Life Insurance Industry already preparing outreach for Awareness Month

Life Insurance Awareness Month doesn't happen until September every year, but at this point many in the field are already preparing for the full-court press they will put on to get the word out about the importance of coverage. That's certainly the case for the nonprofit initiative Life Happens, which has already made significant plans to help people understand why this kind of coverage can be so vital to their ongoing financial success.

For one thing, it has already signed actor Anthony Anderson, star of the hit ABC sitcom “Black-ish,” as its celebrity spokesman for LIAM, because of how he has dealt with life insurance in his own experiences, according to a report from Life Matters. In fact, his parents always told him about the importance of having coverage regardless of his financial standing, and that's a value he carried with him up to and including his time as a successful actor. Anderson bought his first policy – through a familiar agent – at the age of 18, so his story may be important to share with the people who might be on the fence about coverage even much later in their lives.

What else will happen?
In addition to a devoted celebrity endorser, LIAM will also feature more educational efforts from the nonprofit, the report said. The fact of the matter is that more than 2 in 5 adults across the country still don't have life insurance, and a big part of the reason for this is that more than 80 percent of people think life insurance is more expensive than it is in reality. Therefore, the importance of highlighting both the importance of coverage, and its actual affordability, is crucial.

For this reason, Life Matters will be hitting social media harder than it ever has before with posts and informative graphics to help connect with people of all backgrounds about why they may need coverage in their lives, the report said. That, in turn, should provide ample ammunition for agents to educate prospective clients using the most up-to-date information. Marvin H. Feldman, the president and CEO of Life Happens, also noted that there will be a platform for agents to tap the latest online marketing resources for these reasons.

The more agents and other industry pros can do to boost education efforts during and after LIAM will likely go a long way for the sector.

Other steps
Finally, Life Happens is also already developing a series of videos that can be shared as part of these educational efforts, the report said. These will focus on breaking down the basic ins and outs of life insurance coverage, as well as the true cost these plans tend to carry overall. Further, videos highlighting life insurance success stories, and how agents helped to facilitate them, will also be distributed so that consumers will have the chance to see that many aspects of the industry that they think may be scary or challenging will end up being anything but.

Life insurance companies that aren't yet planning their own outreach will probably be wise to start doing so in the near future, as September is right around the corner and proper efforts may take more than a few weeks of preparation.