When it involves their social media advertising and marketing, many brokers nonetheless neglect the shopper — which is why such efforts aren’t turning into sales, a digitally savvy broker says.
“It’s some of the frequent errors brokers make when posting to social media: forgetting the shopper expertise. People wish to know the way a lot you care earlier than they [want to] know the way a lot you realize,” mentioned Jeff Roy, president & CEO of Excalibur Insurance, a member of the Canadian Broker Network. “It would assist should you constructed belief and also you’re not attempting to promote on a regular basis.”
Excalibur boasts 10,000 followers on Facebook, greater than 2,800 on Twitter and about 600 on LinkedIn.
“We’ve constructed up an engaged following on our social media for a corporation with simply 26 workers,” Roy mentioned.
He mentioned constructing this following took a few yr of fixed posting and planning — all with the shopper high of thoughts — for issues to actually take off.
“At the top of all of it, what will get mentioned or typed counts for nothing until somebody sees or engages with you. In this consideration economic system, by which the typical particular person will get 100 emails per day and sees 2,000 messages, how do you seize a bit of this distracted consideration? Having a content material technique and constructing a content material expertise are keys that each brokerage wants to consider,” Roy mentioned.
Where to begin
Three years in the past, Aviva Canada analysis revealed that whereas 86% of brokers used social media on the time, with the purpose of accelerating sales or leads, simply as many didn’t totally perceive the way to use social media.
Not a lot has modified since, Roy mentioned.
Many brokers don’t know the place to begin, whereas others simply aren’t certain the way to flip what they’re already doing into leads or direct sales, he mentioned.
“Planning out a content material technique and calendar detailing what you’ll put up for the following month or two, in addition to utilizing third-party software program to schedule posts at the very best occasions audiences will devour it, is a good way to begin,” Roy mentioned.
Brokers also needs to be giving clients a selection of content material by utilizing textual content, graphics and video, with video gaining popularity in constructing engagement.
Roy advised producing a spread of movies to garner consideration in a wide range of methods. A company video can showcase a broker’s company id, how-to movies can assist educate present purchasers, and onboarding movies can assist with new clients, for instance.
“The largest factor to recollect is: don’t push insurance coverage content material 100% of the time. People wish to be entertained or ‘edutained,’” Roy mentioned. “Post issues that don’t have anything to do with insurance coverage, that make you stand out, give worth, create emotional responses and relationships. We usually do enjoyable contests or trivia, with solely about one in each 4 or 5 posts being a direct sales put up.”
Brokers additionally must seize social media customers’ consideration throughout the first one to 2 seconds.
“Great content material isn’t at all times the stuff that sells essentially the most, however the content material folks share essentially the most,” he mentioned. “If you’ve constantly labored to construct a robust social media presence and model, likelihood is when somebody’s prepared to purchase or change insurance coverage, they’ll come to you.”
Converting social into sales
Brokers want to take a look at their social posts from the shopper expertise standpoint and formulate a method that turns guests and followers into engaged clients — after which into promoters who can affect others, Roy mentioned.
He shared Excalibur’s digital expertise blueprint, which advises brokers the way to flip strangers to guests within the shopping for cycle.
“The similar technique can be utilized to maneuver folks from guests to leads with the suitable adverts and name to motion,” he added.
