Despite the fact that insurance is such a vital part of every business, digital marketing for insurance agents is minimal at best. For many agents, digital marketing is something they’d like to do but don’t have time. Or they have a digital marketing plan that involves tweeting one insurance-related news article a week and updating their LinkedIn profile twice a year. Other agents look to these examples and claim them as evidence that digital marketing isn’t a viable option for insurance agents.
Digital marketing techniques like content and social media marketing are ideal fits for insurance agents. And there’s a simple formula you can use to start your digital marketing strategy.
Invite Questions
Insurance is something most business owners know very little about. It’s something a lot of the general public see as a closed shop. They see it as a secretive and untrustworthy industry that looks after itself first. A great way to break through that stereotype is to invite people to ask questions about insurance.
You can do this through social media, through blogs or on your website. Insurance is something everyone has a question about, and as an insurance expert, you’re the one they want to ask.
Answer Them for Free
So much of marketing for insurance is about building trust. The simple invitation to ask a question won’t build that trust on it’s own. People may misinterpret it as an invitation to a paid consultation.
There’s no better way to build trust than to answer insurance questions without asking for anything in return. People love to get things for free and, if they find your answers helpful, that’s a great endorsement of your abilities.
Offer Advice Without Being Asked
Of course you don’t need to be asked a question to offer advice. People research insurance online all the time. They look up policies and jargon or just seek advice. If you have informative blogs, whitepapers and other resources on your website, you can capture some of that research traffic.
The target here is to make people want to work with your agency. If you help a business owner with their research, they’re likely to come back in a professional capacity.
Be Proactive
Digital marketing for insurance agents isn’t just about creating content and hoping you get found. You need to be proactive too. Social media is vital in this. Your target market is active on Twitter and LinkedIn so you should be too. Remember, these people want to hear what you have to say; you just need to put it in front of them.
As a starting point you need to be sharing all of your content across your social channels. You should get involved with insurance groups on LinkedIn, get involved in insurance conversation on Twitter and make sure your agency name is at the center of that activity.
Don’t Ignore it
For a lot of insurance agents, and other small businesses, marketing is something they do when all their work is done. It’s often an afterthought for people who’ve spent their day dealing with clients and providers, and just don’t have the time. Consistency is vital in digital marketing. The odd post here or there won’t cut it. You need to create new blog content and engage with social media more than once a week, every single week.
If you’re not ready to do this, don’t start. Either engage with a digital marketing company who can help you, or prepare a strategy and start once you’re ready. Once you start, you need to keep the activity consistent. Old, or rarely updated, social media accounts or blogs can do as much damage as good.
The basics of digital marketing for insurance agents are simple. Create useful content, engage with your target market and offer to help. After that, the biggest challenge is staying on top of it.
