This post is a collaborative guest post from expert digital marketers who work on insurance marketing campaigns. The post was put together by interviews carried out by Shaurya Jain.
The insurance industry is very competitive. The industry turnover rate is high and it seems as though each day a new agency pops up making it more competitive for you to earn new business.
But if you know how to market yourself properly, you can stand out from your competition and get new clients consistently.
Here are 10 digital marketing experts who are working in the trenches every day sharing their best marketing tips for insurance agents.
Table of Contents
Isaac Hammelburger, Search Pros
Local Facebook groups are a great way for agents to generate leads. It’s not just about pouncing every time someone asks a question about insurance. Show that you’re a real person who cares about the community who also happens to be an agent. Respond to questions about local issues and give recommendations and when someone asks about an insurance agent you can be sure that others will recommend you.
Amanda Thomas, Konstruct Digital
Pick a niche. There’s a ton of insurance products you can sell, but pick a niche that aligns with your interests.
For example, we worked with one Insurance Agent who specializes in personal injury/accident and hazardous sports insurance. An avid mountain biker and outdoor enthusiast herself, she organized meetups (trail rides, snowboarding days, etc) within those communities. She always put the community first but came to be known as the person to talk to about insurance.
Through the communities she developed we were able to do retargeting and develop LAL audiences to further advertise her services.
The best part? She was able to have fun and pursue her own interests while doing it. That’s a win-win-win.
And of course, she sells other types of insurance, that’s a natural progression once she has a foot in the door
Matthew Dobinson, Expert Cog
It is well known that companies that blog get more leads through their website than companies that do not. If insurance agents started to blog and answer common insurance questions that people are searching for then the agent will get more exposure. It is easy to find out what questions people are searching for because google has a little box on most search result pages called ‘people also ask’.
This list of questions is infinite, meaning google will keep showing you more if you keep clicking the drop-down toggles. Here you have your content plan, you just need to make sure you answer those questions thoroughly, given enough time and enough answered questions, Google will start to give you traffic.
Adam Walters, muON Marketing
Specialize. Specialize. Specialize. Why? Large multi-million dollar and sometimes trillion-dollar companies (eg., Amazon) tend to dominate the first page on search engines for generic searches like, “buy men’s clothes” or in this case, “buy insurance.” For smaller businesses, the cost to also rank on the same page as some of these giants is too high for them.
We recommend our new clients two things; 1) focus your marketing on selling to a single industry instead of competing against the entire industry and 2) go after local markets.
Your local insurance company will have a better chance to have their published content rank #1 on Google search if you write about “buy insurance in [insert location]” and with spending much less to do so.
To go even further, we suggest writing content that answers an even more precise search term, such as “buy insurance for [insert category] companies in [location].”
So when someone types in, let’s say, “buy insurance for solar companies in Portland” and you have published a blog post titled, “Buy Insurance for Solar Companies in Portland” you are far more likely to rank higher for the keyword than someone who just writes about “Buy Insurance.”
Kas Andz, Kas Andz Marketing Group (KAMG)
An excellent online presence and PR will do an insurance company good.
Insurers must advertise themselves as evidently reliable and trustworthy as most modern customers nowadays tend to be skeptical and avoid fraud at the slightest red flag. In general, insurance providers have had a bad rap in recent years because some companies have been denying good service.
Individuals are doubtful of companies with lousy websites and are fed up with overbearing promotions – desensitized.
The right PR can restore the market’s trust in an insurer. Consumers gain confidence in companies featured by Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, or other top business magazines.
People trust mainstream media because it has been the world’s reliable source of information for almost a century. An insurance company can associate itself with that trustworthiness by appearing in a business network or magazine’s content like shows, podcasts, articles, interviews, news, and other releases.
Paid advertisements on a mainstream outlet can show that a company is confident in itself and its promises – ads are expensive, and audiences tend to think that if a company is willing to spend the money, it must have something worthy to offer.
On the other hand, earned media leaves a more significant impact. When a trusted outlet features you, it shows people that the media validates you even without payment – that you are naturally reliable.
Additionally, your website must be designed to be professional and include security badges, certifications, testimonials, and endorsements.
Coupled with a streamlined website, the right PR will prove an insurance company’s reliability to the market.
