Fun fact: Stats say that 44.8% of internet users turn to social media to research things they want to buy.
That statistic, insurance agents, is one of many reasons why you need to learn about and start using social media as a sales tool.
And since a lot of your insurance agent peers haven’t implemented social selling into their sales strategy yet, you’ll definitely be ahead of the curve.
So what do successful insurance agents have to do to sell insurance on social media?
To get the answer to that, grab a beverage that makes work a little more fun, and take a seat – we’re going to break it down to you in six effective strategies that you’ll want to adopt right away!
1. Study your target audience
First things first: You can’t sell insurance on social media to an audience you don’t know.
You need to understand:
- Who: Genders and ages.
- Where: States, cities, and zip codes.
- Jobs/industries: The typical jobs held by your audience.
- Life circumstances: For instance, homeownership (boats, vehicles…), kids, or education.
You won’t capture these details for every single follower in your targeted audience. But the more you know, the better your social selling sales success rate is going to be because you’ll know more about what kind of content they find valuable.
2. Content is king
When your competition is adorable cat videos, yummy cooking tutorials, and Buzzfeed Harry Potter quizzes, you gotta bring your A-game – especially when all you have to offer is insurance.
Of course, insurance is much more important than a skateboarding dog, but it’s definitely not as fun. With that said, to successfully sell insurance on social media, variety is what it takes.
Before we get into how to make your content compelling, you have to know what will make it shareable, engaging, and persuasive.
Aim to make your content:
- Relevant. If your content isn’t relevant to your audience, why would anyone follow up with you to learn more about your product or service?
- Informative. Your job as an insurance agent selling insurance on social media is to create content your followers will learn from. Remember: You’re the expert. Educate them on how you can improve their lives or businesses.
- Unique to your brand. Not that you need another reminder, but there are dozens of other agents doing the same thing as you are. If you’re just trying to CTRL + V your way into closing deals, I’d find another strategy.
Here are a few ways you can grab the attention of your audience and boost your expertise in your field.
Entice potential clients with a mix of media
For years, online marketing strategies consisted of chucking out article after article.
And while that still works, that’s not all content is — 32% of marketers say visual images are the most important form of content for their business, according to a Social Media Examiner study.
Liven up your content with attention-grabbing visuals, infographics, and videos paired with copy that’s easy to read and informative.
Successful marketers are data-driven
When selling insurance on social media, knowledge goes a long way – you can’t convince people they need your product or service without stats that back up your argument.
To grow and maintain your expert status, educate your followers as you educate yourself. You’ll have to keep up with insurance industry trends and changes, and share the valuable data you learn to attract the customers you want to sell to.
Examples of effective, data-driven content you can create to level up your social media pitch include:
- Charts, graphs, tables, and spreadsheets
- Infographics
- E-books and white papers
- Case studies
- Fact-based articles written by you (perfect for LinkedIn!)
Doing this means “you provide your clients with real data, and the numbers not only build trust and position you as an authority, but they compel your audience to take action,” explains marketing technology expert and founder of Leadsurance Keller Tiemann.
Plus, when you share real data and knowledge, your potential customers will feel encouraged to ask detailed questions about your insurance policies.
Repurposing rocks: Reposts and inspired posts do the trick, too
You don’t always have to create new content – you can let someone else do the heavy lifting and highlight their work on your channels instead. We call that repurposing in the biz. Here are two ways to do it:
- See a cool post from a LinkedIn influencer? Repost it and credit them, but be sure to provide your own feedback to make it hyper-relevant to your readers.
- Writer’s block is real, so gain inspiration from an interesting article you recently read. Choose some key points to expand on and write about those topics with your own voice and perspective.
Use old success stories to help you create new ones
Showcasing your client’s success is one of the best ways to share relevant content and boost your credibility with prospects – always ask for a testimonial you can use.
To share a success story in a short but informative post, go with the before, during, and after formula, and find out:
✅ What was happening in their lives that led them to you
✅ What their experience was like working with you
✅ The results they achieved after purchasing a policy from you
Use direct quotes, get a good picture, and why not – be in the picture with them! And, of course, highlight the parts readers would care about most.
Share horror stories
There’s no better way to convince your prospects to purchase from you than addressing their worst insurance fears.
If you think that this is a bit manipulative, you’re right. But, on the other hand, people should be reminded how dangerous or expensive it can be when their car, boat, or home isn’t protected with the right insurance policy.
