An “overwhelming” majority of independent insurance agents say that advertising has helped grow their business, according to a survey of 1,000 independent agents by Progressive, a writer of auto insurance through independent agents.
The survey was conducted at the company's agent-dedicated Web site, For AgentsOnly.com.
Nationally, 91 percent of respondents said that advertising has helped their agency grow. One-quarter of respondents credit advertising for more than 25 percent of their agency's growth last year, while another 43 percent said advertising was responsible for more than 10 percent of such growth.
The survey asked respondents to indicate which advertising methods they use to promote their agency. Nationally, 84 percent said they use Yellow Pages advertising, 49 percent place print ads in newspapers and magazines and about 25 percent said they use direct mail and/or radio.
Print is far more popular in the Northeast, where 59 percent said they use it, than in the West, where only 32 percent said they use it. But agents in Western states lead the country in embracing the Internet as an advertising tool, with 32 percent saying they use it compared with only 22 percent nationally.
