Do you ever feel like you’re trying everything under the sun to get new insurance clients? In today’s super-competitive insurance industry, it’s not enough to offer good products and excellent customer service to your clients.
You’ve also got to be savvy enough to play the digital marketing game - and do it the right way.
Here are five things you need to market your insurance business successfully in 2019:
- Intelligent website
- Customer-driven content
- Social media engagement
- Email marketing
- Consistent analysis and strategy refinement
Intelligent Website
Your insurance website is your home on the internet. There’s a very good chance that any potential new client will make their first impression about you based on your website.
Your website is also the cornerstone for your digital marketing activities. Make sure it’s working as hard as you are.
The elements of an intelligent insurance website include:
- Responsive design that can be viewed on all devices.
- Rating and quoting tools built in.
- Chat functionality.
- Optimized for fast load time.
- SSL certificates.
- Landing pages designed to convert.
Customer-Driven Content
The right content, published regularly, conveys your authority.
But what sort of content should you put on your website?
The first rule of marketing is to be of value to your intended audience. Create content that will speak specifically to your ideal client.
If your primary audience is contractors, for example, publishing informative and relevant blog posts or videos about the construction industry and contractor insurance is a smart marketing move.
But if you’re specializing in trucking insurance, a contractor insurance post isn’t going to be very valuable to the men and women driving back and forth across the country every day.
Let your customers’ needs drive your content topics.
Social Media Engagement
Many insurance agents discount the power of social media activities because they often fail to see the direct ROI for engaging on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.
Social media marketing can help you build your business, but probably not the way you think. If you’re only using social media for lead gen, you could be missing the big picture.
Here’s why you need to be on social media:
- A social media audience is seen as a “trust signal” signifying your legitimacy.
- More fans/ followers/ engagement typically equates with more trust.
- Potential and current clients may use your social media as a customer service channel.
- Social media gives you a chance to be a part of a larger conversation your audience is having.
- Social media advertising allows you to reach audiences you may otherwise never reach.
Stop thinking about what you can get from a social media audience. Start thinking of ways you can give value to your audience, instead. As you grow an authentically engaged audience, the leads will come.
Email Marketing
Email marketing can be a powerful tool to help you build your insurance business.
Global marketers agree that the top benefits of email marketing include:
- Generating more leads 23%
- Improved sales 19%
- Improved conversion rates 17%
- Reduced marketing costs 13%
- Identifying better quality leads 12%
One one side of a coin, email marketing is an effective tool. On the other side of the coin, however, is the risk of sending SPAM: emails that are unwanted, unneeded, and unread.
So how do you avoid the dreaded SPAM folder and send emails that really hit the mark with your audience?
Provide value to your audience.
Consider the emails that you regularly subscribe to, open, read, or click on. What do they have in common? They likely educate, entertain, or otherwise provide value to you.
Give the same gift of courtesy to your email list; provide them with an email they’re truly looking forward to receiving.
Analyze and Refine Your Strategy
Your insurance marketing strategy should be documented but never set in stone. The insurance pros who are winning at the digital marketing game are constantly analyzing the results of their actions and refining their strategy along the way.
- Monitor Google Analytics for trends in website traffic and visitor behavior.
- Keep an eye on Google Search Console for the search queries bringing visitors to your site.
- Use an email delivery platform that tracks campaign open rates and click rates.
- Check in regularly with Google Adwords and Facebook ads to monitor ad performances.
You can’t “set it and forget it” when it comes to marketing your insurance business online. Be prepared to take chances, test your approaches, and be agile as you respond to what the data reveals to you about your audience, campaigns, and marketing tactics.
That’s how your insurance business can stay ahead in today’s online world.