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Without question, Google is the sultan of Internet search, used for roughly 72% of all searches.
In another move towards a smarter Internet, Google recently announced a groundbreaking addition to its search results called Social Search (you will need a Google account to use). Once an account is set up, users create a profile linking all of their social media platforms to the account. Whenever the user is signed in and searches a topic, they receive search results from their social circle alongside the typical results they would normally see.
Why is this so important? Number one, Google is doing it, so it’s important by default. Number two, Social Search was created with the notion that people will trust recommendations from their social circle as much or more than local or SEO-influenced results. If people say nice things about you, your agency or insurance in general, these things will come up when someone in their circle makes a query for insurance. Leads anyone?
Before you go out and create 10 different social media profiles, it’s important to understand how this can also HURT your agency. Social Search also provides image results. This is great if you want to share some photos on Facebook from your recent trip to Australia. This is not so great if someone searches your agency and finds a Facebook picture of your young staffer doing kegstands of Foster’s at a company picnic. Likewise if an employee tends to lament the mundane nature of his or her job or share information that’s better left in private.
So how do you harness social search for good while avoiding the bad? First of all, you create a dynamic, functional insurance website and make sure the office sales culture is positive with healthy work habits. There’s nothing worse than disarray on display and solid processes and people must be in place before anything goes social.
A social media policy that governs employee usage and settings is the next step. Businesses that benefit most from social media are the ones that clearly define objectives for its use and don’t just let employees spend as much time as they want doing and saying whatever they want. Here is a good checklist for what needs to be in a social media policy.
Once you understand what social media will be used for in your agency, start participating in communities as a peer and gently remind people of your insurance services when appropriate. Run clever promotions through Facebook, share funny anecdotes on your blog, promote other local businesses on Twitter and show you’re an insurance thought leader without directly marketing at people.
These efforts have a humanizing effect and grow your social presence, ultimately making you worth searching for.
