Twitter Chat for Insurance Industry (#INSchat) Tackles Blogging

Blogging lets individuals or companies have a voice on the Internet that is all their own and not limited to 140 characters or status updating rules. When done well, blogs reflect the thoughts, beliefs and expertise of each individual blogger, providing a genuine, humanizing look that serves to build trust and establish the writer as a thought-leader on a given topic, whether it’s insurance, mothering, gadgets or food.

The second ever #INSchat focused on the topic of blogging and brought out a number of industry bloggers and other social media users, all chiming in on a number of questions related to building, growing and maintaining an effective blog presence. By the numbers, the October #INSchat featured a total of 65 contributors who produced over 687 Tweets (according to http://wthashtag.com/Inschat) growing the number of #INSchat-related  tweets by over 140 as compared to the first chat.

A huge thanks is owed to all who dropped blogging knowledge, below is a transcript with questions and some of the highlights. A full transcript can be found here.

Question 1: What is the purpose of your blog (or any blog)? #INSchat

@Berry_Insurance: To inform/educate on ins. news, community events, social media trends…really, whatever will be valuable to our readers

@InsuranceMHQ: Earn peoples trust by showing thought leadership, community awareness and sharing resources #INSchat

@AlbanyInsurance: The purpose of my blog is create a more Informed Insurance Consumer… And build trust, community, & communication

@BrownstoneInsur: I regularly post tips on how to protect themselves against the top causes of insurance claims; i.e. fires, water damage etc

@MattByers: And sharing your own personality! It humanizes the insurance business since it is a relationship business after all!

@Bravuraleads @BillBateman1 Monetizing that “lead” from a blog is tough, I think it’s more about brand building and thought leadership

@InsuranceMHQ: People Differentiate against competition by creating content that makes people love and need/want you

@astonish_alicia: Blogging is to make confusing information (#Insurance) more clear & readable for everyday people!

@mcibelli: I like to connect things relevant to the industry to current trends or happening. I.E. silly bandz as a networking tool.

@ GarryInsurance: It is about showing readers that there is a face behind the computer who is interested in their well-being as well

Question 2: Q2: Do you have a blog ?content strategy?? If yes, what is included?

@ Lara_John: from a PR standpoint, there should always be a strategy, but depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

@MattByers: Working on it now. Part Insurance, Part Social Marketing Info, Part local resources.

@InsuranceMHQ: Strategy – Blog yourself out of the agency and into prospect meetings. I know @albanyinsurance touts this

@Berry_Insurance: We find content through industry and community news. But we blog about whatever moves us, makes us more real. We also have a culture that encourages staff to submit blog ideas to our writers.

@katieherbst: A good start for a blog content strategy is to brainstorm with your agency, collect actual customer Qs & list of tips for topics.

@Insurance_Maven: I use current events like Fire Prevention month, 9/11, and Life Ins awareness month.

@BrownstoneInsur: I save interesting articles, newsletters or any content that I find moving/interesting and use them as they relate to recent events

Question 3: What steps do you take to make your blog & individual posts more SEO friendly?

@katieherbst: For blog SEO, make sure your headline is keyword-rich! Also, lists are popular, for ex, Top 3 Ways to …

@Berry_Insurance: Good titles, easy to read content and relevant keyword tags. Also use Analytics and WonderWheel to check relevant search terms #INSchat

@maia_melissa: Link whenever reasonable, use the full name of any legislation that effects consumers

@jenmitch: Use keywords, but don’t write for robots. Good content will be shared and found regardless of keyword use.

@mcibelli: Regular updates. Use of keywords. Tags. Links. SEO really is no magic trick- just provide solid, regularly updated content.

@InsuranceMHQ: Keyword backlinks from blog to agency’s website are critical & the more geographically/keyword specific the better

@RiskMgmt: We have a “meta-headline” that we make more cookie-cutter/search friendly if we get poetical with the real title.

@InsuranceMHQ: Pop culture/human interest tends to grab more eyeballs than dry insurance content. Find a way to marry them

@iWebHound: Being a search engine for agents, we always tell MGA?s/wholesalers to have as many links to their site on other sites as they can.

Question 4 – How can you build a community around a blog?

@jenmitch: Participate in the communities of others too. Don’t assume everyone will come to you. Participate/Engage and people will come.

@BrownstoneInsur: This should always be taken into consideration. Don’t post blogs or tweets just for the heck of it. It’s spammish.

@AlbanyInsurance: Commenting on the Blogs of your clients or future clients is a great way to engage them

@greggweiss: The #1 way to build community around a blog is to not turn commenting off! 1-way blogs defeat the purpose.

