What do you spend your marketing time thinking about? When you ask life insurance marketing guru Lynn Lavender that question, she’ll tell you she spends a lot of time trying to create compelling social media posts. She knows that compelling posts strengthen her brand and help bring in business. How does she make them compelling?
“I think of creative analogies and then create a graphic that reinforces that analogy or metaphor.”
The sources for Lynn’s metaphors and analogies are all around her (and us). She just makes the connections between them and her content. Lynn’s examples below may inspire you to do the same for your business.
Use a Familiar Icon to Make Your Point
“It’s all in the presentation….” starts one post [Leading up to a link to one of her publications}.
“You may hate canned spinach, Lynn’s post continues, But how about spanakopita, creamed spinach or a great big spinach salad with mushrooms, bacon and crumbled hard-boiled eggs?
Along with the spinach-you-can-hate- or-love metaphor, a reader sees this eye-catching image of Popeye with a message that reinforces her point. 
Use a Metaphor to Illustrate a Question
Are You Attracting or Repelling Clients? begins one media post that continues with an invite to insurance agents to check out how to provide information in a way that adds value to clients. Accompanying the post is this provocative graphic metaphor:
Use a Timely Event to Link to Your Point
“Rejuvenation! Rebirth! and time to Re-evaluate your marketing efforts. [Encouraging readers to find out more about her unique online marketing publications] Custom Multimedia Consumer Guides include regular analytics, so in addition to being able to capture contact info, you will know how many views you are getting, from where they came and the number of shares. Compare that to social media ads, print media or broadcast spots.” And with that encouragement to “refresh and rejuvenate” readers are seeing this beautiful image of Spring flowers.
Combine Two Images Metaphorically to Reinforce a Statement
“Insurance is inherently negative. Your marketing doesn’t have to follow suit.”
Below that statement is an image that captures the promise of being able to stop that negativity.
Think Like Lynn
Marketing products most people would rather not talk about like death, disability, and long-term care is a challenge. Metaphors and analogies make that job much easier. You see that not only in Lynn’s posts which are aimed at financial and insurance professionals, but also in all her publications as well. A good example is this visual she created to describe the “sandwich” pressures couples face today when they have to provide caregiving for two generations
All Lynn’s words and accompanying visual metaphors and analogies vividly engage readers and communicate in the strongest, and fastest, way possible that she
- Understands their situation, and
- Has a solution to their problem
…which makes people want to read more or reach out to her.
Exercise Your Metaphor Muscle
In one email to me, Lynn wrote that these metaphors had just popped into her head
- Finding the right metaphor is like striking gold
- Getting others to write your social media is like Tom Sawyer getting Huck to paint the fence white
- A team that works in tandem is like a well-oiled machine
- A story that is on point is the key to unlock the door to success
Lynn says she may use these or not, but the exercise or game of creating random metaphors makes it easier for her to find the right metaphor when she needs it.
Your Turn
Next time you find yourself with some down time, instead of idly scrolling through emails or playing another game of Wordle, see how many metaphors or analogies you can create to
- Engage readers to finish your posts
- Drive home your selling points
- Describe your products or services, or
- Achieve a desired online action
Finding the right metaphor can, indeed, be like striking gold.
Anne Miller
Make What You Say Pay! – with Metaphors
P.S. Lynn Lavender creates customized multimedia consumer guides for insurance and financial professionals that are engaging, capture new prospect contact information, and are cost-effective. For more information (and to see her other blog posts) visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnlavender/
You may not be selling death, disability or long-term care, but if you need ideas for more compelling presentations to
- Open Minds
- Close Business, or
- Wow an Audience
Contact me at amiller@annemiller.com or call 212 876 1875 for a free consult
If you like this Newsletter, please feel free to share it with friends, colleagues & clients. Thank you!