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16 Social Media Marketing Tips for Insurance Agents

Marketing Tips
May 5, 2022
12
minute read
Nectar Team
16 Social Media Marketing Tips for Insurance Agents

Just about everyone these days has a social media profile on at least one platform. They use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and various other sites to connect and keep up with friends and family.  

Businesses have also jumped on the social media bandwagon, setting up profiles to connect with their customers. Social media also allows these same businesses to expand their reach and find more of their target audience.  

As an independent insurance agent or small insurance agency, you need to be where your customers and prospects are. Today, that place is social media. While conventional methods of lead generation, such as attending networking events and direct mail, are still effective, you can reach more people with less money using social media.  

‌ Wondering how to do it well? Here are 16 tips to help you make the most of your social media marketing as an insurance agent.

1. Set Specific Goals

As with anything else you do for your insurance business, setting social media goals is imperative for your success. Those goals give you something specific to work toward and provide the roadmap you need to get there.

Defining your goals with specificity will help you decide the steps you need to take to meet your agency's needs. They can also help you to measure your return on investment (ROI). If you take a data-driven approach, you can gauge what's moving the needle in terms of engagement, website traffic, and lead generation.

Here are a few examples of specific, data-driven goals you can set for your agency:  

  • Drive 500 new visitors to your website from social channels.
  • Increase your post engagement by 50%.
  • Grow your followers by 25%.
  • Increase page and post impressions by 100%.
  • Generate 50 leads from your social media accounts.

2. Import Your Existing Contacts

With a vast majority of people having at least one social media account, many of the individuals with whom you've already connected are likely on the same platforms you're using. If you look at your current contacts, you might find that there are dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of people you know but haven't yet connected with on social media. Don't miss out on those valuable connections.

And don't worry about the cost of importing contacts. Most social media platforms, including Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, allow you to import a set number for free. Import all of your contacts from Gmail, Outlook, and your phone into your social media accounts. You may be surprised at how many connections you're missing.‌

3. Don't Overcommit

It's important to be active on the social platforms your target audience is using. However, what's most important is that you're active on those platforms. Don't bite off more than you can chew — choose a few key platforms that you have time to keep up with.

When it comes to the insurance industry, Facebook and LinkedIn are great places to start. You can also have a lot of success on Twitter and Instagram with the right approach. Try starting with two or three that fit your audience and build from there. Where applicable (like Facebook), make sure to open a business account so you can leverage all of the business-specific features.  

Make sure your information is complete and accurate — and your profiles are professional — on every platform you use. Your social media page might be the first contact a prospect has with you. Use your full name and a professional photo. While a picture of your dog or a quick selfie can be tempting, save those for your personal pages. You should also include a brief bio that tells visitors who you are and what you have to offer.‌

4. Repost and Share Content From Others

You don't have to come up with all your own original ideas to share on social media. It's a social platform, after all, and part of your goal should be to share and promote great posts and content that others put out there.

When another agent (who isn't a direct competitor) shares something helpful or you read an insightful article, share it! It only takes a minute, and it keeps your audience interested in what you have to say.

5. Connect With Influencers

Beyond simply sharing helpful content, you can think strategically about connecting with social media influencers. These are social media users that have a far greater reach than you — a longtime insurance professional with tens of thousands of followers, for instance. If there's someone like that that fits with your audience, try to make a connection. Share their posts. Reach out and see if you can write a guest blog post.

If you develop a relationship with an influencer, it doesn't take long to grow your audience. Say you write a guest post for their blog, then they share it on their social channels. Suddenly, you're exposed to far more readers than you normally would be, and you're off to the races. On average, businesses earn $5.78 for every dollar they spend on influencer marketing.

6. Create Your Own Engaging Content

To establish yourself as an authority, you need to create and share your own content, too. Creating engaging posts around your niche(s) showcases your knowledge and awareness of the latest news and information regarding the insurance industry.

What exactly does that entail, though? Every platform requires a slightly different approach. For instance, Instagram is visual, while Twitter primarily uses short and snappy written words. Facebook is an excellent medium for both written and visual content. LinkedIn requires a professional touch.  

Keep in mind that, even though you're marketing your insurance business, you don't want to be too salesy on social media. The goal is to sell yourself without actually making a sales pitch. Aim to educate and provide value for your followers.

You can also occasionally talk about your achievements or share the occasional tidbit about your personal life, such as hobbies and travel experiences. After all, social media is more personal than other types of marketing. People want to connect with individuals, not businesses. Sharing some personal information with your followers makes you more relatable.

Just remember to strike a balance. Sharing some personal information is okay, but avoid oversharing or making your business social media pages all about you.  

7. Create Video Content

Written posts and images are excellent for engaging with your target market on social media, but video content has become increasingly more popular in recent years.  Consider some facts:

When it comes to posting video content, you can create and post a polished video or take advantage of a platform's live-streaming functions. With live streams, you can interact with your audience directly in real time. Either way, keep your videos more informational and less salesy. You'll also want to make sure that any videos you share or stream are topical and relevant to your particular niches.  

For instance, you can talk about industry news if you sell health insurance or Medicare. You might discuss the differences between the various types of life insurance or the benefits of getting a life insurance policy. You could provide some tips and tricks for saving money on auto insurance policies. Look for topics within your niche that can help you showcase your knowledge and engage your audience.

