The Top 4 Social Media Myths Affecting Property & Casualty Insurance Agents

It seems like every week a new social media platform is born. Snapchat, Periscope, Instagram, Pinterest… the list goes on. It’s no surprise then that social media is often an intimidating marketing strategy for property and casualty insurance agents. But don’t let the ever growing technology world overwhelm you. Social media marketing has many benefits for independent insurance agents because it can enhance your brand, generate leads, and increase referrals from current clients.

Because the world of social media marketing is complex, it’s important to decipher some of the most common myths associated with the practice to help you get started with your marketing strategy.

MYTH #1: You need to be on every social media platform to make an impact.

FACT: Not all social networks are suitable for property and casualty insurance agents.

Your children may be on social media sites like Snapchat and Pinterest, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this exposure will benefit your business. We suggest that property and casualty insurance agents take advantage of what we call the “big three:” Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Facebook is the largest social network, with 1.5 billion active monthly users. This gives insurance agents a platform to expose their brand to a wide audience. Twitter is an excellent way to instantaneously update your followers because it is a feed of short, concise tweets that are updated often. You can use Twitter to share relevant content, reach out to followers, and connect with your clients in real time. LinkedIn is a platform ideal for professionals and businesses to constantly network and build relationships not only with clients but also strategic partners who provide other services their clients may need. Each platform offers unique benefits property and casualty insurance agents can take advantage of.

MYTH #2: Social media marketing takes too much time.

FACT: With proper planning, an automated social media strategy can be established without draining your time.

We don’t want to say that a quality social media marketing strategy isn’t time consuming because that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. However, with an automation platform, a marketing calendar, and a constant stream of content, you can significantly reduce your social media marketing time, and the benefits will greatly outweigh the cost.

A marketing automation tool allows you to consistently send out social media content throughout your channels, which means that you don’t have to set aside time everyday to manage them. A marketing calendar serves as an organization tool to schedule different forms of content. For example, you might post a blog once a week and share an article from a reputable insurance news source three times a week. Both of these tools will help you develop a constant stream of content, which will enhance your reputation as a knowledgeable expert in your industry.

MYTH #3: Property and casualty insurance agents should follow the social media models of big businesses.

FACT: You should tailor your social media strategy to your audience and specialities.

You’ve likely heard of the days when social media marketing went viral for big businesses. Exciting videos, emotional graphics, and inspirational stories may seem like good social media tools, but chances are they aren’t right for your business. Instead, focus on sharing content that is appropriate to your audience and that emphasizes how you can address their insurance needs.

An example may be sharing an article about a recent change in the insurance industry and clarifying how that change will affect your clients. Or, share a statistical report about how individuals can significantly save money when they combine their insurance policies. You will become a go-to source for information by sharing content that your followers and fans are interested in learning about.

MYTH #4: The goal of social media is to get as many likes, followers, and fans as possible.

FACT: Social media users should strive to make meaningful connections.

Marketing experts know that “vanity metrics,” or metrics that are often misleading or unhelpful, are extremely common in the world of content marketing. It doesn’t do you much good to have 10,000 Twitter followers if only 10 of them are prospective clients.

Whether you want clients to sign up for your email newsletter, follow your blog, or contact your office to schedule an appointment, your social media strategy should act as a way to encourage engagement, not merely to rack up fans. A simple way to encourage action on your social media platforms is to clearly express what you want your viewers to do. For example, if you share an article about the rising cost of automobile insurance, ask your viewers to contact your office to learn more about how you can help. Ultimately, you want your strategy to help you get clients and prospects to take action, not just “like,” “share,” or “retweet” your post.

By debunking a few common social media myths, you can get a better sense of what social media marketing is and isn’t. Instead of drowning in the web of likes, follows, comments, and changing technology, develop a robust social media marketing strategy for your business and reap the benefits of increased leads and referrals.

Credits:http://www.insurancejournal.com/blogs/fmg-suite/2016/02/01/396922.htm

How Youtube helps businesses

So far you may have utilized YouTube for posting some embarrassing moments, some pets’ movements or some silly videos. But actually, really YouTube is part more than every single such activity. You can use it as a strong business tool(really!) You can share your product information, its use, show off your expertise and share knowledge. Indeed viewing the video is still better than reading. Let us see how Youtube helps in our businesses.

Showcasing products

YouTube helps the businesses to demonstrate their products real time. This is useful for the individuals' who generally offer over the web or have products that are specialized in nature. Businesses that use Youtube  to allow customers to see their things, in actuality, before they buy can be builders, owners of gaming zone, theme parks and so on.

