Research shows almost 70% of insurance consumers
do an online search before making their purchase. That means 70% of your
prospects are looking for you online. Are you one of the insurance websites
that will keep them engaged?
With “insurance near me” online searches growing by over 100% in the last two years, you need to be one of the stand-out insurance agency websites to make an impression. To stay competitive, be sure your site includes:
1. Clear branding elements
Your agency website should clearly state: “This is
us. This is what we do. This is what we value.” That means giving your agency
name and logo prominence and using your branding (logos, colors, and text)
throughout the site. Have your mission or value statement front and center and
include photos of your community to show your personalized approach.
2. Succinct messaging and minimal text
There’s no doubt a lot you can say about your
agency and why you’re the best choice in town, but your website isn’t the place
for too much detail. Focus on getting across the services you offer, the value
you bring, and how people can get in touch with you.
Despite the high volume of online searches, close to
80% of insurance consumers call an agency before closing the deal. You can fill
in all the details and personal stories on the phone, but your website should
get right to the point to get you connected.
To foster that connection, you need a consistent, prominent
call to action throughout your site. This could be a “Contact Us” or “Get a
Quote” button or another action-oriented callout. Prospects shouldn’t need to
search to figure out how to get in touch – make it obvious.
4. Mobile access
More than half of online insurance searches take place via a
mobile device. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile access, it can get
scrambled when viewed on such devices, frustrating prospects and turning them
away. Ensure your site can adapt so it looks its best no matter how someone
finds it.
As we have cited before, Microsoft
found 90% of consumers worldwide expect organizations to offer a self-service
portal. Insurance agencies are no exception. Besides providing an online
self-service portal, you need to ensure your client portal integrates with your
management system, CRM, and other customer data-driven software. The more your
agency tools connect, the smoother your operations.
Get All Your Agency Website Must-Haves in One Place
If you’re looking for an experienced partner to
help you craft an engaging, professional agency website, the Partner Platform
team has you covered. We now offer custom, agency-branded sites to help
agencies promote their brand and better serve their customers.
We work closely with all our independent
insurance agency clients to determine and create the best agency management
experience for their business. Over the years, we’ve tackled the highest needs
of the time, ranging from accounting integration to cloud-based
system security. Our Partner Platform agencies have made one need clear in
the past few years: insurance prospecting software.
As small businesses, our Partner Platform agencies are working to keep up with the sales and marketing advances big insurance provides wield. Thanks to our hard-working, innovative team, we’ve been able to equip our agencies with the tools they need to promote client growth and retention, all within one system.
Among the many insurance marketing strategies out there, blogging continues to be a popular and useful tool across the years. We consider blogging an effective method and have the facts to back it up: websites with blogs have over 400% more pages indexed in Google than those without a blog, and more than 60% of consumers made a purchase based on a blog post.
As with any new process or strategy, start small
with your blogging and scale as you go. Begin with one or two posts a month and
slowly build as you get your footing. It takes time to establish your blog
presence, but the wait is worth it. Focus on the quality of your content
rather than the quantity to start.
2. Designate a point person/people
Ideas may flow freely, but action can be sparse.
Ensure you have a team or a team member heading up the blogging process.
Ideally, you should have a few individuals devoting time to your blog to
diversify ideas and spread-out responsibility. Still, there should be one point
person dedicated to moving things forward.
3. Generate ideas
The first place to look for ideas is other blogs in
the industry. Check out their topics and determine if any would resonate with
your audience. Check-in with your larger agency team, too. Discover the common
questions team members get from customers and ask what topics they think are relevant.
No idea is a bad idea at the start – this is the time to throw everything at
the wall and see what sticks.
4. Determine your keywords
To make your blog an effective marketing tool, you
want to use relevant search words reasonably often in your posts. Your locality
name plus “insurance,” or “insurance agency,” and other variations are an
excellent place to start for most independent agencies. Another great
combination is adding in your specialty for something, like “small business
insurance Houston.” These key phrases have a lower competition since they focus
on your local city or county, but they have a relatively high search volume.
Once you have a few phrases, you can discover more
using tools like Google’s keyword planner to
identify similar search phrases and rank your current terms by competition and
search volume.
Before you start churning out posts, determine how
you will categorize them. Take a look at your topic ideas and determine how you
should group them (i.e., Auto insurance, Life insurance, Tips and Tricks,
etc.). Organizing posts makes it easier for someone to continue diving into
topics of interest, keeping them on your site longer, and increasing their
engagement.
6. Spread the word
A blog without readers is like a tree falling in
the woods – does it make an impact? The answer is no. Once you have a few posts
up, begin sharing the news of your blog on your social media and via your
regular newsletters. Add a “share” button on each post so readers can let
others know about posts they enjoyed.
7. Make your website attractive to get your blog seen
No matter how great your blog content, if the site
it’s hosted on is out-of-date or difficult to navigate, it won’t succeed. Ensure
your agency has a professional, secure, and attractive landing place before implementing
your blog strategy.
Ever feel like the once critical phone call is now
irrelevant? You’re not alone. The rise of data-driven prospecting and digital
outreach sparked this rumor that phone prospecting is dead.
Yet, successful development teams still leverage the phone with insurance prospecting software for great results – in fact our Partner Platform agencies are emphasizing that a phone conversation is more important than ever. But how are they getting to that conversation?
The Facts Don’t Lie
Insurance prospecting software evolved, and savvy
agencies took these new tech advances and leveraged them to improve
time-honored outreach methods. Studies show there is no reason to put the phone
call to rest:
69% of buyers accepted one or more cold
calls in 2019
More than 80% of buyers said they set
sales appointments as a result of multiple contacts that started with a cold
call
Almost half of buyers say cold calls are
their preferred first contact
57% of C-suite executives report they
value information gained from phone calls with reps
These stats show phone outreach is alive and well.
It’s all about how you leverage it.
1. Start with a data
Data, gained through your insurance CRM, is your
starting point. Even though initial phone outreach is known as “cold calling,” these
calls shouldn’t be cold at all. The information gained from your marketing
automation campaigns and CRM should provide essential background
knowledge you can leverage to build a relationship right away.
2. Use more than one outreach method
While the prospecting call is very much alive for some, it
may not work for all. Your outreach efforts should be part of a multi-pronged
strategy. Content sharing, email, and social media are all elements of what
makes up effective, professionally persistent, data-driven outreach.
Whether via phone, email, text, or another method,
each of your conversations should contain an element of discovery. Focus on
understanding the person you’re talking to: what do they need most? What are
their barriers to purchase? Do they have any non-negotiables? The more you
know, the better you can tailor policy proposals to meet their needs, making
them more likely to choose your agency for coverage.
4. Make it easy to focus
Stay focused on the call and the prospect’s needs
at all times. Eliminate distractions: close your door, sign out of email and
social networking, and consider wearing headphones to block out other noise.
Show your commitment to the conversation by saying
the prospect’s name often, smiling, and leaving room for them to
talk. Over 60% of individuals surveyed said someone who listens to their needs
is more likely to win their business.
Keep the prospect engaged with a follow-up re-cap of
what you talked about, confirmation on your next communication (whether a call,
something you’ll email, or a meeting), and add in something they can use. That
“something useful” could be a link to client feedback, contact info for a referrer,
special offer, or any other content that provides more information. This
follow-up gives them a reference as they think it over, and it shows you care
more about meeting their needs than signing them as a customer.
6. Train your agents
Too often in sales, it’s thought you either have
“it,” or you don’t. Though there is some element of natural ability and
interest, successful agents grow from coaching and training.
Know your agents’ strengths and weaknesses and leverage
training to fill in gaps. Perhaps you need to bring in new agents to add to the
team or look to others in your agency who could grow into the position. To help
grow your group, establish mentorship and coaching, allowing team members to bolster
confidence and learn the ropes. And have a constant feedback loop for all team
members, ensuring each has someone to consult to assess growth and celebrate
successes.
As with all successful agency processes, you need
to review and improve your prospecting strategy continuously. Try different
outreach cadences, test various scripts, and add to training as is necessary to
help your team stay fresh and focused.
And keep your team equipped with the right
insurance prospecting software. Essential tools include your insurance CRM and
marketing automation systems as well as quality
communication tools like an up-to-date insurance agency website, integrated
email and texting, and a custom client portal. The easier it is for you to
connect with prospects, the better.
Discover more about essential
prospecting tools and how your agency can get them all in one place: view a demo
of our all-in-one Partner Platform agency management system today.
Data isn’t just for “big tech” and major
corporations anymore. Tech advances made data and analytics accessible to
everyone – including your agency. Modern agency software kept pace with the
rise of big data, and successful agencies now leverage data for everything from
customer service to prospecting. In fact, data-driven
businesses are five times more likely to make decisions faster than their peers,
meaning those who ignore data are left in the dust.
Cyber security has been a concern across industries for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated risk. With more businesses moving to online operations, more data became vulnerable. This is especially true in insurance, where the use of insurance tech skyrocketed in 2020, along with incidents of cyberattacks.
Insurance is second only to legal firms as cyber criminals’ preferred industry to attack. The average agency is targeted over 100 times per year, with more than 30% of attacks succeeding. And according to PwC’s Digital Trust Insights Pulse Survey, cybercrime is expected to cost companies $10.5 trillion annually over the next four years.
Since our founding, the Partner Platform Community has grown exponentially. What started as a group of agencies and dedicated staff has exploded to contain much more. One of those additions is our group of Partner Allies. This team of insurance agency software providers started as a collection of exciting integration possibilities and grew into an ever-expanding coalition of cutting-edge insurance tech.
Another year is here, and we can already see what’s on the horizon for digital insurance—the last few years demonstrated the need for more data gathering and analysis, tech integration, and a focus on personalizing and streamlining customer service. The 2021 Independent Insurance Agent Survey found that, before the COVID-19 pandemic, about a third of agencies said they “lacked the financial or other support” to invest in digitization. However, by the end of 2020, 77% were investing in digitization, showing digital insurance is growing rapidly.
As we ring in the new year, let’s take a look at what’s on the digital insurance horizon for 2022.