8. Focus on Your Area(s) of Expertise

As an insurance agent, you might sell numerous types of insurance but specialize in only a few of them. On social media, create content that focuses on your area(s) of expertise. That will help you build credibility and trust with your audience and establish you as an authority in that area. The more unique and engaging your content, the more your audience will start to think of you as a leader in your field.  

And don't be afraid to try out different topics. Once you create a solid amount of content, take a look back through what you've made and see which posts your audience has engaged with the most. You can use those as jumping-off points to create new material or provide updated information as time goes on.

9. Include a Call to Action

If you're creating posts to encourage your audience to take specific steps, always include a call to action (CTA). You can't sit back and hope that your followers will do what you want; you need that CTA to guide them.

No matter what action you want your audience to take, your CTA should be specific. It will typically fall at the end of a blog post or webpage, but it can appear anywhere on a website or within a social media message.  

Most calls to action range from a few words to a couple of sentences. Consider using phrases like:

  • "Sign up for our newsletter."
  • "Get your personalized quote today."
  • "Call us today to see if you qualify."
  • "Read the full article on our blog."
  • "Find out how much you can save over your current policy."

Aim to instill a sense of urgency in your audience. For instance, "Get your personalized quote today" implies more urgency than "Get a quote." Give the impression that there's a limited time to act. That can motivate more of your followers to respond to more of your calls to action.

10. Keep Things Positive

Your social media posts and interactions with your followers should be a reflection of your professional attitude and overall personality. Stay positive. Avoid inflammatory religious, political, or racial comments, or anything that others might find offensive. Keep your business pages for business only.

If you want to voice your opinion, create two accounts — one for your insurance business and another for your personal use. Your business account is where you share helpful content, promote your agency, and make valuable connections to grow your agency. Use your personal account to share and say whatever you want, and keep it private and limited to friends and family.

11. Post Regularly

When social media was new, more posts meant more engagement. Unfortunately, that old logic no longer applies. People spend a lot of time on various platforms these days, so over-posting can quickly make your followers feel fatigued or annoyed. So, what can you do?

Strike a balance. Keep communication with your followers open and consistent, but don't share so much that you come across as desperate. A once-weekly post isn't going to cut it, either. The sweet spot varies by platform. According to Hootsuite, these are the ideal targets for posting frequency:

  • Instagram: 3-7 times per week
  • Facebook: 1-2 times a day
  • Twitter: 1-5 tweets a day
  • LinkedIn: 1-5 times a day

These aren't hard-and-fast rules. Try out some different schedules to find a cadence that fits your audience. Track results and adjust as needed.

12. Have a Conversation

We've said it a few times, but it's hard to overemphasize. Social media is ... social. It's all about conversation and relationships. Try to have an ongoing conversation with your followers. Ask questions that encourage their responses. When they respond to your posts, follow up.

If your followers sense that everything you post is just a veiled attempt to make a sale, they'll tune you out quickly. Use your social media accounts to maintain a running dialog with your audience. It will strengthen your connection for when the sales opportunities come.

13. Leverage Social Media Management Tools

Building and maintaining a social media presence can be time-consuming. You only have so many hours in a day. Trying to run your business, post to social media, manage other marketing campaigns, and live your life can get hectic pretty quickly.  

Fortunately, various social media tools can make things a lot easier. Software like Sprout Social, Buffer, and Hootsuite all connect to your social media networks and allow you to post across various platforms and schedule your posts. You can do all of this from one location, eliminating the need to log in to multiple accounts.

14. Join Groups

Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn offer thousands of opportunities for businesses to join groups that focus on specific industries, topics, locations, and communities. Take advantage of them. Use the search bar to locate groups relevant to your target audience community where you can share applicable and helpful information.

Interacting with others in each group you join is imperative. If you only join the groups but don't participate, it'll be harder for people to learn more about your agency and everything you offer. It's also much more challenging to establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Don't be afraid to jump into conversations and add your unique insights. Just be sure that you provide something of value when you comment.‌

15. Run Social Ads

Running paid ads is optional, and it isn't necessary for you to be successful with social media as an insurance agent. Keep in mind, though, that organic posts don't typically reach as many people as they used to. If you want to boost your reach, consider carving out part of your budget to leverage paid advertisements so you can get your name in front of more people.

Now, while social media ads can be powerful, they aren't a magical fix that will instantly increase your engagement and net you substantially more leads. They are an extra tool in your toolbox, though.

16. Don't Give Up

Creating an engaging brand on social media as an insurance agent isn't the easiest thing to do. Just remember, your presence on your chosen platforms is meant to help people and bring value to their lives. It's also about what people should expect to see when they notice you've posted a new piece of content. You'll need to think long-term and take note of what's working, as well as what isn't. That will allow you to make adjustments to increase your success.

One final thing: It will take time to become consistent and grow your social channels. Don't get discouraged or lose sight of the bigger picture. Time, effort, and perseverance are essential.

Augment Your Leads With Nectar

Generating leads through your social media pages will take some time. That doesn't mean you need to sit around and wait for the leads to start pouring in. With Nectar's help, you can take action now while you wait for your social pages to take off.

Using Nectar, you can ensure a consistent flow of incoming insurance leads in real time while you work on your social media skills. With an easy-to-use online portal, you have complete control of your campaigns. We match customers with agents that fit their needs based on the information they provide, so you receive leads who are more likely to convert. In essence, everyone wins. Sign up to give it a try today.

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.

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