make them comfortable enough to, you know, share the testimonial or share their experience, that's gold. That's gold all day in marketing.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: So that leads us into the fourth and final phase of the loop, which is evolve. So this might look like noticing which of your client conversations led to a sale and why. What other opportunities are there to evolve in this process?
[00:09:40] Speaker A: So I think we mentioned it earlier, it's reutilizing that content, but I think evolving also needs to include how else you can serve them and not just leaving it. You know, the funnel used to be pretty clear. It was like, all right, you start at the top, they come down there. You know, the sale is done. It's done. Yeah. And now it's, it's. Especially in our industry, if you sell Medicare and you work with your clients on Medicare, why are you not looking at other opportunities to be able to help them and assist them with other decisions? There's final expense that they, you know, that they could be looking at or that could help protect them. There's different annuities that could help and protect them. There's so many things out there to where you've done all the hard work, they're now your client. And now it's taking it to another level of expanding the scope of which you're able to assist them and be a trusted partner of theirs.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: That is a great point, because this entire loop process is never meant to end at the sale.
It's meant to replace that. And what you're describing is an opportunity for that relationship to continue evolving uh, and, and when we move on from the evolve phase. So we've learned from our most recent campaign, for example, and now it's time to return to that Express change stage and use what we learned and tweak the express stage.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Not starting over, it's. That's exactly it. It's bringing it right back and doing it, not doing it all over again because you're making tweaks to it based off of what you learned. But it is finding what works, finding what doesn't work, and just keep the cycle going.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: And if you need a visual, for our video watchers that are watching this podcast, we'll be sure to put a visual on the screen. But for our listeners, if you can picture an infinity symbol, that's the kind of the logo for the loop. And that's what we're talking about. It's just a never ending process of execution and learning.
So let's put this into real terms. It's Monday morning, I'm an agent and I've got one hour this week for marketing, but I want to execute on this loop. Where would you recommend I begin?
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Well, start with your audiences. Start. You know, for a lot of us it's Facebook. Start, start with Facebook, start connecting with people on Facebook, get on those community forums.
You've got to start somewhere. And when you're looking at the entire marketing strategy, it always starts with where your consumers are. The better you know them, the better you're going to be able to narrow it down of where to locate them.
[00:11:59] Speaker B: And where does AI fit into all of this? Everywhere. Everywhere. What are some pointers that you would recommend that our audience take away?
[00:12:06] Speaker A: I think I can help. You can act as your marketing assistant and can help you really get organized. And so all of this information that we're, that we're sharing today, you can put into AI and it can help build out that plan for you. And I think the more that you utilize it as a assistant to help get you organized and use it for inspiration, the better off you're going to be and you're going to feel that much more prepared and that much more confident as you begin creating the content.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: That's so what I think about is data and analytics. So kind of going back to that evolve phase, if you are putting that into AI to help you go through that data and make it more digestible again, we're never putting any client info in there, but that allows you to make those necessary tweaks and it just all feeds right into the neck. So if you have those data in analytics and you're a little intimidated by them. Let AI help you decipher them and then let AI help make decisions on what you need to tweak or double down on.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Very well said, Jo.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: The funnel has served this industry for a very, very long time, but the loop keeps it going. And of course, if our audience needs help making this or integrating into this business, we're here to help. What are some final thoughts or words of advice you have?
[00:13:17] Speaker A: I think it's just working on the overall strategy. Don't pay attention too closely to the individual tactics. Work. Start first with the overall strategy. What your goals are, who your target audience is, what it is that you're trying to accomplish. You can utilize AI to help you do that if you're unsure. David mentioned it. That's why we're here.
If you just want to have a call, we can help you break it down. We can help simplify it. Some of the hardest things is just making things digestible and easy to understand. And I think that's where, you know, where you and I have always played a critical role when we partner with our agents and advisors is just making it easy to understand and where it doesn't feel overwhelming.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: And if this does potentially feel overwhelming, just remember we're breaking this down into four easy steps. And the more that you familiarize yourself with it, the easier that this process will become. And it's meant to make this as an efficient and easy to fit your schedule as possible. So with that for the Amer Life Marketing mentors, I'm David Belleville.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: And I'm Jo Barker.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: And we'll see you next time.
