Anything can be marketed effectively, and the basic principles of marketing remain the same, no matter what's being sold: You focus on what the benefit is to the person who's buying the product, you emphasize the points of differentiation between your product and the others in your market segment, and then close with the pitch.
We're going to make an example out of insurance marketing here to illustrate the point. The reason for insurance marketing is because everyone needs insurance, and the market is saturated with a lot of products competing. Writing insurance marketing tips for a saturated market is an example of how you, as an internet entrepreneur, can make money by being a liaison to local businesses in your area.
So, let's look at the big questions from up top - what's the big benefit for taking insurance? It's buying a specific sort of peace of mind. It's providing coverage in case there's a disaster. Let's focus that into marketing insurance: "Wouldn't you like to know that your family will be taken care of, if something happens to you?" is one way to state the benefit. Another one is "It's cheaper to buy insurance for your car than to get into an accident without it. And while you may be a good driver, can you be certain of everyone else?" Both of these are fairly straightforward ways to insurance marketing and its benefits to the end customer.
Now, when I write insurance marketing tips, I'm constantly looking for the edge, the out - the hook. What makes this product work for the reader and prospective buyer?
To answer that question, I start with doing some research on Google, and look for page ranks for specific permutations of insurance buying search terms, like "cheap health insurance" or "cheap life insurance" or "auto insurance Michigan" - anything that will help narrow down the search fields. Then I look at what others are doing on those pages that pull up. It is extremely important to understand what your competitors are doing. It helps you keep track of market trends and makes sure you keep your edge.
Are they competing primarily on price, or are they competing on features? Insurance is a mature product category, so it's difficult to differentiate on new features. Difficult doesn't mean "impossible", though. There are combinations of features on policies that can form a competitive advantage; in the field, these tend to be short lived, because someone else will notice what you're selling and emulate it. Unlike technology where an advance can last for six to eighteen months before you get significant product penetration from competitors, writing a new policy package doesn't take much (indeed, they'll figure it out from your own marketing text...)
So the other differentiators are on price (which is the primary driver in insurance policies) and service (which is where insurance companies trying to maintain margins on policies try to set themselves up as upscale.
