4 tips for insurance agencies to market with LinkedIn
Here's how agents can take advantage of the social media channel that generates the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate.
Many of us have LinkedIn tucked away neatly into a box. A box that we only open on Tuesday afternoons, during yet another meeting that could have been an email. However, LinkedIn is much more than the refuge of wishful thinking.
As of February 2020, LinkedIn was the seventh-largest social media website based on active monthly users. Of its 690 million users, 40% visit the site daily.
LinkedIn is a powerhouse for business-to-business (B2B) marketing. It is an environment focused on professional development and networking.
People join LinkedIn to show their expertise, find a career, and find content that makes their professional lives better. That environment can be useful for your business.
So how do you leverage LinkedIn’s unique properties to market your insurance agency?
Here are four tips to help you take advantage of LinkedIn.
1: Personal profile vs. company page
Having an updated profile may seem like an obvious suggestion. But, are you aware that you are responsible for two profile pages? As an insurance agency owner, you need to manage your personal profile and your agency’s company page.
If a person visits your company page, they may make their way to exploring your profile page. Both pages present an opportunity to make an impression.
Your personal profile should be as complete as possible. If you add a new professional skill, reach a new goal, or achieve something of significance, add it to your personal profile. Don’t be shy. That’s what your profile is all about!
This is your chance to share that you’re an expert at what you do. Don’t miss an opportunity to show why someone should do business with you.
Your LinkedIn company page is your agency’s profile. Everything about your personal profile applies here, too. Your “About” section should consist of your company’s mission statement, bio, and achievements. Don’t forget to put your address!
2: Remember, content is king
According to a study by HubSpot, LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate of all social media channels. Their conversion rate was 2.74%. That was 277% higher than both Twitter (0.69%) and Facebook (0.77%). To take full advantage of LinkedIn’s superior ability to convert new leads, you need to create a content plan that engages your audience.
Why do you need content on LinkedIn?
You need content on social media platforms for three main reasons.
- To build brand awareness
- To grow your brand’s reach
- To create consumer engagement with your brand
Every time you share content on social, you’re building a stronger relationship with your audience and generating new relationships with new people.
But why do you need content on LinkedIn specifically?
Your content on your LinkedIn personal page is about establishing your professional expertise. Everything from presenting endorsed skills, to your resume, to your certifications.
The same goes for your agency’s LinkedIn page. The content on your LinkedIn page adds value to your agency because it informs your audience that your agency is an expert. LinkedIn has published studies on thought leadership because they understand the value of businesses differentiating themselves from their competition by posting content that proves their expertise.
Your content on LinkedIn is important because it’s an opportunity to establish credibility in an environment almost entirely composed of professionals.
What should your content look like?
Your content should be engaging and SEO-friendly. Make sure it’s relevant and includes keywords. You should also share content from your partners and industry leaders/influencers.
Blogs are great. But so are other mediums. Video, for example, is very popular on LinkedIn. You don’t need to produce a video a week. If you have videos about your products on your website, repurpose the content. Create short segmented videos out of already existing videos. Your goal should be more than two minutes in length but under five. If you can, transcribe the videos. Adding transcriptions and closed captions contribute to search engine optimization (SEO).
Create a conversation! Blogs, FAQs, videos, and other shared content are valuable. Keep doing those. But content on LinkedIn can be as easy as posing a question and starting a conversation about your industry expertise. No matter what you share, always engage, and respond.
Don’t forget the call to action. Sprinkle in a link to your website in all your content. Don’t be shy. People won’t know about your agency and what you offer unless you tell them. LinkedIn content, like blogs, can drive traffic to your website using backlinks.
3: Your employees are great resources
Here’s an essential point about thought leadership to keep in mind. Take into consideration why people follow your personal Facebook page versus why they connected with you on LinkedIn. A LinkedIn connection is, for most users, inherently rooted in a professional relationship. Facebook is, for most users, a medium rooted in social relationships.
For that reason, your thought leadership content, as well as your marketing content, will be more successful on LinkedIn.
The same goes for your employees. Generally speaking, your employee’s friends on Facebook or their followers on Twitter didn’t follow their personal account for their expertise on insurance. They followed them because of a personal relationship.
It doesn’t matter if you have three or 300 employees. They are living, breathing opportunities to have brand ambassadors on any social platform. It is not out of the ordinary for employees to share content from the company they work for. In fact, on LinkedIn, it’s the norm. Therefore, your employee’s LinkedIn followers are more likely to trust the thought leadership content they share.
Ask your employees if they’ll be advocates of your brand. Chances are they’ll say yes.
If an employee is sharing your content, their profiles should look professional. Check with your employees and make sure they’re putting their best foot forward on LinkedIn. Once their profiles are complete, you will have an army of brand ambassadors sharing content and creating new leads.
4: LinkedIn for business-to-consumer
You might be saying to yourself, “Why should I use LinkedIn? I don’t sell business insurance?”
That’s a good question. LinkedIn is widely known as a powerful business-to-business tool.
However, if used correctly, LinkedIn can help your agency generate new leads for personal lines.
Thought leadership
As we briefly touched on before, contributing helpful thought leadership content can raise your follower’s eyebrows. Everyone who follows you requires insurance, so your goal is to gain their trust and stay on the radar of potential clients. That way, when the time comes for them to shop, your agency will be top-of-mind.
Email marketing
For most agencies, standard operating procedure dictates that your contact information is displayed prominently. What most don’t consider displaying are links to subscribe to your newsletters and email marketing. If you haven’t already, get them posted!
Every contact you make on LinkedIn is a potential lead. That doesn’t mean you should treat them that way, but at least get your foot in the door. For every new contact you make, send a personalized message reminding them of your agency. Provide them with your contact information and ask them to subscribe to your emails for updates about insurance. That allows you to drop them into your drip campaigns.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Just like Facebook, LinkedIn offers sponsored content. You can pay to have your content placed onto an individual’s LinkedIn feed. By creating quality content for specified audiences, you can make sure your content is getting to the right people.
The wrap-up
More so than other social media platforms, LinkedIn is not a marketplace. It is about building relationships in a professional environment.
Review your LinkedIn profile and those of your employees for professionalism. Add everything you’ve ever done in the workplace to your profile.
Use LinkedIn as an extension of your website. Publish content. Use it to enhance your personal image and market your agency. Share with your LinkedIn network what you’re doing for your community.
Zach Weeks is a content marketing specialist at Insurance Technologies Corporation (ITC), a provider of marketing, rating and management software and services to the insurance industry. ITC helps its customers across the U.S. grow their businesses and become more efficient through the philosophy of providing quality software and services. Currently, ITC serves more than 200 insurance companies and more than 7,000 agencies.
This article originally appeared on ITC’s blog and is republished here with consent.
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