@katieherbst: To build community around your blog, you MUST participate actively on the social web – and focus on bringing VALUE.

@BrownstoneInsur: I try to focus on issues/events that I know are actually affecting the community we’re located in as often as possible.

@jimkinmartin: I try to share my blog link in my email signatures, etc. to expose it more in hopes people will visit and follow

@maia_melissa: Respond to the comments made in your blog. Try not to let them sit there unattended. Engage right away.

@Zywave: Create valuable content w/in your niche. Encourage interaction and don’t forget to be interactive yourself!

@NicoleYeary: Using a tool like @gist will help you find and connect social media to your existing email clients

@ReyInsurance: find followers you think you can relate to…then stalk the hell out of them! Haha

Question 5: What blogs do you read consistently to stay in the know? Insurance, marketing and news-related.

@Berry_Insurance: Insurance Journal, Mashable Consumer Reports, InsuranceMHQ, local blogs, there are so many!

@NicoleYeary: Best blogs are source blogs – the tools/platforms – subscribe to the source content, get it first.

@astonish_alicia: Subscribing to daily emails such as insurance networking news, #comments and Smart Brief, highlight top stories!

@BillBateman1: google’s blog search is great for me – I’m too ADD to follow a single blog consistently

@katieherbst: GREAT blog on all aspects of content marketing, a must-read, is @pr2020 blog, pr2020.com/blog

@jenmitch: Mashable, Brian Solis, Chris Brogan, Danny Sullivan, Agent&Broker, Insurance Journal. (And many more.) I read on mobile.

@mcibelli: Mediabistro is great for marketing info, prbreakfastclub.com, mashable.com, and of course, InsuranceMHQ. Also, just for general ideas- creatosity.com, workawesome.com and lifehacker.com.

@InsuranceMHQ: Media blogs: riskmanagementmonitor.com, agentforchange.com, nusamsoapbox.com, ijacademy.com/blog/, insurancenetworking.com/blogs/

@NicoleYeary: Risk & Insurance, Senior Advisor, SellingPower, FastCompany, NAHU’s pub & more!

Question 6: What is your greatest blog success story from a networking and/or sales perspective?

@Berry_Insurance: We wrote about a new law and contractor certification and received at least a dozen calls in the week following!

@Brownstoneinsur: We got tons of emails/calls about adding earthquake coverage to policies.

@InsuranceMHQ: Other client reviews restaurants he visits on blog & sends email link 2 owner. Done 10+ times, written 3 pieces of new biz.

@alysondelpaggio: RT @ReyInsurance RT @carrie_AGIns I think what this convo shows is we have a group of true professionals who hone their craft evday.

@Nicoleyeary: @carrie_AGIns and Carrie knows how to utilize @foursquare as a geoloc tool to meet new prospects! #4sq #insurancegoddess.

@maia_melissa: great success story RT @AlbanyInsurance: I got to present with @thechrisjordan at the Big “I” Leadership Institute in SF.

Question 7: How do you make your blog more social?

@Brownstoneinsur: Allowing commenting/interaction is important. Posting pictures, holding contests and announcing winner via blog are good too.

@Greggweiss: RT @InsuranceMHQ: A7: I love answering the question, ?Why don?t I get any comments?? with ?How many have you left??

@jenmitch: Q7: You can’t expect your readers to be social if you aren’t social. Don’t just broadcast. Listen too. Agree with call to action.

@Insurance_maven: Since we’re talking blogs, Rick Morgan (@rickjmiv) started a FB discussion to link their blogs:http://on.fb.me/djLyWx.

@BillBateman1: RT @NicoleYeary: RT @InsuranceMHQ: A7: Cite other peoples blog content w/ backlinks and make sure they know about it.

Question 8: What advice do you have for a blogger just starting off?

@insurancemhq: A8: Write for your own enjoyment with the reader’s needs in mind.

@Mcibelli: Don’t be afraid to incorporate your personality. That’s what makes people come back.

@Lara_John: agreed! RT @jenmitch: Q8: Best advice I ever got -from an influencer level blogger- Blog. Just do it. No excuses. No fear.

@BillBateman1: RT @Lara_John: Q8 – remember blogs are for personality and info, not sales pitches. Add some humor, the rest will come.

View the entire second #INSchat transcript here.

Tags: #inschat, Blogging, insurance marketing, SEO, Social Media, Twitter Chat

This entry was posted on October 18, 2010 at October 18, 2010 and is filed under Agency Culture, Changing Faces of the Industry, Insurance Agency Marketing, Insurance Marketing, Lead Generation, SEO, Social Media, Social Networking, Strategy, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.