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When I speak to another Independent Agent about my agency’s marketing efforts, the first thing I will tell them is that in 2016 and moving forward, digital marketing should now be considered a traditional form of marketing. Normally when you hear “traditional marketing,” you may think about handwritten send-outs or networking events, but I truly believe that we have been in the digital age long enough that your digital marketing efforts should be considered traditional by now, and if you’re not marketing to the digital world, you are missing out. Customers actually want to be connected with digitally, especially in the social world, so let’s go over how you can capture digital marketing to maximize your agency’s ROI and build strong, long-lasting client relationships with all of your customers.
Your Agency Website – Your Digital Powerhouse
First and foremost, when we talk about digital marketing, the first thing you should think of is your agency website. Your agency website should be your digital marketing powerhouse that connects all aspects of your digital marketing into one place. Your website is a great place to display visual content that represents your brand, and is eye-appealing, so that your customers enjoy their time with you online. When someone visits your website, the first they thing they should see is your agency’s phone number, clearly listed in the upper right hand corner. You should also have contact information listed on the bottom of the page, and a “contact us” page that allows customers to fill out a form and send a direct message to your agency. Also, you should clearly explain all of your products and services on your website, because all too often we used to hear things like “I had no idea you had life insurance,” from someone that we sold an auto policy to. By clearly explaining your products and services, you could end up helping your customer out in a way that may not have been addressed otherwise, which really means your building more new business. Your website should also feature a call to action, which is generally speaking a form to fill out a free quote in the insurance space. The last thing I would immediately advise that your website has is a blog, where you provide either entertaining content that pertains to your customers interest, tips that are relevant for your customers, or talk about agency events or what’s happening behind the scenes so your customers get a sense of what the daily life is like within your company, and it should be warm and welcoming! Your blog will provide you content to push out into the social world, and will help bring traction to your website, so blogging is a powerful tool in the digital marketing world.
Email Marketing Campaigns
Now, I’m sure this should be nothing new to you and your agency, but you should be making the most out of email marketing campaigns to help strengthen your client relationships. Whenever we sign new business, we have a series of on-boarding emails that go out, and we send one email a week to our new customers for the first seven weeks that they are with our agency. The topics we address in these emails include thanking our customers for their business, introducing the staff, asking for reviews, letting our customers know about our mobile app, and more. The purpose of on-boarding emails is to offer all of the resources you have available to your customers and give them a great sense of what it’s like to do business with your agency, and should leave them feeling warm, welcome, and appreciated. We include a thank you video that shows all of our staff thanking our customers for their business within these campaigns, as well as a survey to ask about their experience, so that our customers are reassured that we are constantly trying to make their insurance experience more rewarding and enjoyable. We’ll also touch base with our customers using birthday and holiday email send-outs, just to remind them that we are thinking about them. Remember, every time you open a new account for your agency, you get one more email address to include in your marketing campaigns. Email send-outs are a powerful form of communication, but it may not be ten years from now, so let’s take advantage while we still can. Not to mention, emails are a great way to push out branded visuals, your agency’s message, and your in-brand tone or voice, which will all supplement your agency’s branding efforts, and at the end of the day, will give your agency more connect-ability.
The Social World
Another great way to reach out to your clients digitally is to invite them to connect with you in the social media world. It’s important that you establish multiple networks, and we would suggest Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn at the very least, but our agency also makes use of Google+, Instagram, and even Pinterest. Social media is a great way to connect with your customers on a more personable basis, as well as reinforce the fundamentals of your brand with your existing customers. It’s important to recognize that social media may not be the best way to establish new business, but it is a very powerful tool to nurture your customer relationships once you get the new customers into your agency. In the social world, you must provide your networks with engaging content, which can include company events, holiday related posts, tips or advice pertaining to your customers’ industries or daily lives, and then the occasional post about your products and service offerings to remind them what your business is all about. It’s important to include visuals (that are branded for your agency) as well as make use of videos to engage your audience even more so. Remember, you can also request reviews through social media when you know you gave a customer outstanding service, and this is especially effective through Google+ and Facebook.
Your Agency on the Go
The last thing we’d like to mention about digital marketing with your insurance agency is the importance of having a mobile app to service your customers and clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your agency may not be open around the clock, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still help your clients and customers from a distance. By having an app, you’ll be able to help your customers remotely pay their bills, store their home inventory and/or valuables, help with filing claims and collecting data, and even help in an emergency situation. If you’re not sure where to get started with having an agency app, I would highly suggest taking a look at GoInsuranceAgent.com. We trust their service to host our agency app, and it’s been very effective with helping our customers on the go. It’s critical that you include your app in your email marketing campaigns, and clearly explain the benefits of the app while including branded visual content that demonstrates your app in action (because content pushed out with visuals receive 98% more engagement on average!). You can also establish more app downloads by reviewing your agency app with your staff, and getting them on board to encourage your customers to download the app as well. Your app will allow you to service your customers any time they need you, so if you don’t already have one, I would get started today.
We’ve just scratched the surface on digital marketing here. If you haven’t already implemented these strategies into your agency, I highly suggest giving them a try so you can see the benefits and ROI associated with digitally marketing in today’s fast-paced digitally focused world.
As always everyone, happy marketing, and best of luck in the digital age!
