Agency Innovators: How Agencies Leverage Social Networking

Technology Trailblazers Build Relationships, Business Receipts

There’s no better time for insurance agents and brokers to delve into social networking technologies than now, according to those who study marketing and technology trends. More than four in five U.S. online adults use social networking tools – Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and blogs – at least once a month, and half participate in social networks, according to Forrester Research.

Additionally, consider that Gartner Research shows mobile consumers spent $4.2 billion in 2009 at mobile applications stores, and that figure is expected to jump to $30 billion by 2013, said George Redenbaugh, assistant treasurer and senior director of risk management for eBay. With such statistics, there’s no reason for insurance professionals not to understand what social networking means to their businesses, Redenbaugh told attendees at a recent Golden Gate Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society meeting.

Some are already reaping the benefits of social networking. Jason Kennedy of Preferred Personal Insurance Agency in Frisco, Texas, for instance, said he wrote about 20 policies last year that he probably wouldn’t have had he not tapped into the latest tech tools. Amy Bryan of Bryan Insurance Agency LLC in New Windsor, N.Y., has found new customers, as well as people interested in getting into the industry, through the social networking site Facebook.

Agents who are afraid that they’re too far behind the eight ball, don’t have enough time to get educated, or just not hip enough with today’s technologies should not let that stop them from dabbling in the new media.

“While young people continue to march toward almost universal adoption of social applications, the most rapid growth occurred among consumers 35 and older,” Forrester Research said. “This means the time to build social marketing applications is now. Interactive marketers should influence social network chatter, master social communication, and develop social assets – even if their customers are older.”

Rick Dinger, president of Crescenta Valley Insurance in Glendale, Calif., said even his in-laws who are in their mid-60s have Facebook pages. At age 43, Dinger said he feels like he’s “behind the curve,” although he started marketing himself and his agency on Facebook and YouTube two years ago. But like other agency innovators Insurance Journal spoke with, Dinger found that just 10 minutes a day can pay off with promising results.

“Social networking is a good way to stay in front of people; it’s a self-branding type of thing,” Dinger said. If you constantly update and grow your online community, you can generate business and get immediate gratification, he said.

Bryan Insurance Agency LLC

Amy Bryan, owner of New Windsor, N.Y.-based Bryan Insurance Agency, has found that social networking tools fit well with the reasons she got into the insurance business and started the agency. Having grown up in the industry with her dad, aunt and uncle, and grandfather working as State Farm agents, Bryan said she gravitated toward the business because she likes the interaction agents have in dealing with customers and helping people.

Bryan has explored such social media as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and a blog. Company employees also are looking into incorporating other tools, such as video, to use within the agency.

“What sparked my interest is I think that’s a way people are communicating nowadays,” Bryan said. “And so if that’s how people are communicating, then it’s important as an agency that we’re on there as well, communicating with them.”

In the two years that she’s embraced the technology, she’s learned a lot, even if she spends just 10 to 15 minutes a day updating her pages. For instance, she started out using social media as sales opportunity, hoping to see an immediate return. Now, instead of trying to tell people what services her company offers, she has tried to make her social networking sites better resources.

Even though customer interaction is taking place via computers, “it’s no different than sitting down and having a cup of coffee with someone,” she said.

Preferred Personal Insurance Agency

Jason Kennedy, a Frisco, Texas-based agent with the Preferred Personal Insurance Agency, began using social networking tools because his friends urged him to do so. He started with a personal Facebook page and then developed a Fan page that is more career-focused and helped him to write about 20 policies last year that he probably wouldn’t otherwis have written.

“Facebook has been pretty good for me because it put me into contact with some people I went to high school with, that I probably never would have spoken to had it not been for connecting with them on Facebook,” Kennedy said. “I’ve written [insurance for] several of them, just because people see I’m on there and they’ll say, ‘I trust this guy, so I’ll get a quote from him.'”

He said having an online presence helps distinguish him from the competition. “It’s an extremely competitive market out there. … Any way I can get my name out there, I’m going to do it.”

Crescenta Valley Insurance

According to Rick Dinger, president of Glendale, Calif.-based Crescenta Valley Insurance, YouTube and Facebook have helped to grow the family owned business. He began using them about two years ago when a friend started talking about the networking tools. “I had no clue what it was, so I said, ‘I have to see that,'” Dinger said. He started with a Facebook page and when the number of friend requests began to add up he realized the technology could be used as a self-branding tool.

Dinger then built an agency Fan page, began advertising with a per-click charge, and immediately saw an influx of business. He also created a commercial that he broadcast via YouTube and has received 6,000 to 7,000 hits. “How much business does it drive my way? I don’t know, but it can’t hurt, trying to be in front of as many people as possible,” he concluded.

Learning the Lingo

Blogs: A blog is a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer, known as the blogger. Blogs give voice to an organization, boost search engine optimization and can be used to cross promote Web sites.

Facebook: A site that helps you to share and connect with people in your life. Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet. Once you set up a personal page, there is a “create a page for my business” link that allows you to create a new Facebook Fan page. www.facebook.com.

LinkedIn: A professional network of more than 60 million professionals that connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. LinkedIn exists to help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return. www.linkedin.com.

Twitter: For friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Answers need to be 140 characters or less. www.twitter.com.

YouTube: The premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through Web sites, mobile devices, blogs, and e-mail.

Source: Andy Kohler, marketing representative for Unisource Program Administrators, an MGA specializing in workers compensation insurance. Kohler and the organization he works for is offering a complimentary “Social Media Guide for Independent Agents.” E-mail Andy.Kohler@UnisourcePA.com for a copy.

Topics Agencies Tech