Adventure Awaits: Building the National Programs Marketing

In August 2019, I took on the role of Director of Marketing for the National Programs Division of CBIZ Property & Casualty.  What I didn't know at the time was that I would be on the adventure of a (marketing) lifetime, standing up a best-in-class marketing team that would be responsible for our specialty insurance programs and helping to keep the business afloat during COVID.  

The team had been through a number of changes, both in leadership and direction, and my goal was to bring stability and vision to the team. I started by understanding the strengths of each team member and then helping build their skills in needed area. In the first 6 months of my role, I had created a team that was more connected to sales, understood how they fit within the organization and how their strategies and tactics would influence the success of the business. I brought on new team members to fill gaps in skills and enable us to meet our ambitious goals. 

By focusing first on understanding our customers, I worked hand in hand with leadership and our sales team to develop the value proposition. Once the VP was created and approved, we developed an overarching themes for each program:

     Vacation Rental Insurance - Protection. For Your Corner of Paradise.

     Adventure Sports - Adventure More. Worry Less.

By Feb. 2020, the team had stood up new websites, blogs and content pieces that drove increased quote inquiries. We had helped influence the top 3 months of sales since the inception of the division. Then COVID hit and the impact to the hospitality market we serve took a hit that no one would have seen coming. 

Through a focused effort on redesigning and optimizing each website, deliberate use of digital lead generation tactics and intentional messaging that spoke to each audience directly about the risks and exposures unique to their business, we were able to support our sales team with a steady stream of leads throughout 2020, despite the challenges of the hospitality industry.  In 2021, we have already surpassed our Q1 goals for leads.

I am very proud to be able to share our two websites. My team was responsible for the design, build, copy development and SEO. We also write original content and manage the blogs for both sites. Additionally, many of the new content and lead magnets can be found on the resources page of each site. 

https://vacationrentalinsurance.cbiz.com/

 https://sattleradventuresports.cbiz.com/