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An insurance agency, or any business for that matter, is only as socially savvy as the person making the status updates, tweets and blog entries. Ryan Hanley, an independent agent from New York recently highlighted the importance of personal branding in an interview with Rick Morgan and Peter Van Aartrijk on Insurance Journal ‘s May 24, “On Point” podcast, It’s No Longer an Experiment.
In the interview, Hanley states, “Most of the time when people buy insurance, they aren’t buying the agency name, they’re buying the producer, that’s who they trust and who comes to sit in their office…I wanted to brand myself as someone who is there for the relationship, to teach, to be able to connect people and all the things that a producer should be able to do in this online format.”
We touched on the importance of trust in a previous post (Are you an agent of trust?) and there’s no doubt trust is at the foundation of a loyal agent – customer relationship. For the purposes of this post, however, we’ll discuss how social networking, blogging and other online activities can contribute to an individual agent rising above the agency they represent to become an insurance resource and better producer.
Coincidentally, a day after the On Point interview went live, a blog post from respected blogger and current Chief Branding Officer for Outspoken Media, Lisa Barone appeared on BruceClay.com, How to Build Your Brand Working For Someone Else. While not insurance-industry specific, the post highlights five areas where companies will benefit from having a strong individual brand working within the marketing infrastructure:
- When there’s more interest in you, there’s more interest in the company as a whole.
- Your personal success and connections can be leveraged by the company you work for.
- You become a more efficient worker thanks to quicker access to information and contacts via your network.
- A company with two (or three. Or four!) A-listers is more interesting and worth more than a company with 1 A-lister.
- Today’s market place is social. Users want to connect with people, not logos.
Understandably, many insurance agency owners are nervous putting individuals ahead of the business as a marketable commodity. Fortunately, as more owners learn to embrace the social web, the value of a web-savvy networker (or two) will be seen as increasingly important to marketing efforts for all the reasons listed above. Furthermore, it provides a carrot on a stick for the industry to dangle in front of young, web-savvy talent, something the insurance industry lacks.
Owners may also take comfort in knowing that social media users don’t need to be the end-all, be-all marketing mavens writing blog entries, producing Youtube videos, managing the Facebook page and handling every aspect of a social media insurance marketing program. Sometimes it’s better if they’re NOT. According to Ms. Barone:
“Whoever you are, you have some skill that no one else in the organization has and something that you can use to build a name and provide value back to the company. Figure out what that thing is and change how you work to leverage the hell out of it.”
We can’t all be Pulitzer winning writers or Don King-sized personalities, but we can all take what and who we know and turn it into something useful for our employers. The ability to build and nurture our web presence into a more supportive online community is what lies at the heart of the social media ROI debate. Followers, comments and visitors are useful metrics, but can the value of relationships be quantified?
The answer, not easily; and the most experienced social media practitioners will tell you, it’s all about relationships and conversations, not sites, tools or technology. Relationships can’t be built with agency logos, signs or front doors. Brand ambassadors need to be personalities that teach, connect and collaborate in such a way that the agency benefits just by being the employer.
“Your personal brand is a promise to your clients… a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability.” Jason Hartman
June 1, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Great Article and Thanks for the shout out.
The topic of social media in the Insurance Industry is so hot right now its hard to wrap your brain around it because general understanding and belief changes on an almost daily basis.
Lisa Barone, who is a fellow Albany, NY native, is on her game particularly with bullet point #4. The idea is leveraging ALL your talent. Creating buzz for ALL your producers…
Thanks,
Ryan H.
June 18, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Love your post! I’m working to create a new agency for a software company. You blog has been so helpful…and enlightening!