Five Reasons You Should NOT Use Social Media for Insurance

  

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The following excerpt was posted to the e-marketing Association Network Group. I liked it so much I decided to make it insurance-relevant and share it with you.

Reason #1 - You have the writing skills of a coffee table. If you can't provide relevant content (or hire someone to provide it), you probably won't do well in the social arena. Engagement is a product of interesting, timely and relevant writing.

(InsuranceCopywriting.com’s perspective: Actually great content is the backbone of all insurance marketing – not just social marketing!)

Reason #2 - You don't have any time. Social marketing takes time and effort, if you can't invest the time it won't work. It doesn't have to be your time but it has to take SOMBODY'S time.

(InsuranceCopywriting.com’s perspective: Again, this challenge undermines all marketing efforts. I tell my clients to set aside 15 minutes a day for insurance marketing efforts. All you have to do is keep things moving forward. If you start and stop, you lose momentum. Marketing, and particularly social media marketing, builds with a snowball effect. Don’t stop let your marketing snowball stagnate or it will melt.)

#3 - Your website hasn't been updated since 2002. Social marketing comes last. If you don’t have a good site, good products and a business plan, you need to focus on the basics before implementing a social marketing program.

(InsuranceCopywriting.com’s perspective: I absolutely agree with this. A strong website must serve as the hub for all other insurance marketing efforts. Your insurance website landing pages are where leads convert. Social marketing, direct mail, and e-mail must drive prospects to your website. Agents frequently contact me for e-mail marketing assistance, but yet they don’t have a website that will convert leads. I tell them before you can be successful in e-mail marketing, you need a compelling offer (like a free report) and an insurance website landing page to capture leads. Without these two things, you’ll never experience great success in e-mail marketing. The same two things are needed to fully leverage social media.)

#4 - You don't know how to use social media sites. If you don't have a Linkedin profile and a Facebook profile, and think twitter is something kids do after school, you probably need to get online and start using social. Before you set up a social marketing program learn how to use social media personally.

(InsuranceCopywriting.com’s perspective: Once you get started, you’ll discover it’s pretty easy. For B2B insurance marketing, you can start by focusing on Linkedin and Twitter. If you market to local consumers, Facebook is more important. If you market nationally to businesses, I believe Facebook is the least important of the three options.)

#5 - You actually believe there is no value in social media. One million plus groups on Linkedin, over 835,000,000 users worldwide on Facebook, millions of companies engaged on twitter and other social platforms, they could all be wrong. A passing fad, well most marketers don't think so.

(InsuranceCopywriting.com’s perspective: The numbers are compelling, but still many insurance professionals believe that business insurance is NOT researched and bought online. I personally used to underestimate the power of social media for insurance. Not anymore. In past 30 days, insurancecopywriting.com has generated 51 leads from social media. In the same time period, a client who markets to insurance brokers has generated 86 leads from social media. Another client who markets to HR professionals has converted 10 social media leads in the past 30 days. Today, I’m a true believer in the power of Linkedin. The best part is that you can reach thousands of prospective clients for free!)

The bottom line: One of the best insurance marketing ideas for 2012 is social media – particularly via Linkedin. But to be effective in social media insurance marketing or any marketing, you need good content, consistent dedication and an insurance website that can convert leads. Fortunately, insurancecopywriting.com can help with all of these things!