Social Media Tips for Insurance Agents

Social Media Tips for Insurance Agents

Social media has been a blessing and a curse for insurance agents. Through the variety of communication platform available, it is easier than ever to reach out to potential clients and offer your services. But the Internet has made the public less trusting and more educated. To win business, you have to deliver on more than just a good price. You have to demonstrate why you are better than other providers and what customer service means to you.

Creating an active presence online is a crucial step to establishing relationship and trust with perspective buyers and established clients. It is a bridge between their concerns and questions to your expertise and care. But with so many social media networks, it can be very time consuming and fruitless.

If you don’t have time or don’t want to manage your own social media accounts, No to the Quo can be your social media manager and apply all the tips you see here! If you’re wanting to do it yourself and help improve your reach online and build rapport with your fan base, then here are some tips in how to use social media for lead generation and customer service in the insurance industry:

Show Genuine Care:

Since you are selling insurance, show that you care about the public and are not just out to get their money. Post news about traffic conditions, health issues, and other topics that might concern people. Topics like low employment rates or financial problems will have people thinking on how to secure themselves or their assets, and this would be the best time to make your pitch. Again, don’t forget the above rule – don’t overdo it. Limit your pitch to about one or two lines and then move on.

Give Incentives:

Give small incentives to those who like or share your posts to their friends. Something like cash gifts of ten dollars or less would go a long way especially if you are capable of reaching out to many clients because of people in your network. You can also provide commissions for successful referrals via social media. This is one of the best ways for your network to be more active in helping you get more clients.

Don’t Be Too Preachy:

The “holier than thou attitude” will never work, especially if you are selling something to the public. Don’t overdo the sales talk, as it will drive more people away than attract them. Use subtlety when advertising your insurance plans and don’t bash other companies or people for not buying into your sales pitches. This rule holds true for anyone who would like to market any type of product or service.

Bring Humor into Your Posts:

Learn to show the funny side of insurance. Share some anecdotes about clients or about the business in general. Of course, make sure that you do not mention names or put your clients or the business in a bad light. Make sure also that your jokes are not offensive or taboo in nature. Good colored and wholesome anecdotes will make people more comfortable about asking for quotations or buying insurance policies from you.

Share Success Stories:

Surely you have clients that are happy with your service. If possible, get testimonials for them or post about successful signings. This will ensure your audience that getting an insurance policy is not as bad an experience that they thought it might be, and will make them open up to the possibility of getting a policy from you as well. Ask for permission from clients for an interview as well as for the authority to post it in your site in all situations, however.

Provide Useful Information:

It is also very important to provide useful and accurate information about your product and service offerings. Share news about the insurance company that you are working for, give updates about new policies or products, give clarifications or explanations on company and policy rules and regulations, and don’t forget to lay these out in a way that regular people can understand. It is a known fact that most people steer away from things that they are not familiar with. Sharing accurate and honest information about things that they don’t know about will make them more accepting in the end.

Give Free Quotes:

This is a no brainer. Always respond to inquiries from curious individuals who would like to know what you have to offer. You then have the option to address their concerns either via a wall post or via private message. Being able to respond to comments will certainly work in your favor as they would be able to see that you are hands on and very competent at what you do, further increasing their confidence in you.

Link to Other Accounts:

This piece of advice goes for both your own accounts as well as others’. You may choose to link your social media accounts together, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. You may also choose to reference your account to that of the company that you are representing. This way, your audience will be able to get a lot of information about the topic that they want should they be interested in learning more.

In addition, you can also invite other organizations to become connected with you. Health organizations and other business establishments are the best entities to connect with, as they are also doing their best to build up their networks. This means that you are capable of exploiting their network as part of your audience as well, and you don’t have to do a lot of work to build your first level connections as you already have a large second to third degree network from these accounts that will serve as great assets market wise.

Don’t Get Too Opinionated:

As mentioned above, you can share links about controversial news, but try your best not to provide any opinions that may result in backlash from the public. This includes issues like politics, religion, homosexuality, and other subjects that may steer your account away from its original intent. Simply share the news, make a small pitch, and then walk away in order to avoid any controversy bouncing back to you.

Provide Fresh Content Consistently:

Make it a point to post something on a weekly basis. You can do it daily if you have the materials for it. Just don’t forget to shuffle it up, but remain consistent on what you are putting into your account. Some suggestions for things to post about are new customer updates, news on the insurance industry, inspirational quotes for the day, testimonials from clients, and others. The important thing is that you are able to properly review what you are about to put in your wall, and that it is appropriate enough for all audiences that would eventually see it.

Separate Yourself from the Company:

This basically means that you, as an agent, would have to be separate from you as a person. Your bikini pictures from last summer have no place in an account that you are using to advertise insurance policies from. This way, you would still be able to provide your own personal opinions and still have a separate identity from that which you are using to represent the company. Also, this is a good way to be able to keep friends that want to connect with you as the person and not you as the agent because admittedly, while they would welcome your presence, some people would not really want to see advertisements about insurance policies on their walls, even if it came from a person close to them.

Provide Contact Information:

Some people would like to make inquiries via phone or via email, and would feel much more comfortable doing that than reaching you via private message on Facebook. With that, make sure to supply accurate and up to date contact information such as mobile numbers and emails. Landlines are also acceptable, although you must make sure that you are only giving your “for work” contact information rather than those that you own for personal use. This way, potential clients will have more ways to reach you should they have any questions or concerns. You can even use some software that can help create virtual business cards that you can share on your wall.

As mentioned, social media is a very effective tool in making your voice heard. When used properly, it can be one of the best ways to get more sales, although the reverse can be expected if you do not plan out what you intend to say ahead of time. Thus, it is important that you follow the tips listed above in order to be someone who can successfully use social media to his or her advantage.

In addition, these tips do not only apply to insurance agents, as anyone who would like to advertise products and services via social media will also be able to benefit from following the above tips. From there, you will be able to see more customers reaching out to you, and all you have to thank is this free medium of communication that has the potential to let you reach millions of people all over the world.

If you would like help creating a social media strategy or help managing your accounts on a monthly basis, contact No to the Quo today! We are already working with insurance agents, real estate agents, doctors, financial advisors and other service professionals, so we know what it takes to reach your audience and build a fan base around your services!