Can insurance brokers find success selling insurance on social media platforms? With the right approach — and a bit of support — insurance brokers can find a home amongst the likes, comments, and boosts of their favorite platforms.
In fact, a study by Accenture found that 48% of shoppers would consider social media comments when contemplating an insurance purchase. And with up to 93% of certain insurance providers embracing social media programs, there’s no better time than the present to dive into the social media pool.
At NYB Creative, we’ve seen firsthand the power that social media can have on a brokerage. If you’re an insurance brokerage owner or a broker yourself, let us show you how you can boost sales by properly leveraging social media platforms.
Is anybody out there? Finding insurance leads on social media
Maybe you’ve already given social media marketing a chance. It was a ton of work and you just weren’t sure if it was all worth it. You decided to put your marketing resources elsewhere and your profiles went silent.
Chances are, you’re not alone. A survey conducted by The Journal of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois found that 60% of surveyed insurance agencies overlook the importance of measuring the results of their digital marketing efforts. When you don’t know why you’re doing something, it’s difficult to continue.
Even worse, organic reach (or the number of people who see your posts through unpaid distribution) has been shrinking across social media platforms at a rapid pace. Take Facebook Page posts for example. In 2012, posts made by a Page were seen by about 16% of their fans. In 2016, that number dropped to 6.5%. Today, organic reach can be less than 2%.
The reason? According to Brian Boland, VP Partnerships Product Marketing, Operations, Partner Engineering, and Analytics, Facebook, “There is now far more content being made than there is time to absorb it…Rather than showing people all possible content, News Feed is designed to show each person on Facebook the content that’s most relevant to them.” In other words, Facebook is overflowing with content and no one can read every post that COULD fall into their News Feed.
Other platforms are just as crowded. Though it may not reach as many readers as you want, a Facebook post is organically visible for about 5 hours. A LinkedIn post organic lifespan is about 24 hours. And Twitter? All you get is 18 minutes per Tweet.
Phew. That’s a lot of data. What have we learned so far? If you’re an insurance brokerage, you have to:
- Get on social media
- Make the most out of every reach
- Measure your return
- Adjust, rinse, and repeat
Easier said than done, we know. But the clients are out there if you’re willing to do the work. That’s why we’re providing plenty of tips for maximizing your social media efforts as an insurance broker.
3 tips for selling insurance on social media
If you can’t beat them, join them. Put these three tips to work when developing your social media strategy.
1. Balance quality and quantity
You’ve heard all the old advice. Post daily. What about posting twice a day. Post as much as you can. While routine posts are a smart social media strategy, simply focusing on quantity instead of quality is the wrong approach to have. At the same time, spending so much time tweaking every update or article will leave too much dead space between posts. It’s not about posting nonstop. Nor about posting the best insurance update in the history of social media. It’s about finding a balance between being relevant, relatable, and regular.
2. Stop selling…but use ads
Just hear us out. In the insurance industry, most of your sales most likely come from referrals. And that’s great! So, stop selling your products and instead, showcase your services. Put out testimonials, tell the stories that pull at heart heartstrings, and create an online persona that shows you care about the people and products your policies protect. But to make sure those messages are getting to the right people, run a few targeted ad campaigns. Make sure your call to action involves requesting an online quote and you’ll be raking in new leads.
3. Don’t post and run
Research by LeadSift showed that in one month, there were 3.7 million tweets about insurance. Out of those tweets, there were 23,401 social leads with purchase intent. However, only 1% of those social leads received a response. Holy opportunities! If you weren’t sure about setting up your social media for insurance sales, this statistic should have pushed you over the edge.
Meet NYB Creative
At NYB creative, we know the language of insurance. That’s how we’re able to create social media marketing plans that help insurance brokerages get their big break on social media. We create posts that build up and empower the selling side of an agent while showcasing personal insurance stores to create emotional connections. Reach out to see how we can help you conquer social media as an insurance broker once and for all.
