Use technology to build awareness and trust
Key takeaways:
- Focus on three to four social media platforms to post content on
- Create content potential clients will find helpful
- Look for engaging content ideas
- Be consistent
- Be interactive
- Make your content personal and authentic
- Show versus tell
Whether you’re an experienced insurance broker or new to the industry, it’s more important than ever to have a solid online presence to build awareness and trust with your social network. Potential and current clients increasingly turn to the internet for information about insurance providers and brokers. You're missing out on a massive opportunity if you’re not using social media platforms to reach them. Still, it can be intimidating and confusing if you don’t have a plan.
This blog post will discuss tips for mastering social media and using it to enhance your insurance broker business. Learn how to communicate efficiently with social media to leverage its power.
Choosing what social media platforms to use
Let’s talk about the different social media platforms. It’s not necessary to be active on every single platform. Choose three to four that make sense for your business and focus on those.
How can you know which platforms are best for your needs? By understanding your target audience and their habits.
Think about your potential clients. A target audience is a group of people who are most likely to want your services and/or products. In other words, your potential clients.
- Where do they live?
- Where do they work?
- How old are they?
Understanding the different platforms
Understanding social media platforms' characteristics and demographics will help you choose which to use. Let’s take a look at the major contenders.
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network in the world, with 830 million members. It’s a great place to connect with professionals likely to need insurance products. You can also use the platform to communicate with other people and businesses in your industry or area.
- 57% of users are men; 43% are women
- 60% of users are between the ages of 25-34
- There are 58 million companies on LinkedIn
- Posts with images get 2x higher engagement
The largest platform in the world, Facebook has 2.93 billion active users across the globe. Facebook has a powerful ad platform that allows you to target specific audiences for a relatively small investment.
- 26.4% of Facebook users are aged 25-34 (the largest single group)
- 36% of users are 45+
- 73% of users are college-educated
- 70% of users earn more than $75k a year
Twitter is a worldwide platform with around 330 million users. Twitter imposes a character limit for tweets, so messages must be under 280 characters.
- Men account for 70% of Twitter’s audience; women make up 30%
- 42% of users are college-educated
- 34% of Twitter’s audience earns $75k or above per year
Instagram (owned by Facebook) hosts around 1.22 billion users each month. You can use Facebook’s ad platform for marketing products and services on both sites. The platform heavily emphasizes images over text, so remember that when crafting content.
- 60% of users are aged 18-34
- Instagram is the favorite platform of Gen Z users (16-24)
- Gen X males (55-64) are the fastest growing audience on Instagram
- Around 50.8% of users are female; 49.2% are male
6 Ways to Communicate Effectively With Social Media
Now that we’ve covered some of the different social media platforms to use that can be lucrative to your business, let’s talk about ways to communicate effectively with them. Here are six:
- Start creating content
Once you’ve selected the platforms you want to use, it’s time to start creating content. Again, this can seem daunting, but there are some simple things you can do to get started. First, consider what information your clients or potential clients would find helpful. This could include blog posts about insurance topics, tips for choosing the right policies, and even updates about your business.
- Search for engaging content ideas
One of the most challenging aspects of building a brand on social media is coming up with content. Even experienced social media users can run out of ideas and ways to keep things fresh. One tip to remember is that images and videos consistently show higher engagement rates than text alone.
Here are some quick social media content ideas.
- Be consistent
Consistency is critical regarding social media - if you only post sporadically, people will forget about you. It’s also essential to post regularly. The whole point of social media is to be “social.”
You want your posts on social networks to be engaging so that people will check them out. You’ll find plenty of scheduling tools that will allow you to create a regular social media schedule. If you post on the same day every week, your followers will know not to miss it.
- Get interactive
Engage and interact with your followers. Social media is a two-way street; the more you engage with your clients and potential clients, the more likely they will do business with you. So, ask questions, respond to comments, and be present on your platforms.
People want answers, and they like knowing you’re listening, which helps build trust in your business and brand. Make sure to turn on notifications on all platforms so you’ll know if someone comments on one of your posts or makes a post that mentions you or your company. Be sure to respond to these posts as quickly as possible.
- Make content personal and authentic
Presenting your brand on social media should be personalized and relatable. Your clients want to know that you have a personal story and are not just an online profile or company logo. Don’t be afraid to share things about yourself, including anecdotes about your core values and passions. They’ll feel connected to you because you’ve written something personal rather than manufactured content meant only at significant consumption levels.
It's also important to be authentic online. Today’s consumers are bombarded with advertising and marketing messages every second of the day. Creating connections with your followers, clients, and potential clients requires you to act like a real person. So, don’t always be in “sales mode.”
- Show versus tell
What do we mean by show versus tell? You can tell people you’re your area's number one insurance broker. You can say your clients are happy with your service. Or you can post testimonials of your clients saying why they’re satisfied with your service. Or you can show awards that you’ve won.
Telling does little to convince anyone of your claims. Showing “proof” of them goes a long way to building trust. So, highlight your accomplishments and client appraisals by posting them on your social media platforms and websites. This can help potential clients see what you're capable of and enhance your brand.
Social media can be daunting at first. For additional help getting started, download our FREE LinkedIn guide to see how easy it is to promote your business.
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