One of the primary reasons why insurance agents don’t jump into the world of social media — such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the myriad other Web-based avenues for reaching out to the world at large — is that they are unsure how to go about it, according to a Texas-based agency consultant, coach and mentor who said there’s a lot of resistance to using such tools in the agency universe.
It can be a mind-boggling experience, said Pat Alexander (http://patalexander.com/, and one that she was reluctant to delve into for a long time. However, because in our world today “technology is in permanent state of beta testing,” it can be approached as something to try out and see what happens, she explained at a recent agency management seminar hosted by the Independent Insurance Agent of Texas.
Around 81 percent of insurance agencies have Web sites, but only about 23 percent have a social media presence like Facebook or Twitter, Alexander said. Nearly half of agencies use some form of e-mail marketing, but only 6 percent use blogs, which can be an effective tool for communicating an agency’s particular expertise or passion.
Some agencies are concerned about the errors and omissions risks that might arise out of the use of social media outlets. But, said Alexander, consider all the phone calls and e-mails that go out of the typical insurance agency every day. Can the agency control every conversation or every word and comma that appears in all those calls and e-mail messages? If you have the right social media tools and policies for your agency you can actually control the results, Alexander said.
Many agents are reluctant to blog because they view themselves as insurance people, not writers. However, most bloggers are not professional writers, Alexander said. They just started blogging about some subject about which they are passionate. If you can go talk to a client about a subject, you can blog about it, she said. Plus, widely available spelling and grammar applications can be used to clean up the text if one feels the need.
Some see social media as just fad, Alexander said, but many thought the same thing about cell phones, e-mail, electronic files, direct bill and online rating. One way to look at it, Alexander explained, is that an agency’s blog or Web site is its electronic home base, and “outposts” like Twitter, Facebook, Google profiles and search engine optimization can be used to drive online traffic to that home base.
As one Texas insurance agent told Insurance Journal, “If we’re going to stay in this business … we’re going to have to stay up with technology and the times.”
Deni Townsend, vice president of Billy Greaves Insurance Agency in San Antonio, Texas, said she believes all agencies should have a Web site at the very least, and one that reflects who they are and what they do.
“When I look up a business, that’s the first thing I do,” Townsend said. “When I have a new client I go to their Web site immediately. I want to see what’s on there. It does make a big difference. I want to see where they are located. All of those things are important.”
Billy Greaves is a family owned agency that celebrates its 75th anniversary next year. Its Web site “is very ‘us,'” Townsend said. “We put pictures of our clients – any awards they have done, things they have done. It’s very personal. My husband and I like to hunt and fish, and that’s what’s on there.”
Having taken a class on developing a social media presence presented by Safeco, Townsend said she was inspired to experiment with Facebook and LinkedIn, Google maps and Yahoo search engine optimization, and is initiating an “e-mail blast” to clients that will go out on a regular basis. While her agency has only recently dipped its toe into the social media waters, Townsend believes the effort will help drive traffic to her Web site and ultimately bring in new business.
The bottom line with social media seems to be, just get out there and do some of your own beta testing and see what happens. It may be more rewarding than you think.
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