A few pennies was all it took for COUNTRY to get customers thinking about life insurance.

Life insurance isn’t a simple sale. Who really wants to think about their own mortality? And the information-gathering process is a lengthy one, which means the sales cycle can take months.

Once folks decide on a plan, they’re going to hold onto it for a long time. And that’s exactly what COUNTRY, an Illinois-based insurance and financial services firm, was counting on with its “Grow Your Retirement” campaign.

Financial representatives focused on cross-selling and up selling existing clients. Using a mailer that resembled a large seed packet, they targeted about 30,000 existing clients — aged 35 to 55 — who already bought auto and property insurance from COUNTRY.

A custom window revealed “growing money” artwork, and five shiny pennies hidden inside were offered as “starter seeds” for growing retirement savings. A carefully crafted message encouraged clients to schedule a meeting with a financial representative to learn more about planning their retirement.

The right audience and the right message, together with a creative spin, turned this mailer into a conversation starter — and netted compelling results to boot. It sold more than 2,100 new policies, exceeding the organization’s goal by 166 percent.

While other COUNTRY direct mail campaigns have garnered more responses, the “Grow” piece has been the most successful because it resulted in life policy sales.

“Few people want to talk about life insurance,” says Randy Lorimor, manager of advertising and marketing media at COUNTRY. “This piece, however, turned a serious topic into a light-hearted and eye-catching campaign with tremendous results.”

He adds that direct mail was the only option considered for the “Grow” campaign. “It was the most cost-effective method for us to reach our audience of existing clients,” Lorimar says. “We typically spend from $2 to $3 per piece on our direct mail campaigns. And while some marketers may think this is an outrageous amount, we make it up — and then some — in terms of ROI.”