Insurance Agencies in the Digital World

We at BuffaloQuotes.com pride ourselves on being Buffalo’s premier web-based insurance agency. Here’s the thing, insurance is EVERYWHERE. Our goal is to grab a little bit of the good things everyone does, and bring them all to you. When you think of insurance, you probably think of geckos or peppy ladies. When you think of an insurance agency, you probably think about an old guy who comes off sort of as a used cars salesman. What you don’t think about is how many more insurance-related resources that guy has behind him, which can actually help him. What he doesn’t have is an unlimited marketing budget and catchy slogans.

Your typical insurance agency down the street has a couple companies they represent. Yes, they offer you more choices than most other carriers and can do a “good enough” job. BuffaloQuotes.com is essentially powered by one of the largest group of independent agencies in New York, The Northwoods Corporation. Northwoods is a group of almost 30 insurance agencies all throughout the state, and they have access to most regional and national carriers. Therefore, BuffaloQuotes.com has access to those carriers as well. Where the insurance agency down the street is missing out on, is the convenience factor.

As I stated in my article, Build An Internet Presence Overnight, the vast majority of people do not want to be bothered by insurance. We’re so inundated with mailings, commercials, and promises of savings that we don’t want to hear it anymore. At the end of the day, though, insurance is pretty important stuff. First, most of us need to have it. Second, it helps protect your most valuable assets. There was a day and age when your insurance agent held the same value as your accountant or your attorney. Your agent not only provided a product, but they brought expertise and service. Like banks in the past, the relationship between the consumer was much more personal. However, as they always do, things changed. Insurance products, especially car insurance, became a commodity. The only thing that didn’t change was the insurance agent.

Insurance agencies, as they stand right now, live and die by the referral. They’re always going to appease to high-risk clients who can’t obtain coverage elsewhere. They’ll also be the only option for many business owners. However, their growth is dependent upon taking market share from the huge national companies. The way they can successfully do that, in their current model, is through referrals. There are two problems with the referral-model. First, it takes an active salesperson to ASK for the referral. If an insurance agent isn’t asking for referrals, they’re not getting them. Frankly, there’s not a whole lot of youth on the independent side, either. This means that after the current generation of active salespeople retires, agencies are often sold off or left to slowly dwindle away.

Set Up Your Business For The Future

1. GET FOUND

So what can insurance agencies do to compete? Well, there’s a few things. The first is to get found. If you Google anything with the word insurance in it, you’re going to run into big marketing’s money. You’ll struggle to find an insurance agent, who could potentially offer you a better product at a more affordable rate. First step to getting found is to make sure your agency name, address, and phone number are correctly listed on each and every listing page (step by step guide here: Build An Internet Presence Overnight). Next, have a website up and running. It doesn’t need to be anything robust or glamorous. Make it look clean and professional. Tie local images into it to add a comforting sense to the first time visitor. Next, is the complicated section, 99% of insurance agencies just don’t get:

Google AdSense– Google AdSense is extremely powerful software from Google that shows you EXACTLY what people are searching for. It also shows you how much companies are bidding for certain keywords. For an insurance agency owner, this means you can find a series of keywords that are both popular in searches and untapped by the big national companies. Try adding your city/town into the search with insurance for more specific results. Find several keywords that fit this criteria and write them down.

At this point, some might try to outbid for those keywords. However, that’s not effective. Instead of getting into a bidding war with deep pockets, beat the other parties where they won’t see it. You have a website. You know what people are searching for, but not being beaten up with ads on. Build specific webpages with relevant content that fits those words. Make the title of the page exactly what those searches were. For example, just the other day, I followed this model and did Restaurant Insurance in Buffalo NY. It won’t show up on Google right away, but within a couple months when people search that, I will not be surprised if that exact page is one of the top items.

2. REVIEWS = REFERRALS

We already touched on the importance of referrals to insurance agencies. Your company’s reputation isn’t contained to word of mouth anymore, though. There are several websites (mainly Google and Yelp), which allow ANYONE to review your agency. If someone does find you after Step 1, what will they do when all they see are negative reviews. They could be from competition, disgruntled former employees, or just some kid in his mom’s basement who enjoys leaving negative reviews on companies. Chances are this won’t happen, but it can still turn potential customers away. On the flip side, a series of positive reviews, could give them encouragement to give your company a shot. Consumers will take the time to write a review when the service was either out-of-this-world-exceptional or any form of bad. The point is, bad reviews are just more common for the insurance industry. That is unless, just like referrals, you ASK for them. Just like asking for referrals, ask for a review on Google and/or Yelp. Put it in your email signature, right on your website, and ask in person.

3. BE SOCIAL

I went in depth on Social Media here: Social Media Marketing and Insurance 101.

One other quick take away, which applies to reviews as well. It’s important be social in social media. Comment on posts, share other business’ content, and RESPOND to customers in a timely fashion.

4. KEEP IT SIMPLE

Everything you provide should be for the prospective customer or your existing customer. Odds are if they’re finding you and like what they see, they’re trying to accomplish something on your website. Your main contact info (phone number and address) should be clearly visible on each page. There should also be clear and concise calls to action. If you were a customer and you got to your page, what are you looking to accomplish.

Keep in mind, a large portion of your visitors may be visiting on a tablet or a cell phone. Make sure your site is mobile optimized, but still tells enough about what you do to be effective. Also, people don’t like typing a whole lot on mobile devices, so keep to data input on the consumer-side to a minimum.

5. MAKE IT FUN

Last but not least, keep somethings on the lighter side. Insurance is typically a very stuffy and serious subject. The national companies have had a lot of success through humor. This of talking pigs and funny jingles. The experience for your customer should have some “fun” side to it. Hold contests, share goofy stories, and poke fun of yourself . People talk about things that make them laugh. Make them talk about you. This joke is always effective: