One of the most common questions I get from agents about Facebook is “how do I get people to “like” my agency page?”
You know that you need to connect with people in order to generate leads, but the question is where to begin?
Here are a few easy tasks to get you started…
Use Your Personal Account For Networking
Your personal Facebook account (the one where you accept friends) is a great place to connect with people you actually know in real life. Family, friends, people from church, your golf buddies, people you meet at networking events, real estate agents who send you referrals, and your clients.
You want as many local people as possible to know WHO you are and WHAT you do. That way, they’ll know who call the next time they’re shopping for insurance.
You can search for people by name in the “Friends” section. You can also connect your email account to search for people you’ve emailed recently or search for people you may have gone to school with. Simply go to your Personal Page (by clicking on your name in the top right corner) and then click Friends under your cover photo. You’ll see the Find Friends button on the right side above your friends names, to the right of the Friend Requests. Here’s what mine looks like.
If you want a little more privacy, you can separate your friends into lists. By doing this, you can limit who sees certain posts. Maybe you just went on vacation and want to share the photos with your close friends but not your clients. Just separate everyone into lists and then select which list can see your photos.
Ready to setup a list? Go to your Home page on Facebook (the newsfeed) and on the left menu, click Friends. It’s a little way down the page. Then at the top you’ll see Create List. Click here to get started.
If you have a lot of friends currently it might take some time to organize at first. But you’ll be glad you did later on. Then every time you send a friend request or accept a friend, go ahead and sort them into the proper list immediately.
Personally I have a list of family members, close friends, networking connections, and clients.
Once you’ve connected personally, you can also invite friends to “Like” your agency page. Just go to your Business Page and on the left (under where it lists how many people LIKE you), you’ll see a place to invite your friends individually.
Run A Promotion
Sometimes people need a little incentive to take the time to go find your page and “like” it. Consider sending an email out to your clients letting them know that for one week only, you’ll be donating $1 to a local charity for every person who “likes” your business Facebook page. Encourage them to share your page on their own Facebook wall and send the promotion to their friends.
Display Customer Service
Some will like your page just because you’re their insurance agent. But others will have more of a “what’s in it for me” attitude.
Take a look at what you’re doing with your social media. Beyond just sharing posts and information, are you actively providing customer service?
If there was a massive storm in your area, would you reach out and let clients know how to handle claims?
Do you accept private messages on Facebook and provide quick customer service? Just because you may not be able to complete an endorsement via Facebook, doesn’t mean that you should avoid it as a customer service tool. Be available!
Referral Incentives
Keep the incentives going. If it is allowed in your state (check the rebating laws), consider sending a small gift card ($5) in exchange for referrals written on your Facebook page. People will have to “like” the page in order to write on it and it shows your value to others at the same time!
Forget It Being Free
If you’re a business owner, Facebook isn’t going to be free. Yes you can start a page for free, but if you want to generate leads, forget about it being 100% free! You may be paying for referrals, donating to charity for likes, or paying for Facebook ads but you need to be prepared to invest in your online marketing. It doesn’t have to be expensive but you’ll need to take some action in order to see results!
Have you done a promotion that has generated a lot of “likes”? Share it in the comments!