Anyone tried pro level life insurance advertising for better ROI?

[vikram1915]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why some ads just quietly work while others flop, especially when it comes to life insurance advertising. It’s one of those niches where people don’t wake up excited to click an ad, so getting any kind of decent return feels like a win. But over the past few months, I kept seeing folks in different forums saying they were hitting 2x or even 3x ROI. That made me wonder what I might be missing.

For the longest time, I assumed life insurance ads were just slow by nature. People take their time deciding, the funnel is long, and the competition is huge. So my mindset was always “play it safe, don’t expect too much.” But that also meant I wasn’t really experimenting or trying anything beyond the usual boring formats. After a while, it became pretty clear that the problem wasn’t the niche—it was that my approach was way too basic.

My first challenge was figuring out what actually moves people. Most life insurance ads look the same: family pictures, generic reassuring text, endless promises. The more I paid attention, the more I realized that audiences have become numb to all that. They scroll past it like it’s background noise. I noticed I was doing the same thing myself when browsing social feeds. If I couldn’t engage with the ads in my own niche, then it was almost guaranteed the audience wouldn’t either.

I started testing small changes—nothing fancy, just tweaks here and there. One thing I learned pretty quickly was that “clean and simple” isn’t always the best for this niche. People respond more when something makes them pause for a second. Not clickbait, but something a bit more human. I tried swapping family stock photos for everyday situations like paying bills, celebrating small moments, even someone sitting at a dining table with paperwork spread out. Surprisingly, those performed better because they didn’t feel staged.

Another pain point I had was targeting. I was treating everyone above a certain age range as equal prospects, which now feels silly. Life insurance needs vary hugely depending on life stage. Once I segmented into smaller groups—new parents, late-career professionals, older adults—the ads suddenly felt more relevant. I wasn’t even rewriting everything. Sometimes it was just adjusting the tone or swapping out a visual.

One thing that didn’t work at all was super emotional messaging. I thought leaning into feelings would make people consider their long-term security. Instead, those ads got ignored or—even worse—got hidden. People don’t like being guilted into thinking about heavy topics. The ones that did work had more of a “Hey, life’s busy, here’s something to consider when you get a minute” vibe.

When I started getting a bit better traction, I dug around for ideas from others who were already getting strong results. That’s when I stumbled on this resource that broke down some practical stuff about what actually makes life insurance advertising more effective. The link is here if anyone wants to skim it: Pro-Level Life Insurance Advertising Strategies to Deliver 3x+ ROI

One simple idea I picked up from there was focusing on urgency without sounding dramatic. For example, instead of saying something emotional like “Protect your family before it’s too late,” shifting to something straightforward like “Rates change, so checking today might save a bit later” performed way better. People don’t mind reminders—they just don’t like being pressured.

Another small trick that helped me was testing different ad lengths. I always thought shorter was better, but it turns out some folks actually read longer text if it speaks to their situation. When I wrote casually, the same way I’d explain it to a friend—“Hey, this is what I learned, take it or leave it”—engagement improved.

I wouldn’t say I’ve hit 3x ROI consistently yet, but I’m definitely closer than before. The biggest shift happened when I stopped thinking like a marketer and started thinking like the person scrolling through their feed at 10 p.m. after a long day. People want useful info, not a lecture. They want clarity, not drama. And they want to feel like the ad understands their situation, not like it’s shouting at them.

If anyone else here is experimenting with life insurance advertising and struggling with low conversions, I’d say start with small changes—real visuals, friendly tone, relatable scenarios, and tighter segments. It’s not magic, but it’s been helping me slowly build better results without spending crazy amounts.

Curious if anyone else has tried similar tweaks or has other tips. Always happy to learn from what others are testing.