In many companies, marketing ideas usually originate in departments or outside companies dedicated to that purpose. It’s a business model that’s worked for decades. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. Some of the most intriguing and innovative ideas for marketing your insurance agency can also come from people who don’t work in marketing.
Yet how do you gather those types of ideas? Forbes magazine’s Communications Council offers up a number of ways any business can encourage its employees to contribute great ideas that can foster growth and success.
Provide an avenue
It’s important to be open to ideas from anyone and to provide a way for those ideas to be found. The person who answers your agency’s phones. Your intern. Your newest agent. Everyone has a unique perspective. Corey Morris from Voltage gives this guidance: “While there are definite roles and lanes to stay in, giving everyone a voice and freedom to research, brainstorm and ideate is critical. Don’t lose that great strategy because it wasn’t their role.”
Use the right tools
From Slack to Microsoft Teams and beyond, there are ways to use technology that’s part of everyday business to leverage ideas as much as managing tasks. Alexi Lambert Leimbach from the company Xcellimark considers how technology can be an avenue for sharing: “People can easily submit ideas and comment on each other’s input, feeding off of the different concepts submitted to help generate even more ideas. They’re able to participate and collaborate without being physically located together.”
Don’t forget to give thanks
It’s important to have a way to give credit where it’s due — and to never skip that step — when a person or team comes up with an idea that’s going to be used. “Even if you had to make major revisions, acknowledgment is critical,” Ellen Sluder of RingBoost told Forbes. “It not only makes the contributor feel good, but also demonstrates the behavior you want from the larger team, while also motivating others to contribute for their moment of glory.”