“I’ve never gotten business from Facebook.”
“Social media is a waste of time.”
“Facebook doesn’t work for insurance agents.”
None of this is true. How do I know? Well, for starters, I’ve helped hundreds of insurance agencies around the country create social media strategies that are focused on lead generation. And I’ve seen it work over and over again!
But…I also see a lot of bad mistakes.
Are you making some of them? Here are a few that you can go fix right now…
No One Knows Who You Are
In the past week, I’ve seen agency Facebook pages with these profile pictures:
* A stock image of a “happy” family
* A stock image of a fancy car
* A blurry cut-off logo
This is NOT good! You want people to know who the heck you are. That means branding yourself.
Here’s the simplest way to do it. Pick ONE great headshot of the main agent. This is the person whose name is on the front door. If you have multiple owners, you can take a nice group shot but try to narrow it down to 3 people or less.
If you don’t have a picture, go get one made! Make sure the photographer will give you a digital copy that is in a file format you can upload to social media.
Now use this same picture as your profile EVERYWHERE.
- Personal Facebook
- Agency Facebook Page
- Linked In Profile
- Twitter Profile
- On Your Website
You want people to associate your photo with you. Use it for at least a year.
No more stock images. Your agency is NOT a stock image. You are a local business owner. You give back to your community. You are recognized as a professional in this industry. You need to use that to your advantage with great branding.
Lack of Personality
Although this mistake can apply to anyone, the worst offenders are captive agents.
Captive companies provide excellent branded content to their agents. And they make it incredibly simple to use. But guess what? Every agent in town is posting the EXACT same thing. And it’s really obvious.
You probably put a lot of time and energy into communicating how you AREN’T like every other agent in town…but your social media isn’t helping you out. It screams “we’re all the same.”
Of course you don’t have to quit using the content…but don’t let that be 100% of your strategy.
Ignoring Your Prospects
Oops. This is a pretty big no-no but it happens a lot!
Engagement is a two-way street. If someone takes the time to comment or send a message, take the time to respond. Facebook (and most other social platforms) have made it incredibly easy, especially if you own a smartphone!
Download the Facebook Pages app and set up your notifications. That way you’ll get a notification on your phone when someone sends a message or comments. If you know you won’t do this, then assign the task to someone in your office.
Lack of Consistency
It can be hard to be consistent with social media. Your attention is being pulled in multiple directions every single day. But, here’s the problem. Many people check out Facebook pages of local businesses before they make a decision to buy from them. (This especially applies to your millennial aged clients.)
And if your page looks dead and forgotten, it can be a red flag for them. Maybe you’re hard to reach? Maybe you don’t offer online customer service? Maybe you’re not right for them…
But you can fix this by posting regular content, at least once a day to your agency Facebook page.
If you don’t think you can do this (without falling into the earlier mistake of posting exactly what everyone else in town is using), then HIRE HELP. That’s what we specialize in!
I can create a lead generating Facebook strategy for your agency AND take care of posting it each day to your Facebook page. It’s called the Platinum package of Mega Posts and you can learn about it here.
Social media doesn’t have to difficult or time consuming. Create a solid branded strategy and put it into place today!
