Facebook is a great way for insurance agencies to market themselves and stay connected with their customers. Learn some Facebook success tips in this post.
Should your agency be on Facebook?
In a word, YES!
Facebook has become a very important channel for insurance agencies to engage with their customers. Here is an interesting fact. The 2012 Agency Universe Study found that a quarter of agencies use Facebook to keep in touch with prospects. And, social media have now exceeded periodic personalized emails as agencies’ preferred method for keeping in touch with prospects. Further, over 51% of agencies now devote staff hours to social media activities.
Yet, it’s not unusual for insurance agencies have a bit of trepidation at first when considering building a presence on the world’s largest social network. At first glance, it looks like an incompatible match-up. But in reality, Facebook can be an excellent (and free) way to market your business and engage your customers.
However, an agency Facebook page is only effective with whole-hearted effort. If you don’t maintain an interest in your Facebook page, neither will your customers or prospects. Once your page is up and running, don’t wait around for people to find it. Include a link in your email correspondence, mention the page in sales calls, and encourage your customers to Like your page.
As your Facebook audience is building, post content on a regular basis. But, your content can’t all be ads or sales pitches – Facebook users are just going to see it as spam. Your content should be useful and engaging. Try posting educational information about insurance, maintenance tips for homeowners, readership polls, and trivia questions. As your fun and interesting content appears in people’s news streams, they’ll be more likely to start interacting with your agency.
See my recent post entitled, “Facebook Topic Ideas for Insurance Agencies,” which discusses some suggestions for Facebook topics.
When your Facebook fans post something on your wall, quickly engage and respond! Answer questions, or request that they call or email you with questions (this will be a better course of action for questions that can’t be answered via Facebook). Prompt responses generate customer satisfaction and show other Facebook fans that your agency is truly responsive.
Our newest agency management system, QQ Catalyst, integrates with Facebook (and other social media channels) to keep you connected with your customers and build more robust data profiles for them. To learn how Catalyst’s social media integration can help your agency, request a demo today.
Is your agency already on Facebook? What techniques are you using to engage your customers? Share your ideas on the QQ Solutions Facebook page and join in on the discussion.
That’s Facebook marketing in action. Your agency can do it too!
