Traditional ways to promote an insurance brokerage are quickly becoming obsolete.
The world is becoming more digital every day, and your promotion efforts must meet that trend. The best way to rise up to the desire for digital is to improve your brokerage's social media presence.
Source: Celent
The best way to grow your business is to get more visibility. Consumers are spending more time on social media these days, so it's time to meet them where they are. Building your brokerage's social media presence will offer a number of benefits to your organization.
A 2017 study shows that 43% of consumers lack trust in insurance companies. Leveraging social media is a great way to change that. Since people spend more time online, they'll trust businesses with a strong social media presence.
If your company is on the same social media platforms as your customers, you can engage with them and create connections. That will help boost your reputation in the eyes of your customers.
Social media also gives your brokerage the opportunity to quickly resolve customer questions and concerns. Consumers in all industries have started to turn to social media to seek customer support or share negative reviews. Your customers are talking about your brokerage online.
With an active social media presence, you'll be able to quickly respond to questions and concerns that customers are sharing online. A timely and human response will improve customers' perception of your brokerage.
Best Social Media Tools for Insurance Brokerages
Your brokerage's social media presence should be more than strictly texted-based updates. There needs to be a strategy behind every post that includes eye-catching graphics. Here are some types of tools you can leverage to create a strong social media presence.
Social media management software — A social media management tool is a great first step in beefing up your online presence. You can draft a message on your platform and schedule it to be published across multiple social media channels. These tools often come with an analytics offering, meaning you can measure engagement across every channel and redirect your efforts accordingly.
Social media advertising software — If your marketing team is pushing a campaign to attract new customers, invest in a social media advertising tool. Paid ads will help to ensure your brokerage gets in front of the right people at the right time.
Graphic design software — Work with your marketing team to implement a user-friendly visual creation software. Even if you don't have a graphic designer in-house, many of these tools offer simple drag-and-drop editing. Start off by creating promotional simple graphics with your brand's colors and save them as templates. Your marketing team can slowly improve upon those templates as they become more comfortable with the platform.
Writing and editing tools — As professionals in the insurance industry, grammar may not be your forte — that's okay! After you draft up every social media post, run it through a grammar and spell-checker. These tools can help you feel more confident in what you're writing, along with cutting down posts to make character counts.
Link tracking tools — If you're linking to your brokerage's website in social media posts, you'll want to see how many people click it. A link tracking tool can deliver those analytics for you. This will tell you when your marketing efforts are working and when you should pivot to something new.
Six Social Media Tips for Insurance Brokerages
Just being present on social media isn't enough to grow your presence. You need to put thought and effort behind each post on every social network where you have a profile. Here are some tips to get you started with a thriving social media presence.
Choose the right platforms
While your brokerage should be on social media, you don't necessarily have to be everywhere. Consider the demographics of your current customer base and the customers you'd like to target. Conduct some research to see what the preferred social networks for those groups are. Create accounts on those platforms.
Encourage brokers to share personal content on LinkedIn
Users are increasingly sharing personal content on LinkedIn — encourage your brokers who are comfortable with this to do the same. Sharing content about the family pet or hobbies will bring a human element to your brokerage.
Remind your employees to tie their captions back to your brokerage. That way, current and potential customers will be reminded that your company employs fun and relatable brokers. People want to do business with companies that feel human. Your brokers’ social media presence is a great way to execute that strategy.
Set aside a paid budget for social media
Organic social media is great, but you'll likely need a little extra help to get noticed online. Setting aside even a small budget for paid social efforts can make a difference. You can use those dollars to occasionally boost LinkedIn posts or tweets to get that content in front of more people.
Create infographics and short-form videos
Catch customers mid-scroll with eye-catching infographics and videos. Leverage infographics to educate your customers about the industry.
These graphics can outline the claims payment process, the different lines of insurance you sell, or whatever you want. Quick videos can share a behind-the-scenes look at working at your brokerage. Infographics and videos are quick, creative, and effective ways to share information with your audience.
Spotlight wins
Share content news about awards your brokerage has won or links to publications one of your brokers has been quoted in. Don't be afraid to brag! Customers will feel more comfortable knowing the brokerage they're in business with is successful.
Share customer testimonials
Your customers are your most powerful form of marketing. With their permission, share customer testimonials across all of your social networks. Positive reviews from real people will help to build trust with your audience.
Meet the Demand for Digital With Social Media
Digital transformation is an ongoing process for insurance companies. Building up your brokerage's social media presence is a great first step in this journey. Take the time and effort to learn which platforms and what types of posts are most effective for your audience. You’ll see stronger engagement and trust from your customers in no time.
