Tagged: insurance
10+ Insurance Marketing Tips
- by Alyson Shane
Do you have questions about how to market yourself as an insurance broker?
If so, then this is the post for you!
Recently Alyson was a guest on The Insurance Podcast, a podcast focusing on issues within the P&C insurance sector hosted by Pete Tessier.
This is Alyson's second time on the podcast (find the first episode here) and this time she and Pete discussed how insurance brokers can think about leveraging their passion for what they do into a personal brand that connects with future customers and showcases their expertise.
After the episode aired Pete shared 11 takeaways he'd learned from their chat, and we wanted to break them down into more detail so you can really get the most out of the discussion. Dive right in:
1. Don't be boring
Your passion for what you do says a lot about you as a profession, so never describe what you do as boring.
People who are passionate about what they do and eager to share that passion with the world are often the best at what they do, so use your personal brand to showcase the things about insurance that you love. Bring your audience along for the ride as you get excited about what you do and you'll help them feel excited about what you can do for them.
2. Find the social networks you love
Ideally, the social networks where you'll be promoting yourself will be an intersection between the social networks you prefer and where you know your audience are spending their time, but that won't always be the case.
As a result, it's important to recognize and assess which social networks you prefer to spend time on, and do your best to channel your energy into spending time on that social network.
3. Explore + love your niche
Everyone has something about what they do that they love more than anything, and it's that passion for that thing that makes a personal brand stand out.
With that in mind, take the time to sit down and reflect on the things you love the most about insurance and brainstorm how you can help people have a better understanding of why you love it.
Personal branding relies a lot on sharing your knowledge and passion with others, so lean into the things you love and amplify them as part of your social presence.
4. Start with your personal brand
Don't rely on your brokerage to promote your personal success.
It may seem tempting to rely on the familiarity of their branding and use it as an excuse to not have to promote yourself, but remember: your client's relationships are ultimately with you.
While you work in conjunction with a brokerage, ask about any cross-promotional opportunities between your personal brand and the company's corporate brand, and how you may be able to re-share their content, and vice-versa.
5. Learn about Buyer Personas
Buyer Personas help you have a deeper understanding of different kinds of clients you work with, including important areas like their budgets, pain points, how they make decisions, and more.
If you've never made a Buyer Persona before, we've got a handy blog post and free resource to get you started. Click here to check them out.
6. Create a summary of where + when to share
Decide which social networks are going to be your main focus when promoting your personal brand, and decide how often you're going to share content on each social network.
The key here is consistency. Like any relationship, the relationships you're building with your online audience take time, consideration, and planning to make sure you don't leave them hanging or ghost on an opportunity to have a conversation.
7. Schedule your content in advance
One of the biggest barriers to being successful at social media is not planning your content in advance, and part of successful planning is using a social media scheduling tool.
This is especially true if you're planning to develop any kind of content strategy around using your blog posts, downloadable content, and other marketing tactics in order to promote your personal brand.
Here at Starling Social we prefer Buffer, but you can also try Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Social Pilot.
8. Use a newsletter to stay in touch
Social media is more competitive than ever, which means you have to work harder, have more conversations, and invest in a more organized marketing strategy than ever before.
Luckily, you can get in touch your past, present, and future clients by asking them to subscribe to your newsletter. Once they've subscribed make sure to segment them into lists so you can send them updates that are specific to questions, interests, and information they may need to know.
9. Use your "evergreen content"
Evergreen content is content that is always relevant.
These types of blog don't focus on timely topics (like specific events) and instead focus on general topics that are usually tied to answering a search query.
For example, a post titled "5 Things You Need to Know Before You Insure Your Boat" is evergreen, while a post called "6 Things to Know This 2019 Tax Season" is not.
Because evergreen content is typically focused on answering search queries, they're one of the best ways to increase your website's search engine page ranking without paying for pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
With this in mind, focus on creating a blog with a blend of timely news and interesting and relevant content that won't become dated.
10. Ask "why?"
If the business you work for doesn't want you to promote your personal brand, ask why.
We live in a hyper-competitive online environment, and though there may not be a lot of competition within the insurance industry right now, that's going to change soon.
Podcasts like The Insurance Podcast are evidence of a changing market, and it's important that insurance agents and brokerages alike are adaptive.
11. Update your social media bios
Make sure your social media bios are up to date!
Before you get started down the journey of defining and building your brand as an insurance agent, make sure your social media bios are consistent, clearly state who are and what you do, and are (relatively) consistent cross every social network.
Listen to the full episode here. Do you have a a question for Pete and Alyson? Submit it here.
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