With so much information available online, it can be hard to stand out and get noticed by potential client/members. That’s why Farm Bureau provides a digital marketing plan for its insurance agents, including personal websites, to help set them apart from the competition.
Create a Personal Website
More than ever, consumers are turning to the internet to research — then buy — everything from groceries to car insurance. Who’s leading the way? Millennials and high-earners, according to McKinsey & Company. So it’s critical for insurance agents to have a personal website that gives potential and current client/members a place to go to find out more about them.
To help its agents connect potential client/members with insurance information, Farm Bureau offers individual insurance agent websites. Agents can customize their websites to showcase their best traits, their staff and team of experts, along with their community involvement.
Creating compelling content for a website is not a quick and easy task. Before getting started, decide what will attract prospects and help you stand apart from your competition. Be sure to include these five things:
Start With Your Elevator Pitch
When people land on your website, they need to know who you are, what you do and why they should trust you with their business. Customize your welcome message to share why you’re in the insurance business and why you’re passionate about serving your community — and them. Try to let your personality shine through your writing style so readers feel like they are getting to know the real you. Just don’t be too long-winded! If you know any communications pros, consider taking them out to lunch in exchange for a quick proofread.
Provide Quality Content
The most effective way to provide your audience with engaging content is through a blog. Farm Bureau provides articles that cover a variety of insurance-related topics so your prospects and client/members can learn more about the company and the topics that matter most to them. Browse our Learning Center, which has educational and practical information in the following categories: House & Home, Car, Life & Family, Budget & Finance, Business, Farm and Market Insights.
Showcase Your Best Work
On a website that’s all about you, it’s OK to brag a little bit. Providing your customers with real-life success stories and personal anecdotes in your introduction will give them the confidence to trust you with their insurance needs. It also doesn’t hurt if they can relate to you — and even like you!
Include Client/Member Testimonials
Visitors want to know how you helped real people, but they don’t always want to hear it from you. For this reason, you should include positive feedback from satisfied client/members. When you’re there for people during their time of need, they’re often more than happy to pay back the favor and share the wonderful experience they had with you.
Add Your Contact Information
As a Farm Bureau agent, your basic contact information and office location details are automatically included on your agent website. Adding linked social media handles in your welcome message is also a great way for your audience to stay up to date with what you’re doing to help your — and their — community.
Create a Listing on Google
Google Business Profile helps local businesses stand out online and will literally put you on the map. Setting up a listing helps your business appear in Google search results so you’re more likely to show up when people in your area are searching for an insurance agency. Consider this: Mobile Google searches for “insurance near me” grew more than 100 percent from 2017-2019.
Farm Bureau will create your Google profile to include your name, address, phone number, business hours and photos. The more information you give Google about your business, the better. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to get started setting up a Google business account; Farm Bureau will guide you along the way.
Use Business Pages on Social Media Platforms
Social media marketing is a powerful, and often underutilized, tool for enterprising insurance agents. Start by creating business pages on social media, which helps you increase your reach to potential client/members. We recommend agents set up business accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn. This allows you to separate your personal and business profiles, so you can stick to a focused theme and have a professional place to post about your business. But don’t be afraid to show some personality on your professional accounts; remember, your client/members chose you for a reason! If you need help improving your LinkedIn profile, try these tips.
Post Useful Content
Regularly sharing news that is useful for client/members keeps them coming back for more. Farm Bureau provides many social posts through our tools, and agents can share Learning Center articles on their website. Remember to add your website URL to your social profiles!
Show the Community You Care
Since most of your followers will most likely be neighbors that you have personal connections with, remember to share information about yourself. Personal stories about your passions perform very well on social media and give your audience a deeper understanding of why you love what you do. It’s also a great idea to share community events you’re involved in to show other ways you’re contributing — and committed — to helping those around you.
Stay Engaged with Your Followers
Good content usually earns comments, reactions and shares from users. If people ask questions or try to reach out to you, be sure to respond in a timely manner. Replying shows that you care and want to build a relationship with them. But remember to take any detailed conversations offline.
Use Your Strengths to Set Yourself Apart from Competitors
When determining what to post online, ask yourself: What do I do that no one else does? What are my strengths? What experiences and insights do I have that make me a successful agent and help me provide the best services to my client/members?
Use those answers on your agent website and social media platforms. Personalizing your information and showing the community your values will help you stand out among other options and encourage prospects to choose you as their insurance agent.
We’re Here to Help You Succeed
At Farm Bureau, we’re continuously improving our efforts to reach client/members in a way that’s convenient for them. To that end, we help our insurance agents set up new technologies that give them the opportunity to build better relationships. Contact us to join a team that sets you up for success.