Don’t hesitate to use jump scares as they’re effective in catching the eye of your social media followers and getting them to seriously consider avoiding such worst-case scenarios.
Share the stories that pop up in the news or those you hear from your clients, and explain how well-tailored insurance policies could have prevented such unpleasant events.
3. Don’t just $ell – build meaningful relationships
Despite what your bottom line is saying, social channels are more than just breeding grounds for insurance agents to advertise their policies.
Instead, see it as a means of communication to build a relationship with your audience.
To let your consumers connect with you and your brand in a personal way, make sure it’s part of your social strategy to shoot the shit with your audience – trust me, they don’t want to be sold to every day.
Create personal connections with your audience through content that this article from Insureon Small Business Blog says will engage your potential customers. Give these tactics a try:
- Introduce yourself. Show your followers who’s behind the keyboard and share a post that details your insurance background and what you offer. And don’t forget the high-quality photo. You can also add your electronic business card which cites your business details, personal information, link to schemes and benefits of the insurance, etc. to name a few.
- Show your philanthropic side. Let it be known that you support your local community by promoting donations to nonprofits and sharing your participation in fun runs or volunteering opportunities.
- Share relevant industry news. Be your prospect’s number one source for the latest insurance-related articles and events. You’ll stand out as a trusted expert for your niche.
- Humanize your business. Your employees or co-workers are humans and not just cogs in a wheel. Mention them on social media, take their pictures while in action, write about what they do in your company, what their expertise is, and share personal stories and details. Prospects love to peek behind the scenes and see that they’re doing business with real people and not some faceless corporation.
4. Harness the secret weapons at your disposal
There are several ways to make social media engagement easier to equally make your social insurance selling a breeze. Try these methods for maximum rewards with minimal effort:
- Automate your content: You’re not always going to have time to engage on social media, so schedule your content through the platform itself in advance. Or, sign up for management software – they’re often free for basic packages.
- Boost your content with ads: Paid ads don’t have to be costly and they help you tap into social media markets you otherwise wouldn’t. Plus, since you can specify which demographic you want to target, you only market to your ideal customer.
- Follow up (always!): This is less of a secret weapon and more of a must-do at all times. Don’t overlook this hard and fast rule – personally contact via DM, email and/or phone people who directly reach out to you, and to those who leave comments on your posts, or those who regularly interact with your content.
- Influencer marketing is real: In the age of social media, a mention or retweet from the right thought leader or expert is a major signal boost for your brand. Identify the publications, blogs, or social media profiles with large followings in your niche and engage with them online. You can use influencer discovery tools to speed up this process. When you’re ready, pitch a guest blog.
- Social media listening: Like and follow your competitors, customers, and prospects to see updates from their accounts and keep an eye on their activity – that’s an easy way to gain insights you can later use in your own marketing strategies. Want to take it a step further? Pay for an app that crawls social media platforms for mentions of your brand or other relevant keywords.
5. Be consistent
Consistency on social media is everything.
And being consistent refers to maintaining a consistent voice and tone of your brand, posting regularly, and producing quality content.
In order to build a strong social media presence, it’s important to stick to a regular posting schedule. Don’t spread yourself too thin in an attempt to produce 5 posts a day if you don’t have enough resources. It’s better to start small without sacrificing quality and consistency.
Such an approach will offer a much better customer experience and help you build much-needed credibility and trust – and you already know that having a stellar reputation in the insurance business is a must.
A word of warning:
Get your employees, co-workers, and others who will post on social media up to speed with your brand guidelines.
This way, you’ll be sure that your social media messaging is consistent and on point.
Are you gonna be formal or informal? How about using humor? Four-letter words?
Think about this and don’t confuse your audience by switching between different styles of communication.
5. Keep the lines of communication open
Use your social media channels for customer support.
People spend a lot of time on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, so it’s more convenient for them to reach out to a business via these channels.
By leveraging your social media for responding to their questions, you can help those who are on the fence to make a purchasing decision.
Don’t forget that insurance policies can be complex, which means that your clients need additional explanations. However, there’s no need for them to call your support for more information when you can handle all this on the spot.
And if they get immediate answers, you can close a deal more quickly.
That’s all there is to it, folks. You’re probably doing some of these things, but it’s very important to be strategic about your social media and monitor how effective your efforts are.
You’re on your way to success! Take your knowledge about selling insurance to the next level with our “How to Win at Insurance Sales eBook” – check it out to learn how to increase your insurance sales by getting smarter with your lead management.
