Traditionally, Insurance Agencies were “Mom & Pop” businesses located on Main Streets.  The agents typically met their clients in the neighborhood where they worked.  They’d walk out on the street and greet potential clients with a handshake and a smile.  Perhaps they had booths at town events or sponsored the local baseball team.  They’d provide great customer service and their clients would give them referrals.  The best way to gain new clients was to build strong personal links in the community.

Nowadays, potential clients generally search on the Internet for insurance rather than on Main Street.  About 50% of new website traffic comes from search engines, and roughly 70% of that traffic comes directly from Google.  A potential client will probably open a search engine and type in something like, “Rhode Island home insurance,” and click on the results.  They might click a few of the links, and request a few quotes, but chances are they will only click the links on the first search engine result page.  In fact,  the top 10 results receive about 90% of the traffic.  The potential client is not going to go to the 10th results page and start clicking there.  That’s why you need to optimize your site!   Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of helping customers find your website via search engines.  A website with great SEO will come up higher in searches on sites like Google.  That means an optimized site will probably have increased traffic, and therefore, the company which runs the site will have more potential business opportunities and sales.

One way to increase your SEO is through link building…and no, I don’t mean the Main Street kind!  Web Link building is placing links to your website on other websites so that you can generate more traffic.  If a potential client is reading a website or blog about insurance, and it links back to your agency’s website, you might get a new client.  Or, if your website is linked on other webpages which have a high page rank (quality of the site, affecting the order in which results are shown on search engines), that will tell the search engines that your site is important and should show up higher in searches too!  This is really beneficial since we know that a higher search result means more traffic and more potential clients.

While it will always be important to build links in your community, remember the importance of building web links as well!

Many business owners know that sending out press releases is a great and cost-effective way to create brand awareness and get their name out there. However, a press release is only effective if it is properly written. If you’re considering writing press releases as part of your business’ insurance marketing strategies, consider these writing tips:

• Make sure the information is newsworthy and it is clear how the information contained in the release will be beneficial to readers.
• Start with the actual news announcement and then identify your company as the entity that is making the statement.
• Make sure that the first 10 words of the release are especially effective because you will only have a short amount of time to grab a journalist’s or reader’s attention.
• Avoid overly promotional language and stick to the facts.
• Provide as much contact information as possible, including your individual contact information and the company’s address, phone, fax, email and website. If an inquiry comes in, you do not want to turn the person away by being unreachable.

If press release writing is one of your insurance marketing strategies, it is essential to understand the basics before you start trying to brand and pitch to news sources. Once this foundation is strong, your company can start optimizing releases to build a stronger Web presence.

So, who are you anyway? If you don’t know what your business is all about, your clients certainly won’t either. This goes beyond “My company is XYZ Insurance and we specialize in home insurance and employee benefits.” Plenty of businesses do what you do, so why should someone choose your agency to take care of their insurance needs? What makes you special? It’s time to consider your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Your UVP is just like it sounds – it is what sets you apart from your competition and what you can do for the customer that no one else can. No one goes in to business hoping to be mediocre and just like everyone else, so it’s important to pinpoint what you do, why you’re good at it and what kind of value you can bring to the table. Before you start to brainstorm ideas, keep this point in mind: UVPs should be short. Really short. You need to tell people in about 2 sentences or less why you rock and why you’re unique. Popular examples are M&Ms’ “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand” and Domino’s old UVP, “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less – or it’s free.” This may seem easy, but there are a few questions you need to ask yourself and answer before you formulate the perfect Unique Value Proposition.

• What does your agency do well? Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn; you’ve earned it. Forget being humble and write down every single thing you think your company excels at.

• What makes your different from your competitors? You may have a ton in common with a lot of the local insurance agents, and that is totally normal, but there has to be at least one thing you have that they don’t. Figure out what that is and make it work to your advantage.

• What do my customers value? Step outside of your world where you understand insurance and the important part it plays in helping folks secure their assets. Now, pretend you are one of your potential clients. What do you think matters the most to them? Your agency’s reputation? Your ability to get them the lowest rates? Outstanding customer service?

Now that you’ve answered all of these questions, it’s time to put your thoughts together in to a successful Unique Value Proposition. If your agency already has a UVP, please feel free to share it in the comments section of this blog!

