Everyone wants to know how to get insurance quotes from Facebook. It’s one of the most common questions I hear!
Because let’s face it, you’re not using social media just for fun. You’re using it to grow your business! Which is why it’s important to understand the WHY behind it all.
Get Insurance Quotes From Facebook
So let me share the explanation I tell my clients…
After you set up your agency Facebook page, you need to start posting (writing) on it. The things you post and share – status updates, photos, videos, and so on – are called “content.”
Content is what gets you quotes!
Why? Because very few people will ever see your Facebook page if you aren’t regularly posting content on it.
So you share helpful, interesting information and people “like” your posts or leave a comment back. But here is where it helps you even more…when someone comments on a business page, it typically shows up in the newsfeed of all of THEIR friends! (You’ve probably seen these kinds of posts popping up in your own newsfeed.)
The average user has around 150 friends. So your agency name and content just showed up to a lot more people than actually “Like” your page!
So you need TWO things in order to attract new clients from Facebook.
You need “likes”. Also called fans, subscribers, or followers. These are people who are seeing your updates. I usually recommend that you start by getting your current clients on your page and then actively marketing it in your community. (Read more about getting “likes” here.)
And you need daily content. Why daily? Because you want people to see it! I’ve had many agents try to avoid posting daily because they don’t want to annoy their followers. But the truth is, your followers might not log in each day. Or they might log in at 8 am and not see your post at 2 pm. You instead have to consistently post daily at varied times in order to reach the highest possible number of fans.
You also want your content to be interesting and not too insurance heavy. Give helpful tips or advice but don’t get into long boring discussions on coverage.
Keep Facebook personal. Post photos of your team, show a picture from a community event you sponsored, get involved. The more you put into it, the more results (new quotes, referrals, and sales) you’ll see out of it.
If you DON’T have a page yet, you can create one by going to www.facebook.com/pages.
Why Should I Post Every Day?
It does seem excessive to post daily to most of us. You don’t want to annoy your customers and I totally understand that. So I want to explain why I really want you to post on your Agency Facebook page daily.
First of all, when someone follows your Facebook page, they are subscribing to see your update but it’s NOT like an email subscription. They aren’t going to receive a notification or email every time you post on the wall (which is what some agents are worried about.)
When you post on your page, it shows up in the Newsfeed of your subscribers. Your Newsfeed is what you see when you go to the Home page on Facebook. It’s a chronological (for the most part) list of all the friends and pages that you follow and their recent updates.
Now as you’ve probably noticed, the Newsfeed moves quickly. It’s always being updated and moving forward. Which means that people aren’t going to see every single post unless they are logged in around the clock!
If you have 100 fans, they will be online at a wide variety of times. Some log in every day while at work, other log in from their iPhone while waiting in line at the bank, some check Facebook late at night, others early in the morning. Some will only get online once or twice a week, others multiple times a day.
So if you only post once a week, the odds are that not many people will ever actually SEE it!
By posting daily (and at a variety of different times), we know that you will reach more of your followers. You’ll get more “likes”, comments, and quotes when more people see what you are posting and they’ll begin to better recognize your name.
What Do I Write About?
It seems that there are two insurance agency social media extremes.
One group of agents are far too aggressive. They are writing “call for a quote!!” all the time and focused only on trying to make sales through their business Facebook page. This approach is just a recipe for getting blocked! If you never have anything interesting to say, why should someone listen? People don’t go to Facebook to get sold. If this is all you’re doing, it’s time to switch it up.
Now on the other end of the spectrum, my client told me about an agent she met who believed that you should never mention insurance whatsoever on your page. At all. Ever.
I don’t think this is right either and here’s why.
The whole reason for using social media is to promote your agency and your name, right? And I can understand and appreciate the viewpoint that it shouldn’t be all insurance all the time. (For one thing, insurance is a super boring topic for most people!)
But, that doesn’t mean you should NEVER mention it!
When you brand yourself, you want to brand yourself as an expert insurance agent and a well known community figure. This means that people have to know what you do. You don’t just want to be a “really good guy.” You want to be a “really good insurance agent!” Anything less and you’re just wasting your time.
When I write for agency pages, I like to balance the content. Here’s an example…
30% – Sales Related (Get A Quote, Refer A Friend, Call Us…)
30% – Community Related (What’s going on around town? What’s your favorite local restaurant?)
30% – Insurance Related (Save Money Tips, Protect Yourself, Home Maintenance)
10% – Holidays
By creating balance, you know that you’re not doing sales overkill and you’re still letting people know that you’re an insurance agent first and foremost.
A big piece of insurance marketing is standing out from the other agents in town. When someone goes to look for an Allstate agent for a quote, you want them to choose YOU over the other Allstate agents in town. Same thing if you’re an independent agent…you need your name to be their first choice when they scroll through the Google search results or look in the phone book.
This name recognition is built through advertising. They see you on a billboard, hear your ad on the radio, and your name keeps showing up on social media. All of this leads to quotes and referrals.
Social media is a long-term process and one that you have to continually work in order to see results. But it doesn’t have to consume your day. We specialize in creating customized content for Personal Lines P&C agencies! Check out our Facebook marketing packages here.