Following in his dad’s footsteps, Roy Hooker IV opened his insurance office near North Tampa in 1990 at age 23. At the time, he was one of his company’s youngest agents, but with some ambition and wisdom from his father, he’s been able to continue his family’s legacy of success in the insurance world.
While the earlier half of his career was focused on traditional marketing efforts such as mailers and billboards, he eventually found he needed someone to help him navigate and grow in the digital marketing world.
Luckily, he found his way to Melon Local, which has continued to be a fruitful partnership to this day. We caught up with Roy to learn more about his initial approach to digital marketing, why he enjoys working with Melon Local and some great advice for new and seasoned agents alike.
Melon Local: Can you describe your approach to digital marketing before Melon?
Roy: That’s a great question—I had no approach prior to Melon Local. I was still stuck in guerilla marketing mailing strategies and focused on things like postcards, letters, bus benches and billboards.
I had very little exposure to digital marketing beforehand. I tie most of our success today to my Success Manager and Melon Local. They took us from the old school of marketing to a digital marketing strategy that’s super effective today.
ML: What was your first impression of Melon when you started talking to us?
Roy: During my first welcome call, my Success Manager brought on a fellow agent, which lent credibility to the company and process.
He spoke my language. He knew what some of my struggles were and what some of the solutions were. That was a really big buy-in at that point.
The relationship I had with my success manager from there was personable. She understands me, my needs and my market.
ML: How’s business been since joining Melon in 2021?
Roy: 2021 was our best production year ever when I ran the analysis. It was because of Melon and the lead generation the strategies my Success Manager would produce, coupled with a competitive product and the right team. They also helped me set up a proper follow-up strategy to stay on top of those leads.
It was the perfect recipe for record growth for our agency. And we’re on track this year for 2023 to surpass our best year.
ML: Can you think of any specific challenges she’s helped you overcome?
Roy: We’ve had two challenges in my relationship period with Melon. One was a season where we were not competitive in our rates. We did a real-time shift in strategy and zeroed in on this one particular market. It was very successful, and we were able to maintain our place and growth strategy.
The other challenge was a hurricane. There was a season where we needed to take a different tact with our marketing strategy. She had her pulse on it and knew what her agents were going through in Florida. I liked how she was proactive with a phone call.
When we were hit with a natural disaster, she was very sensitive to things, and we were very appreciative.
ML: Sounds like we’ve given you some good advice, but how about your dad?
Roy: The most important strategy he’s ever given me was that your team will make or break you.
It’s so critically important to hire the right people to sit in the right seats on the bus.
As a manager, my dad’s advice is I need to know my team, I need to hire the right people, and I need to invest in my team so we can maximize production.
One other piece of advice I always tell my team is this isn’t about insurance—we do this to love people and to help people in their biggest time of need.
Want to learn more about how we can help with your insurance marketing needs? Schedule a demo with us today!