Are you thinking of creative ways to boost your insurance agencies internet marketing strategy? One word to live by- Twitter! Twitter is a popular social media site that allows you to build a community and is one of the best ways to get your brain stirring with creative blog topic ideas.

Twitter isn’t going to write a blog for you, but it will give you relevant and interesting ideas to start the brainstorming process.

The top 5 ways to get creative with Twitter:

When engaging your reader things you will want to remember when writing is, keep the information informative yet interesting and make sure your information is relevant for the times. Twitter keeps these things always in mind as is updated with information every second.

Along with these ways to gain ideas you will be able to pull relevant and credible links from twitter. People usually post information and then add a link. This is a great way to add informative outside sources to your blog post! Remember as an insurance agency you want to intrigue your audience so get creative! Reading your Twitter will keep you in the know while positively affect your blogging process.

The movies are not only for the big screen- they can be just as entertaining in your blog posts! It is not always easy coming up with topics to blog about, never mind an interesting topic. However, in order to benefit from your blogging, it is important to make sure the content that you write is interesting and worth sharing. If your post does not catch the public eye, then what is the point?

As a blogger, I have found that incorporating pop culture into your insurance marketing strategy and blogging efforts will always pay off. These posts seem to get the most traction and are shared the most often! Whether you choose to blog about a hit-single, a movie or television show, you are sure to be appealing to a much larger audience than if you are blogging about a policy.

To get started, here are 15 movies that you could be comparing to your policies in your next blog post:

There are millions of films out there; it’s time to choose one of your favorites and find a way to write about it! Insurance is not always the easiest topic to relate to pop culture, but these 15 ideas prove that it is not impossible.

Have a movie in mind? Let us know about it in the comment section! We would love to hear your creative ideas!

Thinking outside the box and becoming more creative to generate leads is a great insurance marketing strategy for your insurance agency. Social media has become one of the leading ways to impact your community, generate interest, and draw in prospective clients. Whether you are heavily invested in Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you have got to start somewhere.

All of these social media sites provide different opportunities for your agency to brand itself on. As a leader in the insurance industry, you will want to use social media to integrate fundraising and community service into your agency. This creative and humbling Internet marketing tactic will not only bring you leads, but it will build a stronger community for your agency.

Integrating fundraising and community service into your social media strategy:

Through Facebook, you are going to be able to optimize your experience by creating interesting posts that people want to interact with. Through Twitter, you are going to be able to promote good things going on with your event or service to provide real time updates. And through LinkedIn you can update your initiative through your professional networking groups.

Being involved on a day to day basis with your Facebook friends and potential clients is a great way to generate new leads through social media. Creating a fundraiser or community service event to bring the community together, will not only benefit the non-profit or business you are donating your proceeds to, but it will benefit the community, and even better your agency. Think outside the box and bring people together through social media, and you will be guaranteed to build a larger and more beneficial community surrounding your insurance agency.

Ah February, the month of love! With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to write up a post about love. As a blogger, you hope that all readers will fall in love with your blog and keep coming back for more. However, in order for this to happen it is important that you reciprocate the feeling! It is time to learn how to show your readers some love this V-day!

#1: Always give back. For all those loyal followers and readers, give something back. Perhaps you hold a contest or give away prizes. Whatever you do, a reward will be greatly appreciated and have readers coming back for more.

#2: Comment your way into their heart. If you have readers who write on their own blogs, be sure to read and comment on theirs, too. There is nothing better than two bloggers supporting each other back and forth.

#3: Do not be afraid to get personal. Posts that are geared towards your products and niches are great, but it never hurts to get a little personal. Post about an experience or even a general topic that has been on your mind. This way, you will come off as more human!

#4: Recognize your readers. If you have a few loyal readers who will comment every once in a while, give them a quick shout out! You can do this on Twitter or even Facebook. They are sure to appreciate the recognition!

#5: Ask a reader to guest post. Sure, it is your blog but it does not hurt to have another voice every once in a while! Find a loyal reader and ask if they are interested in writing a guest post. This will not only build on your relationship but show readers that the blog is about them just as much as it is about your company and services.

With these few techniques, you will be able to build stronger relationships with those who check out your blog on the daily- not to mention generate more comments! It is so important that you continue to work on your insurance marketing strategies. If not, your blog will fall behind and soon be forgotten- and no one likes to be forgotten on Valentine’s Day!

