One of Priest's clients, for instance, recently sent him a private message on Facebook requesting that he remove an automobile from the client's insurance policy. "It was easier for him to find me on Facebook than to look up my email or phone number," Priest observes, "so I've got to be on there."

Whether it's providing this kind of quick customer service or supplying tips about disaster preparation and loss recovery, agents are using social-media tools to engage their customers in conversation. And that's what matters most.

"Agents who maintain regular contact with customers have a more solid relationship and their customers are less likely to shop for a new provider," says Jeff Yates, executive director of the Big I's Agents Council for Technology (ACT). "Social media is an additional way to maintain regular contact, an additional arrow in your quiver."

SEPARATE & DISTINCT

Building customer loyalty is crucial for agent survival in a crowded and uncertain landscape. And, according to experts, this need to establish a personal relationship between potential and existing customers creates a strong incentive for independent and captive agents alike to carve out a distinct online presence that is separate from national carriers they represent.

"We advocate that individual agents brand themselves, rather than relying on a carrier to do the branding for them," says Jim Fish, executive director of the National Association of Professional Allstate Agents. "If they have an established brand of their own, they'll be able to carry on with their own name if a carrier terminates the business relationship in the future."

Even the carriers agree that local agents should have a social-media presence that reflects the agency's own culture and local concerns.

Agencies affiliated with Allstate "tend to have the same focus as the corporate team" in the social-media space, says Roger Tye, Allstate's director of consumer engagement and e-Business. But he concurs that "it is important for the agent's presence to be authentic" rather than simply mirror what the national carrier does online.

"Authenticity rules the day," agrees David Beigie, vice president of public affairs for State Farm. "We would rather see robust agent platforms over and above anything we're doing in social media as a company because it's at that level of engagement where people are able to talk about the local issues and topics that are most relevant to policyholders."

NATIONAL HELP

Where national carriers can provide agents with appropriate assistance, he continues, is in the area of best practices. Beigie notes that although State Farm is a mutual company, it is nevertheless subject to federal regulations that limit what representatives may disclose about its financial-services products.

For this reason, State Farm requires agents to complete training before they establish their own social-media presence. "It's a new world and they appreciate that guidance," Beigie says. "They don't want to have the distraction of doing things that either aren't productive or, frankly, are not in compliance with state and federal laws."

Agent associations similarly are providing members with educational resources. Both ACT and the National Association of Professional All State Agents, for instance, offer Webinars about how to set up and manage Facebook pages.

ACT, in particular, provides a deep shelf of reports and research on its Website to help agents implement an effective social-media workflow. "It's important to establish exactly what your objectives are for using social media and then discuss with your staff the extent to which they can use it during business time," Yates says.

Figuring out how much time a business needs to spend on social networks is far from easy. Priest was an early social-media user, but these days he's seeking to limit the amount of time that he and his staff spend online. "I was finding myself looking at customers' vacation photos on Facebook," he admits. As a result, he recently blocked his office's direct access to Facebook. So that he doesn't miss anything important, though, he set up a forwarding service that directs all customer messages to his company's regular email system.

To this extent, Priest says, national organizations and carriers should help agents stay on top of the latest time-saving innovations in social media. Tools such as TweetDeck and HootSuite allow people to schedule Twitter and Facebook posts in advance, alleviating some of the daily burden incurred by updating these sites, while consultants such as Hearsay Social provide strategies customized for the insurance industry.

Another area where national organizations and carriers can help is by providing quality content—not just videos like the cute Travelers dog, but weatherization tips, advice for handling a property loss, and other expert-authored resources for local agents to customize. "

The key for agents in using generic content successfully is personalizing the messages to make them relevant for their community. "You want people conducting genuine conversations," says Beigie. If you over-automate that, why bother? It's better to have a genuine dialog."

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Tips for Success:
Keep It Personal and Local

Like it or not, customers are already talking about insurance agents and carriers on social-media sites including Twitter and Facebook. Rather than ignore what they say in these spaces, experts say, it's much better to join the conversation—particularly when the comments are negative.

"You want to protect your reputation on social media," says Jeff Yates, executive director of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT). "If somebody says something negative, you need to know about it—and you should contact that individual and turn a negative into a positive."

"Don't just say 'call me for a quote,' but talk about local events and make referrals to your community partners," recommends Robyn Sharp, a social-media consultant to the insurance industry and blogger on sharpsocialmedia.com. "Make it about your personality. Show off who your agents and staff are and help customers create a loyalty to you."

It might seem like a paradox, but Yates says the best way to build a brand locally is to avoid talking about your business. "If you have a Facebook page, you're not promoting your agency so much as talking about what's going on in your community or supporting charitable initiatives that are meaningful to the employees of your agency. That's how you really give your brand a personality."

Making local recommendations is a great way to do this. "Using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, it is not OK to just say 'Buy from Encharter, buy from Encharter, buy from Encharter,'" says Ken Petersen, CEO of Encharter Insurance in Amherst, Mass. "But it is okay for me to say, 'I had this terrific sandwich down at the Harvest Bakery, and you should try it. And, by the way, I have this discount coupon on my Website if you happen to be going there.'"

Coupons, in particular, have had a remarkable resurgence recently with the rise of social-buying sites such as LivingSocial and Groupon. Insurance agents can tap into some of this buzz, as well as the growth of smartphone apps, by using location-based software to send coupons when customers enter the neighborhood surrounding their local business partners.

"A lot of users now access Facebook only through their phones," explains Sharp. "P&C agents are doing deals through Facebook that show up if you're in a certain area. You get a $10 gas card, for instance, if you refer a friend for an auto quote."

Another excellent strategy in localizing your social-media presence is partnering with hometown charities. "I have clients who have really taken this as part of their growth strategy for their Facebook page: 'We're donating a dollar to the local animal shelter for every friend we get on Facebook between now and Friday,' that kind of thing," Sharp says. "The shelter talks about it, your fans talk about it, and it brings in new fans at the same time. It's a great strategy."

It's not just the locals that can take advantage of forging partnerships with other businesses and charities online. "The effort around the Big 'I' Trusted Choice promotion of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is the best example I have seen of this," says Rick Morgan, senior vice president of Aartrijk, a branding and marketing-communication firm with an insurance focus. "Carriers, other associations, user groups, and individual agents all picked this up and helped it go viral. As a result of all the sharing, a donation of tens of thousands of dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation was generated. It sent a good message about the industry to the insurance consumer."