Social media continues to grow as a top channel for insurance agents to reach and engage with current and prospective customers. While an insurance agent’s website can offer consumers the opportunity to learn more, request a meeting or ask for details on coverage, an agent’s social media pages help prospects and clients establish a sense of connection and familiarity with the agent.
In part one, we highlighted the ways social selling can effectively help an agent expand their agency footprint, drive traffic to websites, engage prospects and connect agents with their current customers. While you might already be doing paid marketing on social media, it is important to understand the impact organic social media presence can also have on an insurance agent’s business and brand. Your social media pages are effective channels to establish a narrative around who you are as a person, in addition to a medium for promoting your insurance options and coverage.
While many social media platforms share similarities, there are a few key differences between various social channels. For example, you might have better engagement among certain audience segments depending on which social media platform you are using. Additionally, depending on the type of content you intend to share, it may resonate better on certain social media sites compared to others. Here is an overview of how insurance agents can better position themselves on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Facebook is the most recognized social media platform. In fact, Facebook has become so popular that many consumers assume all businesses have some type of Facebook presence. Facebook can easily be treated as an extension of your website as it provides you with a variety of ways to present information about your brand and company services, including hours of operation, contact info and customer reviews.
Facebook has a number of useful native functions that can help you publish diverse content. For example, you may want to host a “Facebook Live” video session to give a presentation. You can easily schedule posts with photos, links or videos to publish on your page and have access to metrics on how the posts perform. You can use Facebook messenger to review inquiries from prospective customers. Also, you can easily connect your Facebook business page and Instagram page so your content can be shared from both platforms.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and that has never been more true than on Instagram. Instagram is a growing platform used for sharing images and videos. While you might not think of insurance as the most picture-focused industry, by using photos and videos, insurance agents can create a strong brand persona and establish connections with clients and prospects based on shared values and experiences.
The Instagram account you use for your insurance business persona can help to humanize you online and can be used to showcase the things that set you apart from others. Maybe you are involved with local charities or sponsor a youth sports team. Do you have unique hobbies and interests that your audience may relate to? Do you attend or host events to connect with prospects and customers? Can you use pictures and videos to help consumers feel more comfortable during the insurance shopping process? These are all great questions to ask when evaluating content to post on your Instagram page.
According to Pew Research Center, 73% of U.S. adults use YouTube. Among 18-24 year olds, that number jumps to 90%. YouTube provides users with a platform for easy-to-digest content. Bycreting video content for YouTube, insurance agents can more easily convey their tone, personality, confidence and other non-verbal cues to mass audiences. This can help agents to establish feelings of relatability, familiarity and trust with their prospects and clients. Consumers are beginning to use YouTube more and more to better understand the products and services related to their daily needs and purchase decisions.
Consider using your YouTube channel to help consumers with different parts of their insurance process, from how to compare rates to understanding common insurance terms. Creating YouTube videos is simple and does not require lengthy, complicated or expensive production. In fact, you can use common business tools like Zoom to record yourself giving a presentation, export the video file and upload it to your YouTube channel in minutes.
LinkedIn is commonly known as the professional social media platform, but that does not mean you can only have B2B success on this site. As of 2020, LinkedIn was reported to have 147 million active users in the U.S. Approximately 60% of LinkedIn users are ages 25 to 34. Consider using LinkedIn to establish yourself as an insurance thought-leader and expert resource. Post content that most closely aligns with either the problems your prospective customers are looking to solve or what you want your prospective customers to know about you that differentiates you from your competitors.
Click here to learn more ways to effectively use LinkedIn to reach more customers & generate leads.
The insurance industry is incredibly competitive and consumers are price shopping more and more. Investing time and energy into an organic social media presence can help consumers find you and develop a connection with you as they learn about your business and expertise. As consumers continue to rely on social media more, a growing segment are also using social media sites to initiate research on a company or service. Recent studies show that a growing number of consumer buying decisions are influenced by social media. No matter what platform you prefer, social media is a key channel to add into your marketing mix.
While organic social media is effective at the top of the funnel and can help with customer retention, it should not be the only digital strategy in your marketing approach. If you are looking to connect with high-intent insurance consumers, an experienced partner can help you achieve your goals more quickly. The experienced ZipQuote team is committed to providing high-quality insurance leads and calls and can help you connect with high-intent customers. Click here to learn more about how ZipQuote can help you grow your business.
Contact us today!