Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! We hope everyone has a great time with their loved ones tomorrow. Until then, here's this week's Big I Buzz, where we're discussing marketing your business during the holidays, Wisconsin's medical payments per workers' comp claim and the increase in Americans withdrawing early from their retirement accounts.

5 Ways to Market Your Business This Holiday Season

Coming up this weekend is Small Business Saturday! Small businesses are the backbones of communities. Highlight your agency as a small local business in your community by using their Choose Local Campaign. Small Business Saturday isn't the only time to be marketing your business, take advantage of marketing year-round to showcase your agency. The Independent Agent magazine released four ways to market your business during this holiday season: 

1. Plan your social media calendar: when you start with a list of holidays and other important dates, it's easier to create content based around those days. Don't worry about setting your alarm on Christmas Day to be the first one up posting Merry Christmas to your followers. Try out a social media scheduler like Later, Buffer or Hootsuite so you can set it and forget it. For other posts, inform customers immediately by posting right away. 

2. Make customers' lives easier: According to the National Retail Federation, the average consumer spends $997.79 on gifts during the holidays. You can tap into this trend by offering (and marketing!) coverage for home contents, such as jewelry and other major purchases. 

3. Embrace the season: If your team is back in the office, and your business is visible by potential customers, create a seasonal window display to draw in customers.

4. Tell a story: Take this time to share all that you've accomplished in the past year. A great idea The Independent Agent recommends is to run a contest on social media. Ask followers to share their stories from the past year, tagging you for a chance to win a prize. Try to tie the contest into your product, such as a heartwarming story about how their insurance was worth every penny. 

5. Last, but not least, ask. Ask what your customers' paint points are for the holidays and how you can fix the problems. 

Wisconsin Medical Payments per Workers' Comp Claim Among Highest in Study

According to Insurance Journal, "A recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute found that medical payments per claim with more than seven days of lost time in Wisconsin were among the highest of 18 states studied and changed little from 2014 to 2019." Between 2014 and 2019, the study found that prices paid for professional services grew 3% per year. These increases were similar to changes in other states without medical fee schedules. Ramona Tanabe, executive vice president and counsel of WCRI attributed the main driver of the Wisconsin higher medical payments per claim when compared to other study states to the higher-than typical prices paid for professional (nonhospital) services. Read more here. 

Half of Americans with Retirement Accounts Have Taken an Early Withdrawal

A recent survey from Bankrate has found that 51% of Americans have dipped into their retirement accounts early, including 20% who did so during the pandemic. According to CNBC, Gen Z tapped into their savings at the highest rate. "While only 18% took an early withdrawal pre-pandemic, 40% said they did so during or after March 2020. Baby boomers were the most likely to keep their accounts untouched amid COVID - 34% had taken an early withdrawal before the pandemic, but only 6% did so during or after March 2020." These early withdrawals come with major downsides. Between income tax and a 10% additional tax penalty, early withdrawal depending on your tax bracket can eat up between 20% to almost 50% of your withdrawal. Read more about the increase in early withdrawals here. 

For more news, check out the Action news section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. We hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving with their loved ones!