Create community

Businesses can also create a community or be the part of the community to share and engage customers. They can share an event like a new product launch, company events, customer experience footage, etc.

Presents expertise:

Some business uses YouTube to showcase their expertise in the field. This might include uploading short videos about tutorials, best tips to use the products or some expert advice related to their product area (you can think of some out of box idea as well).

Show your product as brand

You can use Youtube as a platform to put light on beginning and development of your product. This will help to improve business image. Like you can show the quality checks on your product or something like that. This will help to show your product as brand.

Present events or promotions

You can even use YouTube to present the new product launch event to gain the attention of the users. You can even share some expert interviews or some promotional activity on YouTube to gain revisits. Even the interview with the winner (if they allow so) can be a good eye catcher. This helps the users to connect with the business and recall what happened if they were the part of the event.

Address customers issues

A video is a better tool for explaining the users about the installation or some technical side of your product. It is always better to share the information rather than letting the users use it incorrectly and then spread negative words. The tutorials, screen shots or related videos will be the handy tool for the frequently asked questions and for those issues that are most often faced by the users. The list for the benefits of the YouTube for the business does not actually exhaust here. You can even introduce the new product and can share the benefits of the same to the people. Sharing the day to day issues and the solutions provided by your products can be of real help for the users and your business. The role of YouTube or any such video posting site cannot be overruled by the business and these play the crucial part of any digital marketing strategy. If you are looking for planning for present one then Sanicon Digital solutions can be a good help for your business in promoting your product digitally.

We Need To Train Our People On How To Generate Referrals For Our Business....

How Selling to Referrals Is Different Than Other Lead Types

Have you noticed how crazy busy everyone seems to be these days? Have you noticed how hard it is to reach your clients, let alone your prospects? Have you noticed how difficult it’s become to cut through the noise your prospects experience every day just to grab their attention for a minute or two?

Building your sales process around referrals is beneficial for a number of reasons, including the fact that a customer referral can help you earn prospects' interest faster. However, getting referrals are not enough -- salespeople also have to know how to work them.

It's Different When You Work From Referrals

When you’ve been introduced to a prospect, that prospect’s interest is piqued, and they're more likely to answer your call, return your call, or reply to your email.

But not just any type of introduction will do -- it has to be an engaged introduction. An engaged introduction is a collaborative effort where the referral source works with you to make sure you get connected to the new prospect. This type of introduction gets your foot in the door and establishes a genuine connection between you and the new prospect.

After you’ve received a referral, you have to set the appointment with the new prospect. Depending on your business model, the appointment might be in person or take place over the phone.

And contacting your prospects and setting appointments looks different when you work from referrals as opposed to other types of lead sources. What you learn about the new prospect from your referral source helps you craft a much more compelling reason for why that prospect should give you a piece of his or her valuable time.

However, keep in mind that just because you’ve met someone through a referral, it doesn’t mean that person is going to meet with you. When the trust level between the referral source and the new prospect is high, that is sometimes enough to move the sales process along. But not always. In most cases, you have to continue to deliver value and build trust so that the prospect warms up to meeting with you.

At the opposite end of the sales process is the close, a word I've never particularly liked. “Closing the sale” should never be about tricky, manipulative closing techniques, but especially not if you hope to receive a referral. If you trick people into buying from you, their reaction could be regret. This can lead to cancellations and certainly no referrals. Think in terms of confirming the new relationship instead of closing the deal.

The Value of a Referral Culture

I often call referrals “forgotten gold.” Most businesses know the importance and effectiveness of referrals and introductions, but very few have strived to build a referral-based business. They give lip service to referrals, but they rarely train their people on how to generate referrals.

Some companies have adopted the practice of measuring their Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS is a customer loyalty metric developed by (and a registered trademark of) Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company, and Satmetrix. It measures the willingness of customers to recommend your business, and places them on a continuum from a low range of “detractors” to a high range of “promoters.” Proponents of the Net Promoter Score say it’s the most important metric in measuring customer service. 

However, while this is certainly a worthwhile measurement, most companies don’t go to the next step of leveraging these scores. They don’t become proactive in turning promoters into connectors. They encourage word of mouth, but they don’t seek referrals and introductions.

Courtesy:

http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/how-selling-to-referrals-is-different?utm_campaign=Sales%20Blog%20on%20Twitter&utm_content=11288760&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter