So I’ve been thinking about something lately. Everyone in marketing keeps talking about scaling and “just increase the budget to increase conversions,” but what if the budget isn’t the problem? What if the issue is the way we’re using the budget, especially in Insurance Advertising? I used to believe the only real way to get better results was to spend more, push harder, increase daily caps, all that stuff. But honestly, every time I raised the budget, my cost per lead went up, not down. Which made no sense to me at first.

So, I started asking around: is it actually possible to 3x ROI in insurance ads without adding more money on top?

When I asked this in my marketing circles, a lot of people had the same reaction: “uhh probably not, unless you get lucky with targeting.” And to be fair, that’s how many of us approach online ads—we hope the algorithm finds the right people.

But here’s the issue with that: the algorithm isn’t thinking about emotional triggers, timing, or intent. It’s just reacting based on patterns.

I realized the real problem wasn’t budgeting. It was the entire approach we take in Insurance Advertising.

The Pain Point

Insurance is one of those niches where people don’t wake up thinking, “I should buy insurance today.” So making ads that say “Get the best plan” or “Affordable cover starting now” just blends into the background. I was basically paying to show people something they didn’t care about yet. That’s probably why the ROI felt stuck.

Even when I tried switching to new demographics, testing different CTAs, or even using different images, the results didn’t really shift in a meaningful way. And once I increased the budget, the CPL almost always spiked. I was basically feeding the platforms more money for the same result.

What I Tested (And What Actually Changed Things)
So instead of doing another round of “change the creative and hope for the best,” I tried something different:

I started paying attention to context.

Not who the person is on paper, but where they are in their decision-making moment.

This meant moving away from broad “insurance offer” ads and instead running content that speaks to questions people have before they even consider buying insurance. For example:

“How do I choose the right coverage?”

“What are common mistakes first-time insurance buyers make?”

“How do deductibles actually work in real life?”

These didn’t look like ads. They were just genuinely useful pieces of info. And weirdly enough, those brought in the most qualified leads I’ve ever seen.

Because by the time someone clicked those or engaged with them, they were already leaning in instead of tuning out.

The Surprise Benefit

When I did this, I noticed something unexpected: my ad costs started dropping. Because the engagement rate went up. And when engagement goes up, platforms reward that with lower CPMs and lower CPCs.

So I didn’t raise the budget. I just restructured what the budget was paying for.

Around this time, I came across this breakdown explaining a similar strategy. Felt like it matched exactly what I was noticing in my own testing: Strategy To 3x Insurance Ads ROI Without Raising The Budget

I’m not saying it’s a magic fix, but it helped me understand why shifting to pre-intent messaging matters. It’s not about convincing people who don’t care. It’s about speaking to people who are already thinking about the problem but haven’t committed to solving it yet.

Soft Takeaway (Nothing Salesy)

If you’re stuck thinking the only way to grow is by spending more, it might be worth testing one thing:
Try shifting part of your ad budget toward content that answers the questions people search before they ever look for insurance quotes.

Don’t try to sell in these ads. Don’t push the policy, the offer, or the urgency. Just help people think more clearly.

Once someone trusts your insight, they trust your recommendation. And that’s where conversions actually come from.

For me, the biggest mindset shift was this:

Instead of asking “How do I push my offer harder?”

I started asking, “How do I become the person they trust before they even know they’re ready to buy?”

And that’s when the ROI started to move.