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LinkedIn is a social media platform created for professionals. It currently has more than 810 million members in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. For insurance agents, the widespread popularity of LinkedIn means that it has the potential to help build relationships and expand networks.
LinkedIn's vision is to "create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce." So you can rest assured that the people behind the platform work to constantly improve LinkedIn's ability to help professionals grow their networks. That means that any effort you put toward building your LinkedIn community represents time well spent; now and in the future.
As a busy insurance agent, you may find it difficult to justify the amount of time and energy you have to invest in participating in a social media platform like LinkedIn. There are many advantages to dedicating resources to becoming visible on several social media platforms. However, if you had to choose just one, LinkedIn is a solid choice for insurance professionals.
New customers who are curious about your background may go directly to LinkedIn and search for you. When they find a carefully curated profile and answers to their basic questions about your background and the services you provide, you have a better chance of making a meaningful connection with them.
Here, we'll cover everything you need to know about how successful insurance professionals leverage the power of LinkedIn to support and grow their client base.
Your insurance business can use LinkedIn to build your network, improve awareness of your brand, get new leads, and increase revenue. Many social media networks can do this, but LinkedIn is built for professionals. Naturally, insurance professionals would use it to grow their business and connect with other professionals.
Here's what LinkedIn could do for you.
Gen Zers and millennials make up a large group of consumers, and they spend a great deal of time on social media. They expect authenticity in the brands they engage with, and LinkedIn provides professionals with the opportunity to showcase their personality, characteristics, tone, and ability to provide dependable and high-quality service.
Consumers are tired of sales pitches. LinkedIn provides you with a platform where you can showcase your willingness to provide helpful and free education. Understanding insurance isn't at the top of most people's list of fun things to do. However, a lack of understanding can cost consumers a lot of money.
Every insurance professional claims they provide top-notch customer service. LinkedIn provides you with the opportunity to prove that you actually take care of your clients. By leveraging the power of recommendations and testimonials, you can showcase your history of excellent customer service.
More than 57 million companies are listed on LinkedIn. There are over 185 million registered LinkedIn users residing in the United States. The LinkedIn network is large enough that any effort you make toward connecting with your current clients and building a community is likely to generate leads. Although it's reasonable to expect lead generation via LinkedIn to take time, the number of professional participants on the platform indicates that insurance professionals trying to grow their business with LinkedIn are in the right place.
With LinkedIn, you have access to the tools you need to showcase your knowledge of your industry by including your research, blog posts, and corporate activity on your LinkedIn business page.
When you regularly publish high-quality content, you set yourself apart from your competitors as someone who is an insurance expert. This helps build credibility before you ever meet a potential client face-to-face.
Google's bots crawl LinkedIn pages regularly, and Google regards the platform as a trusted resource for consumers. Optimizing your profile can help you rank higher on Google, so when prospects search for someone who offers insurance services in your area, you are more likely to appear in their results.
Ready to get started on LinkedIn? There are a few specific things you can start doing right away to prospect for clients on the platform.
Many professionals don't take the time to complete their LinkedIn profile at all, much less carefully curate their image on the platform. Insurance professionals who want to use LinkedIn to generate leads must present themselves as trustworthy, serious, and experienced. A profile with a photo of your cat and no job history may work against you, so make an effort to craft a LinkedIn presence that appears professional.
Start by using a recent professional headshot as your photo. Create a summary that includes your professional accomplishments as well as a few details about your professional life. Your LinkedIn profile should reinforce a new client's decision to trust you with their financial well-being. Your summary should be engaging, personable, and informative. Include the following information:
Many people get stuck on this task, so if you can't come up with a summary that pleases you, reach out for help. Hire someone to write the summary for you if it will keep you moving toward your goal of creating a professional-looking LinkedIn profile. Your job history should read like a resume, with bullet points that highlight your responsibilities and accomplishments. Be sure to spell out acronyms.
If you aren't already connected with your current clients, it's worth the effort to leverage this type of social capital. Have a long list of clients? Tackle the project a little at a time. Segment your list into sections of 10 or 15 clients and request their permission to connect with them one by one. Be sure to send each one a personal and short message thanking them for the opportunity, as well.