Callum Sherwood, First Page Digital
Insurance is a competitive niche, there’s no doubt about it. With most marketing methods either saturated or extremely expensive, we recommend clients double down on their SEO efforts. Creating top-funnel content that revolves around individual insurance types is an effective way to generate warm leads. An example of this would be creating a calculator one can use to input their requirements & the estimated cost. End the calculation with a call to action & bang, you’ll have them engaged.
For individual insurance agents, Linkedin is also a great platform to market – either directly or just by posting helpful/useful content. Linkedin still has huge potential for reach & is free when posting organically. Another cheekier tip is to set up a google my business listing in your city with your name + insurance agent, to rank in google’s 3 pack/location-based searches. This is free & very easy to set up! More on this tip from another expert below.
Nestor Vazquez, Nestor Vazquez SEO Consultant LATAM
Take advantage of local SEO, GMB´s can be helpful. Make sure you are already registered to appear in Google Maps, then you can optimize it. Let’s say you can create one landing page per location, you have now the keyword in your URL, now let’s add some extra stuff. Add your number phone on your title page. People can make you a phone call even if they don´t click on Search results.
You can find other keywords that your competitors are using inside their pages by using the chrome inspector tool, you can also install an extension like SEO Meta in 1 click. For my case, I am using the exact match keyword in URL to rank for consultor SEO in Mexico.
Now you have a nice landing page and a GMB. Finally, I recommend using GMB posts. Take advantage of this feature by posting frequently and you can also use your keywords in the text and by naming with keywords your photo files.
Chris Porteous, SEO Consultant
When it comes to getting leads, insurance agents typically employ the usual aggressive tactics: running ads, hosting events, hunting for referrals, and even purchasing leads. Not all though fully appreciate the advantages of setting up a Google My Business (GMB) profile. One of the biggest benefits of having a GMB profile is that it gives your name some added legitimacy.
Because potential customers saw your name through Google’s search results, they may be more likely to think that you’re somebody that can be trusted. Of course, for the GMB strategy to work, you have to do it right. This means you have to fill in all the proper information when you’re setting up your GMB profile, including the correct physical address (recommended, but can be optional), updated contact information, list of services, and service areas. Providing service areas in your GMB profile is particularly helpful, especially in terms of capturing the local market.
Remember that Google will always recommend search results nearest to the person doing the googling. On top of that, a GMB profile can feature reviews from your past or existing clients, which should help boost your word-of-mouth mileage. Lastly, by managing your GMB profile’s Q&A section well, you can connect with those who are curious about your services, while helping others (your potential leads) who are browsing through the answers you provided.
Kris Nicolau, Brainbox Labs
Having an online presence isn’t difficult, but it might seem like a daunting task. Let’s start simply by updating your LinkedIn page. LinkedIn provides all the tools to make a personalized online profile that can showcase your work experience as a broker and discuss your achievements. Full disclosure, if you’re like me, it’s challenging and sometimes cringe-worthy to talk about yourself, so don’t be afraid to downplay your accolades until you feel more comfortable. That’s the beauty of online–it’s a living breathing thing and can be changed.
Other than corporate social media, i.e. LinkedIn, ask the brokerage you work for if there are dedicated broker pages on their website. If yes, great, do it! If not, ask, ‘why not?’ Having more pages on their website can increase their search rankings on Google. Moreover, putting a face to your voice for customers (by having a photo of yourself on that webpage), especially during COVID, is vital to making that emotional connection with customers. It’s an effective way to increase search visibility and help you close leads–it’s a win-win.
Nathan Gotch, Gotch SEO
Participate in Expert Rounds-Ups (Like this one you are reading right now)
Search “YOUR NICHE + expert roundup” in Google to find existing roundups. Then reach out and ask if you can contribute.
Create a Weekly Newsletter
Adding value every week through email marketing establishes trust and builds rapport. Educate instead of selling on an 80/20 basis. In my experience, the best way to get people on your list in the first place is to create a lead magnet. A lead magnet is a free piece of value. Things that work best for me are checklists and free training.
Create Keyword-Driven SEO Content
Attracts leads from Google’s organic search should be a priority. The first step to achieving that goal is to create SEO-driven content that targets specific keywords in your vertical. You should target keywords at each stage of the sales cycle. For example, informational keywords like “what is ___” and transactional keywords like “best Chicago insurance agent”.
Conclusion
There you have it, the top 10 marketing tips for insurance agencies provided by real digital marketing experts working with insurance agencies across the United States.
Which of these marketing tips for insurance agents are you going to implement first?
For more great tips search our insurance marketing blog.