Eric Granof – Chief Marketing Officer

Eric Granof and I spoke about his incredible marketing success story with regard to how he was able to bring a national brand concept to market. What’s really cool about what Eric did is the fact he was first to market in the “Bail Bonds” niche. This is something that we often discuss on the show and Eric provides insight from his first-hand experience.

What I really enjoyed about this conversation is that Eric was able to draw from his 17 years worth of marketing experience. He conveyed his message using marketing terminology in a way that is easy to understand. Even though his niche is very specific, many of the items we discussed relate to marketing in general. This should be of particular to those looking for examples anyone can incorporate into their marketing campaigns.

 

Eric is currently the Chief Marketing Officer for AIA Bail Bond Surety, (Allegheny Casualty International Fidelity Associated Bond). The AIA family of companies has been partnering with agents across the country for over a century. Formed in 2003 as an alliance of the industry’s leading companies Allegheny Casualty, International Fidelity and Associated Bond. AIA utilizes a unique “service- focused” approach to management, that provides its family of agents with the knowledge, tools and commitment they need to grow their business and succeed.

With over 150 years of combined experience between the companies, AIA has become the overwhelming industry leader in agent service, national coverage, bail bonds written and number of agents. AIA prides itself on building long-term relationships with its partner agents that foster trust and confidence.

How Eric Grew Notariety Within the Bail Bonds Category

The main goal Eric wanted to acheive is bring attention to the misperceptions within the bail bond industry through ExpertBail.com. So many people think of bail bonds agents as rough looking people with long hair, tattoo’s and leather jackets. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Eric wanted to educate people by telling them “The Truth” about the bail industry.

Eric went out and actually spoke to both bail agents and the consumers about bail bonds. This information was both critical and paramount in figuring out how to position ExpertBail.com in a way that can be effectively delivered and received by the consumers and the bail agents collectively. One of the biggest perceptions Eric found during this research is that this industry is completely misunderstood. People’s perception of bail agents are misguided due to the way this industry has been presented in the media. Many people don’t even realize that 50% of the bail agents consist of women.

It was very important to understand what the message was going to be in building a national brand. The overall message was figuring out how to talk about this industry in the best light. On the main expertbail.com site, there is a series of interviews of current bail agents. The goal of this video was to help spread the word that bail agents are people just like you and me.

Making this industry compelling and interesting for people to engage with took some work, but Eric approached this in two ways. Truth was a big part of this thing and so Eric went to the agents and figured out what they were doing within their communities. He found out that many of the bail agents were involved in several community based projects that help bring the community together. Bail agents are usually run by families that have resided in that area for a long time.