Also, choose five or 10 clients that you have an especially good relationship with and ask them to write you a short recommendation. When someone searches for you on LinkedIn, they'll see your recommendations in your profile.
Go to the LinkedIn platform and type a search term related to your industry into the search bar. An insurance professional specializing in commercial insurance may choose "commercial liability," for instance. Your search results return all content that includes that search term on the page. This type of search can return a great deal of content and help you explore your competition's offerings on the platform.
This more refined search function may help you locate future customers by filtering criteria such as their education, industry, location, and company. LinkedIn's advanced search function targets only user profiles, which can help you connect with potential customers in your area.
After building a network of LinkedIn connections with your current client base, choose "second connections" to find customers who may already know your current clients. Personalizing a message to new potential connections may help you increase your rate of acceptance.
Sales Navigator is one of LinkedIn's premium features. It allows users to create targeted lists, like prospects within a 15-mile radius. The tool helps sales professionals leverage the information that users provide to the platform. You can send direct messages to people with whom you aren't yet connected, set up media mention alerts for prospects, and follow news about certain companies.
The "People you may know" function is a free service provided by LinkedIn to help users make connections. The function is accessible at no charge. Navigate to your LinkedIn profile, click the "My Network" button, and look through the automatically generated list on the right-hand side of the page.
LinkedIn's algorithms work behind the scenes to boost your ability to connect with people in your field of expertise and your geographical area. Grow your network by clicking the blue "Connect" button to ask the other person to connect with you.
LinkedIn Groups provide access to virtual networking opportunities. This feature provides insurance professionals with an easy way to market themselves and prospect for new customers.
Groups with common interests, local associations, and alumni groups are a great place to start. Find local groups by accessing "groups" from the menu on the left side of your "My Network" page. You can search groups by geographical location, hobbies, charity groups, sports associations, and more.
After you've been accepted as a member of a LinkedIn group, you can ask a question or leave a comment for other members. It's crucial to engage with the people in your groups. Commenting on posts and answering questions are great ways to get started.
Inside LinkedIn Forums, users can offer professional advice to those looking for answers. When you participate in forums, don't attach a sales pitch. Provide information, and then offer to connect if the recipient finds your contribution helpful.
If someone values your input, they can easily look at your profile and see what you provide. When you contribute knowledge to the platform, it helps position you as an insurance expert, and you can expect that, over time, people may begin to seek your advice when they need help.
Whether you contribute blog content on your own or hire a writer to produce content that you attach your name to, maintaining a company blog with regular and relevant posts on LinkedIn provides yet another way to connect with potential clients. This is another way to position yourself as a trusted expert on insurance topics.
When your readers find your blog posts helpful, they can click through to your website to further explore your offerings. Hopefully, they'll learn more about your business and reach out to get a quote for insurance. Be sure to engage with readers who comment on your posts. Even a simple line like, "I'm so glad you found this post helpful!" lets your readers know that you're committed to sharing your knowledge and expertise.
You can connect your Twitter feed to LinkedIn so that your posts appear automatically in your LinkedIn feed. Be sure to use a hashtag for posts you want to appear on LinkedIn if your Twitter feed has a combination of personal and professional posts.
On LinkedIn, under Settings, navigate to the "Partners & Services" section and click on Twitter. Add a Twitter account by following the prompts. Authorize the app to access your Twitter feed, and then identify specific hashtags you'll use when you want a Tweet to appear on LinkedIn automatically.
Include a link to your LinkedIn profile on other social media platforms you use for professional and personal purposes. Be sure to add your LinkedIn profile to your outgoing email signature, as well.
LinkedIn is a proven tool that helps insurance professionals build their business through referrals, testimonials, and connections, but it takes time to start working. As you begin using LinkedIn to connect with prospects, you may start to notice a return on your investment of time and energy.
Social media is an important part of many insurance professionals' lead generation strategies, but you may need a more immediate boost. Nectar provides insurance professionals with fast lead generation to augment your LinkedIn efforts. Get more real-time, high quality insurance leads right away with Nectar.
This article reflects the features of Nectar as of the date of publication. Features are subject to change at any time. This article is meant for informational purposes only, it is not a guarantee that using Nectar will help you achieve specific business or financial results and is not intended to serve as the sole recommendation for any business financial decisions.
