Want to grow your insurance agency? Discover growth hacks like local partnerships, event sponsorships, targeted digital campaigns, and CRM tools to attract and retain more customers.
Most insurance agencies engage in traditional marketing to maintain a customer base, but there’s only so far that traditional marketing can go. To grow your agency, you’ll need to take steps that go beyond traditional marketing. In this article, we’ll discuss how your insurance business can leverage local partnerships, host and sponsor community events, create targeted digital campaigns, and take other steps to grow your customer base.
Create Partnerships with Local Businesses
Nearly every consumer needs insurance at some point in their life. Some consumers discover their need for insurance at specific moments, like when they buy a new car or buy a new house. As an insurance agent, you can find these consumers by working with the businesses that are helping them.
Your business can help these consumers when they truly need insurance by partnering with real estate agents, auto dealerships, and financial advisors.
How do business partnerships work? Every partnership is different, and your insurance agency must find arrangements that work for it. Maybe your partnering business will refer customers to your insurance agency, and in turn, your business will provide some free advertising for those partnering businesses. Be open to different ideas to establish partnerships throughout your community.
Sponsor Community Events
Sponsoring community events sends positive signals to your potential clients, which can drive customers your way. Sponsorship shows that your business is successful enough to donate money to local causes and that your business cares about your community. For some consumers, this is reason enough to choose your insurance agency over others.
Usually, sponsorship comes with free advertising opportunities as well. Your business name may appear on event signs, local event advertisements, t-shirts, and other swag. Take advantage of these advertising opportunities. Supply a high-resolution version of your logo and tagline to be used wherever needed.
Create Targeted Digital Campaigns
Targeted digital campaigns can help your business effectively reach customers through digital channels such as email and online advertising.
- Cultivate a subscriber email list. Encourage sign-ups for your email list through a form on your website. Use a QR code at trade shows and local events to encourage people to sign up for your email list in person.
- Send a newsletter. Use your subscriber email list to send a newsletter to potential clients. Writing a newsletter shows your expertise in the field while delivering value to potential customers. Use your newsletter as a platform to answer common customer questions, dispel common myths, and keep your name top of mind for anyone seeking insurance.
- Try pay-per-click advertising. Pay-per-click advertising is an effective and efficient way to reach local people seeking insurance services. You’ll only pay for people who click on the advertisement, so there isn’t a lot of risk. Pay-per-click services use algorithms to identify people in your area who may be interested in insurance services. This type of advertising is effective and can lead high-value customers to find your business.
- Perform A/B testing with emails. Wondering how to grab your audience’s attention with your newsletter? When you do A/B testing, you can get your answer. Send out two versions of your newsletter using the same content but with different subjects or headlines to see which titles grab your audience’s attention. Send one version of your newsletter to group A, and one version to group B. Study your email analytics to learn which audience had a higher email open rate. Using this method, you can learn a lot about writing subjects that compel your audience to take action. About 70% of marketers use this technique to boost conversion rates – it works.
- Create social media content that varies by platform. Different social media platforms cater to different audiences. Use analytics tools to learn about the demographics of your audiences on different social media platforms. Create social media content that caters to each audience for the specific social media platform that you’re writing for.
Create Content People Need and Want
Content marketing is marketing that uses content to reach audiences and stimulate interest in your services through indirect means. An effective content marketing campaign will use blogs, videos, online books, and guides to reach consumers and answer their common questions. This content helps promote brand visibility and trust, but it does not attempt to sell directly to your customers.
For example, create a series of blog articles answering commonly asked questions. Throughout the articles, link from your blog to various services on your website to show that your agency has expertise in these areas. You might include a quick call to action at the end but don’t promote your site in a heavy-handed way. The idea here is that when your customers are finally ready to make a decision about insurance, they will contact your agency.
Use A Customer Relationship Management System to Track Customers
A customer relationship management (CRM) system is software that helps you track customers and your recent interactions with them. Using a CRM, you can take notes about recent conversations with each potential customer and track their information so you can contact them as needed. A good CRM will also prompt you to call back customers who are expecting to hear from you.
Using a content relationship management system helps you stay organized while allowing you to personalize service for each customer. When a consumer calls, the CRM provides details about every interaction you’ve had with them. This ensures that each phone call is efficient and gives consumers confidence in your skills as an insurance agent.