One of the most under-utilized marketing tools available to benefit professionals (both core and voluntary) is the Internet.

The beauty of the Internet is that it provides a relatively inexpensive method of touching a lot of prospects. In this article, I will address two key areas: Web sites and e-mail marketing.

The Web site

Every insurance agent selling in the group marketplace ought to have at least two Web sites, if not more. At a minimum, there should be one Web site designed specifically for clients and another designed specifically for prospects. Unfortunately, most agents maintain one Web site aimed at both audiences, and that is a marketing mistake.

A Web site needs to be designed in a way that visitors can find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

On the one hand, a prospect has one question and only one question that must be answered, which is: "What can this agent do for me?"

Clients, on the other hand, simply want to find the forms that they may need or the login for their company portal, if provided by the agent. They do not want to look for the appropriate tab on the menu or the login box located obscurely somewhere on the home page.

And nobody wants to know that your agency believes in putting the client first, that you specialize in employee benefits, that you only work with top companies or that your services include everything under the sun. But, look at virtually any benefit agency Web site, and that is the information you will find on the landing page, which is the most critical page on your Web site.

Before building or rebuilding a Web site, you must ask the following questions:

•  Who is going to the Web site?
•  Why are they going there?
•  What do you want as an outcome?

The first question is easy - the only people visiting my Web site will be clients or prospects.

The second question is a little bit more complicated.

Very few group benefit prospects will be going to your Web site because they used a search engine such as Google or Bing. Someone looking for individual health may do a search, and if that is your target, you should consider using a company such as Norvax to provide your online presence. If your target is the group market, do not waste your money on search engine marketing because that is not how business gets done.

As a general rule, prospects will visit your Web site because you have directed them there in response to some question such as, "Can you send me some information?" And this is where multiple Web sites become so valuable.

Be specific

Long-time readers of my columns know that I believe marketing should be very idea-specific.

Asking a prospect for an appointment to introduce your agency services is not an idea, but asking for an appointment to meet about how you can help a prospect increase employee morale and productivity is idea-specific. Telling a prospect you would like to introduce him to a revolutionary new voluntary benefit that combines the first new concept in life insurance design with valuable long-term care benefits is idea-specific. It is not unusual for a prospect to request that you send some information, and offering a link to an idea-specific Web site can be a great response.

If you do not want to invest in multiple Web sites, then design hidden pages on your main Web site. A hidden page is one that does not show up on the menu bar. You may have links on your home page, but not as a part of the menu. See cebca.org/lifetimebenefitterm.html as an example.

By limiting the number of options on a menu, I make it likely that the prospect will stay on the idea or product-specific page.

One-page Web sites

Because it is so inexpensive to build and host Web sites today, I recommend that you consider having multiple one-page Web sites. These should be very idea-specific sites with nothing to distract the prospect's attention.

One-page Web sites are great, not only as the response to "can you send me some information," but also as the basis of your marketing.

I am particularly fond of the one-page video Web site. A short video keeps the prospect's attention and can prepare the prospect for your follow-up call. Marketing with a video Web site can be as easy as calling a prospect to simply ask for permission to e-mail a link to a brief informational video on your product or idea.

To see two examples of video Web sites, visit controlling healthpremiums.com and criticalillnessplus.com.

Purchasing the Web site address, known as the URL, is a very inexpensive undertaking, generally no more than $10 per year.

E-mail marketing

Using e-mail is an awesome and very inexpensive technique that can yield huge results over time.

E-mail marketing is the ultimate in permission marketing. There are two forms: e-mail newsletters and e-mail advertisements.

If you are doing any prospecting at all, you will hear these words: "I am not interested." A variation of this theme in the group market is: "Our plans renew in January, so call me in October."

A simple and very effective marketing technique is to inform the prospect that you write a monthly e-mail newsletter where you provide one idea that can help your clients better manage their benefits, and you want permission to add the prospect to the distribution list. While some prospects will say no to the offer, many - if not most - will accept. Before ending the phone conversation, the agent also asks for permission to periodically send information on new ideas and products that may be of value to the prospect.

It is important to note that most agency newsletters are terrible from a marketing perspective. To know whether or not yours works as a marketing tool, you simply need to look at how many calls you generate about a new product or service. In both my coaching practice and my GA business, I generate revenue-producing business as a direct result of my newsletters.

Track stats

To be effective, use one of the many Web-based e-mail marketing tools that provide the ability to view which prospects open the e-mail, how many times they open the e-mail, and which prospects click through to your Web site. If a particular prospect has opened your newsletter two or three times, it is likely that he found the idea that you shared interesting.

Calling that prospect and saying, "Mr. Prospect, I was just following up to see if you have been getting my newsletter and whether you found it to be of value" will get you a great conversation. Because the information is fresh in his mind, the prospect will ask questions, and you may get a sales opportunity. A click-through to a Web site indicates an even higher level of interest.

Utilizing the Internet as a marketing tool is one of the best sales opportunities available today. It is relatively inexpensive and has limited competition, since most agents are not using it.

Combining telemarketing with both Web sites and e-mail newsletters can become the only marketing that you need to fill your calendar with high quality prospects.