The Albany Gazette - AmeriLife Marketing Mentors Debuts AEP 2027 Marketing Playbook as AI Reshapes How Agents Compete for Clients

CLEARWATER, FL / ACCESS Newswire / September 8, 2026 / AmeriLife Group, LLC ("AmeriLife"), a national leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities, and retirement planning solutions, today announced that AmeriLife Marketing Mentors (AMM), the company's marketing education platform built exclusively for licensed insurance agents, has launched a comprehensive education initiative to prepare licensed insurance agents and marketers nationwide for the 2027 Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), that runs from October 15 through December 7.

For the first time, agents are not only competing against one another for visibility. They are adapting in real time to artificial intelligence, automation, conversational search, and rapidly evolving consumer habits that are reshaping how people find, evaluate, and choose an agent. As more consumers turn to AI-driven channels to research coverage and compare options, marketing has become a core competitive skill rather than a side task, even as most agents report managing it largely on their own, without formal training or a defined strategy.

AMM built this initiative to close that gap. The program delivers practical, implementation-focused marketing education through webinars, a dedicated podcast series, social media, newsletters, website content, and a library of downloadable resources, all built specifically for the realities of AEP and the health insurance industry.

At the center of the initiative is a new AEP Marketing Playbook, a step-by-step resource that gives agents a practical framework for marketing preparation, client communication, and AI-informed visibility heading into the season. It anchors on Marketing Mentors Live: Your AEP Marketing Playbook, AMM's flagship educational webinar (details below), and is available alongside a growing set of downloadable tools, including an AEP Marketing Checklist, an Email Marketing Performance Checklist, an AI Prompt Library, and platform-specific playbooks for LinkedIn and Facebook.

"There's never been an AEP like this one, and agents know it," said JoAnna Barker, SVP, Digital and Growth Marketing at AmeriLife and Head of AmeriLife Marketing Mentors. "The agents who win this season won't be the ones who work the longest hours in December. They'll be the ones who prepared their marketing months in advance. That's exactly why we built this playbook: to give our network a real, practical plan instead of one more thing to figure out on their own."

The initiative also includes the AMM Podcast AEP Education Series, featuring weekly episodes on AI for agents, email marketing, social media strategy, local SEO and Google Business Profile optimization, reviews and referrals, and personal branding for insurance professionals, delivered in the short-form, on-demand formats agents say they prefer.

"AI hasn't made marketing optional; it's made it unavoidable," said David Belleville, Director of Marketing Strategy at AmeriLife and co-host of the AmeriLife Marketing Mentors Podcast. "Licensed agents don't need to become marketers overnight. They need a resource that tells them exactly what to do next. That's what the AEP Playbook and this whole initiative are built to be."

"AEP is the most critical selling season of the year, and those who prepare now are the ones who separate themselves from the field," added Bobby Bache, SVP, Affiliate Partnerships, Wholesale at AmeriLife. "Resources like the AEP Marketing Playbook give our affiliate partners and their licensed agents a real edge and clear plan to walk into the season with."

The AEP Marketing Playbook and access to AMM's AEP resources are available now at MarketingMentors.AmeriLife.com, where licensed agents can also register for Marketing Mentors Live and subscribe to AMM's educational content across webinars, podcasts, and social channels.

Join the Conversation
Licensed agents can go deeper on these strategies at Marketing Mentors Live: Your AEP Marketing Playbook, a live webinar on Wednesday, September 9 at 2 p.m. ET featuring JoAnna Barker and David Belleville of AmeriLife Marketing Mentors, alongside Justin Brock (President & CEO of BROCK, an AmeriLife Company), Brian Luben (Vice President, Health Distribution at AmeriLife), and Bobby Bache (SVP, Affiliate Partnerships, Wholesale at AmeriLife). The session covers how top-performing agents prepare before AEP, strategies to stay visible during the rush, and how to use technology and AI to save time and improve retention. Register now at marketingmentors.amerilife.com/your-aep-marketing-playbook.

About AmeriLife Marketing Mentors
AmeriLife Marketing Mentors (AMM) is a team of marketing experts built exclusively for licensed agents and advisors in the health and wealth insurance space. Through webinars, a weekly podcast, downloadable resources, and one-on-one guidance, AMM delivers practical, jargon-free marketing education designed to help licensed insurance agents grow their visibility, their confidence, and their business. Learn more at MarketingMentors.AmeriLife.com.

About AmeriLife
AmeriLife's strength lies in its mission: to provide insurance and retirement solutions that help people live longer, healthier lives. In doing so, AmeriLife has become recognized as the leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities, and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees across the United States. For more than 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with top insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a distribution network of over 325,000 insurance agents, advisors, and financial professionals, and 160 marketing organizations and insurance agency locations nationwide. For more information, visit AmeriLife.com.

Media Contacts
Jeff Maldonado
AmeriLife
[email protected]

Partnership Inquiries
Michael Tobitsch
AmeriLife
[email protected]

SOURCE: AmeriLife Group, LLC

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(W.Williams--TAG)