As an insurance agent, marketing is critical for building your business. There is a wide variety of marketing opportunities available to you. All you need to do is set a budget, devote some of your time, and choose the alternatives that make the most sense in your market area.
Content Marketing
Insurance is one of those things that everyone needs, but few people really understand. You are in a unique position to change that. There are many topics you can write about that will be viewed as useful by your customers and prospects.
Writing a great blog will help establish your position as a go-to insurance agent. It will also help your website to gain authority with search engines. If you have a difficult time thinking of topics, take a look at other insurance blogs. You can search online for insurance blogs or review lists like this one from Influencive.
Social Media
It’s probably safe to say that most of your clients and prospects are using social media, and so should you. Take advantage of the opportunity to interact with social media users. Don’t restrict your posts to things insurance-related, which can come across as dry. Put some personality into your posts, and reply to the things others post on your social media sites.
Online Review Sites
People will have an opportunity to review your business on sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, Facebook and more. Make sure that you monitor those reviews. If you find a negative review, follow best practices for responding, which include:
- Respond immediately
- Don’t take it personally
- Make it clear online that you want to make the situation right, and take the discussion offline. Once you have resolved the issue, ask the reviewer to update their review, or add a post yourself explaining how the situation was resolved.
- Go out of your way to make the reviewer happy, even if you think they’re wrong.
Bad online reviews can have a significantly negative effect on your business. Don’t underestimate the power. 97 percent of consumers looked online for local businesses, and 49 percent of consumers won’t contact a business with a rating below four stars.
If you haven’t signed up for Google My Business, now would be a good time to get that setup.
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are very important. With Facebook’s rules about focusing on your friends’ posts in your Timeline, Facebook advertising is a good alternative. You can target your ads very specifically using geography and a range of other criteria.
Video Content
Acquiring insurance is a critical but an unknown journey for many people. They want to work with someone they know and trust. Since you can’t meet every prospect out there, utilize a platform like YouTube, which is the top social platform for influencing consumer behavior, to reach your customers and prospects.
You can create videos that introduce your agency, explain products, answer questions, and provide testimonials. You should be the star of at least some of the videos. If you’re concerned because you’ve never considered yourself to be an on-air personality, you don’t need to worry. Try having a friend take the video and look right at them while you explain things. If you act like you’re talking to a friend, people will be more likely to relate to you.
Next Steps
Are you ready to supercharge your marketing? Use the ideas above as a starting point. There are other opportunities such as volunteering for local charities, sponsoring local teams, and more. Use other marketing tactics such as putting advertising on your car, handing out an “in case of emergency” card, and making sure your email signature includes your logo and contact information including the link to your website. If you make an effective marketing plan and stick to it, you’ll be able to watch your business grow!
