Maximise your social marketing platforms in 2022

If you’ve been publishing on social media for a while, the new year is a great time to audit your results, refine, and update your approach. So, what should insurance brokers be doing to make the most of social media? Spoiler – it is not just about getting likes!

Here are five top tips:

1. Focus on the right channels – have a plan and focus on the channels that will work best for your business. For example, LinkedIn is great if you are targeting specific industries and larger organisations (it’s really good at finding the right individuals to prospect too) and Facebook is better if you are chasing smaller, family businesses in specific geographical areas.
2. Build your audience first – if you do not have a company/personal following of 200+ (ideally more) focus on growing your audience before publishing lots of content. According to data provided by LinkedIn, pages with at least 150 followers typically get five times more page views than those that don’t. To boost followers, you could ask your employees to follow the company, incentivise your clients with a prize/competition, or advertise with a reason to follow you.
3. Update your profiles – when was the last time you looked at your company/personal profile, especially on Linkedin? Did you know that for people selling a complex service, like insurance broking, prospective clients are more likely to do an online search focusing on your name, rather than the business name? Top of the Google search will likely be your LinkedIn profile (test it). You may have spent lots on your website, but isn’t it about time that you made sure your LinkedIn profile is set up to attract opportunities? Write your profile content from the client’s perspective. So, less “I’ve been an insurance broker for 20 years” and more, “I help business owners navigate the insurance small print to keep their businesses protected.”
4. Educate, don’t just sell – the rule of thumb is 80% education, 20% sales. Video content gets much more traction too – if you are using LinkedIn, upload the videos directly rather than sharing a YouTube link, as LinkedIn will give it more prominence. Look to create engaging content using images, interesting facts, relevant alerts/information, and insights about your team. Aim to post regularly, not just when you ‘get a moment’. With your sales posts, offer more than just a free quotation, think about an event, gift, or diagnostic type survey.
5. It’s not about likes – many business owners waste far too much time on social media just seeking the ‘buzz’ when a stranger likes a post, and nothing else. Building your networks, engaging authentically, and responding to comments with your audience is important, but never forget you are using social media to have a meeting, speak to people, add people to your prospect database and ultimately get paying clients!

If you’ve covered the basics, then it’s time to start looking at some of the new technology options that are constantly being developed. Examples include live streaming an event/industry update (LinkedIn live), booking appointments directly with you online (calendly.com), scheduling posts to multiple channels using Hootsuite, or working with someone who can help you make the most of your social channels.

Lastly, social media can suck up a huge amount of resources, often with little return. You need to make sure you have a targeted plan and integrate it with your broader online and offline activity. This will mean you devote the appropriate resources and have the best chance of boosting your business in 2022.

Need a hand? Nick is offering a free 30-minute social media diagnostic session for all insurance industry organisations.

Nick Hill is the Director of Hillster Marketing with 20 years’ experience of marketing within the insurance industry around the world. Hillster Marketing is a Partner Service Provider for Steadfast and works with companies from all areas of the insurance industry. He can be contacted on 0419 371 018 or email nick@hillster.com.au.