Getting Millennials to Consider Life Insurance

Young adults are increasingly putting off making big financial commitments or investments – such as getting married and buying a house or purchasing life insurance. Too many young professionals simply don’t realize that it is almost always better to buy life insurance sooner rather than later, and it’s up to agents to inform them of this.

As life insurance agents, it’s important to recognize both how to address the hesitations of millennials, as well as how to approach the subject with them. Personal finance columnist Gary Parsons writes that many millennials believe purchasing life insurance is a complicated process involving lots of paperwork. “Insurance companies and financial advisors alike will need to tailor their approach to attract the younger generation,” said Parsons. “Simpler products delivered on their terms, i.e., online, may be the best way to reach them.”

Delivering products online will help agents better serve millennials, but they must first get them interested in the products. Creating an online presence is a great starting point, and there are a few things agents can do to get the ball rolling.

Images: Creating images or graphics that catch the attention of viewers and engage prospective buyers is important. Don’t hesitate to put some quotes and a contact number on a post, or a link to a landing page with a call to action. Use images that people can relate to, such as high-quality images of a young family.

Boost your post: For Facebook, boosting or sponsoring a post means paying a little bit of money so that your post will be seen by viewers outside of your “fans” on social media. Doing this here and there helps get your message in front of a larger audience quickly, and it is a cheap option for growing your reach.

Use hashtags: On Twitter, using hashtags works in a similar way as boosting a post in that it helps reach people outside of your normal “followers.” Using hashtags relevant to the content you’re sharing can help you get noticed by other users searching for similar information. For example, when sharing an article about the importance of life insurance, you can use #lifeinsurance or #protectyourfamily.

Once you’ve established yourself online and created interest from potential clients, you’ll be able to start reaching out. As an agent you already have a few go-to ways of starting conversations with clients that you can use. With younger clients you can also start the conversation online, however it’s important to take it to email or the phone after the introductory exchange. A couple of points that agents should focus on when reaching out to millennials:

Cash value: Many people mistakenly think of life insurance as something that won’t benefit them until after they are gone, however, many permanent life insurance policies build cash value over time. That means in addition to increasing the value of an overall estate, coverage also increases financial resources and stability while you are still alive.

Insurability: When it comes to life coverage, you will likely never be more “insurable” than you are right now. It’s much better to lock in rates while you are young and healthy, rather than waiting until you are middle-aged with one or two new health problems. Ultimately, you could end up saving yourself thousands of dollars.

Reaching millennials online, where they’re already going for their news and information,

is crucial to starting the conversation about life insurance with them. Through education and the right life insurance learning tools , agents can reach out to millennials, help them examine the many benefits life insurance can offer and ultimately increase their business as well.