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Running an independent insurance agency today can feel overwhelming. You’ve got dozens of marketing options—social media, Google ads, email, SEO, direct mail, and more. The temptation is to try everything at once, but that usually leads to scattered results, wasted money, and frustration.

That’s where Allan Dib’s book Lean Marketing offers a refreshing perspective. Just as lean manufacturing revolutionized factories by cutting waste and focusing on what matters, lean marketing helps small businesses—including insurance agencies—get results without burning through time and cash.

Here are five big lessons from Lean Marketing and how they apply to your agency.

1. Focus on Constraints, Not Abundance

Instead of thinking, “We could do Facebook, Google, direct mail, events, and sponsorships,” start by asking: What’s our biggest marketing constraint right now?

For many agencies, it’s not a lack of options—it’s a lack of clarity. Maybe you don’t have enough leads. Or maybe you’re getting leads, but not converting them. Lean marketing forces you to pinpoint your single biggest bottleneck and fix that first.

2. Small, Fast Experiments Beat Big, Risky Bets

Too many agencies spend thousands on an ad campaign only to find out it doesn’t work. Lean marketing says: test small, then scale what works.

For example, instead of committing $2,000 to a month-long ad, run a $200 test for one week. See if you’re getting clicks and calls. If it works, invest more. If not, you’ve learned without draining your budget.

3. Your Message Matters More Than Your Medium

Agencies often obsess over where to advertise—Google vs. Facebook, postcards vs. email. But Dib reminds us that the message is the real driver.

If your message isn’t clear, compelling, and customer-focused, it won’t matter where you put it. Before buying another ad, ask: Does our message clearly tell clients why they should choose us over another agency?

4. Measure, Don’t Guess

Lean marketing rejects “spray and pray.” Everything should be trackable.

For insurance agencies, this means:

• Track how many leads each campaign generates.
• Track how many of those leads become policies.
• Track the lifetime value of those clients.

If you don’t measure, you’re just guessing. And guessing is expensive.

5. Marketing is a System, Not a Random Act

The biggest lesson is that successful marketing isn’t about one-off campaigns. It’s about building a repeatable system: attract, convert, retain.

That’s how you grow consistently year after year. In my book The Perfect Insurance Agency, I talk about building an agency where marketing, sales, and service all work together. Lean marketing echoes that—emphasizing simplicity, repeatability, and continuous improvement.

Bringing It Home

Independent insurance agencies don’t have the marketing budgets of giant carriers. But the truth is—you don’t need them. If you adopt lean marketing principles, you’ll grow by focusing on what matters most, cutting out the waste, and doubling down on what works.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by marketing options, take a step back. Ask yourself: What’s the one bottleneck we need to fix right now? Start there, test small, measure everything, and build a system you can repeat.

That’s lean. And that’s how your agency wins.

Key Takeaways

• Fix the biggest bottleneck first instead of trying to do everything.
• Test small, then scale—don’t blow your budget on unproven campaigns.
• Get the message right before worrying about the medium.
• Track everything so you know what’s working (and what’s not).
• Think in systems, not random acts—marketing should be repeatable.