It’s a question that I am often asked by my clients who are looking to launch their digital marketing strategy: should they focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Pay-Per-Click (SEM, PPC)?

Too many people are under the impression that their online marketing presence should be guided by one strategy or the other.  I’m here to tell you that the most effective digital marketing strategies take a blended approach, using components of both tactics.

SEO and SEM strategies are complementary ways of achieving the same goal: prominent inclusion in search engine results that lead to traffic to your website.  However, while each is effective and critical tools in your digital marketing arsenal, they each have unique principles that can help you reach your objectives.  Let’s take a look.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the tactic of using your site’s content, linking structure, blog posts, and social media exposure (amongst other things) to help you rank organically in search engine results. Search engines take all of these cues into consideration when deciding where to rank your site in their results for a particular keyword, like “auto insurance in Rhode Island”. SEO is the critical foundation to your website’s visibility in search engine results. The things that you do to optimize your online content and relationships will have a long-lasting effect on your rankings in search engines.  However, those effects, while critically important, might take a long time to take hold in the search results.  Google indexes your content at its own pace, and the general rule of thumb that search engine marketers go by is that it can take between six and nine months before you begin to realize the results of your on-site optimization.

On the other hand, SEM has more of an immediate impact. Once you build a campaign that targets your specific keyword set, and you set that campaign live, you are eligible to see an instant impact on your traffic and visibility in search engines.  While inclusion in organic search results are merit based, your SEM campaign can force Google (or any other search engine) to place you within the top results of some competitive keywords.  With that newfound visibility, your website is bound to see traffic increase.  That’s what the pay-per-click model does for marketers.   However, the effects of your SEM campaign are not as long lasting as your SEO strategy – that is, unless you have an unlimited marketing budget.  You see, your site is guaranteed inclusion in search engine results for only as long as your campaign is funded.  As soon as your campaign has generated enough clicks to exhaust your budget, your traffic will stop.  The great thing about SEM is that it is a guaranteed source of traffic – if people aren’t clicking on your ad and visiting your site, you don’t pay a cent!

Now that we’ve reviewed the different characteristics of SEO and SEM strategies, it is important to note how they work together.  In fact, our best e-agencies have told us that the best performing digital marketing strategy leverages both SEM and SEO in tandem.  This blended strategy has helped them appeal to a broad and comprehensive audience, and has resulted in their website being a more prominent piece of customer acquisition.

Here are three reasons why you should have SEO and SEM as part of your site’s digital marketing strategy:

These are just three reasons for you use SEO and SEM in a blended strategy.  Doing so will give you a well-rounded digital marketing presence, and likely drive enhanced search engine traffic as a result. Stay tuned to this space for more reasons why you should focus on a blended approach to digital marketing.

You’ve probably heard time and time again that it’s important to get other websites to link back to your website. When you hear this, you smile and nod…but you have no clue why any of it matters. Don’t worry! The whole concept of link building is actually really easy to understand; when other people link to your website, it’s telling search engines that you matter. When pages with a little more authority (media, government, education or just all around popular sites) link back to you, that’s even better. It’s kind of the difference between a random 5-year old child telling you that a specific restaurant is great and an influential celebrity saying the same thing. They both said the restaurant was great, but who do you think more people are going to listen to?

The most important thing to remember when piecing together your link building strategy is that authenticity goes a long way. Many people try to get tons of links in a short amount of time using black hat techniques and this is very much frowned upon. You have to remind yourself that like most things in life, good links are worth waiting for. You need to produce quality content, build meaningful relationships and the great links will slowly start populating and boosting your search engine rankings. We already do a lot of this leg work for your business here at Astonish Results, but sometimes there are great opportunities for link building in your office and community that we’re not always going to be aware of. Here are 3 tips for easy, fun link building:

1. Come up with something fun that people want to link to. Get creative! Have a photo contest and encourage folks to submit their best photos of the areas you write insurance in. You could use the angle that there are so many beautiful things in your area worth protecting and insuring. Film some fun videos and post them on your own YouTube channel. Set aside a time each week to have a creative meeting at your office. You would be amazed at the great ideas you can come up with in a group brainstorm and it’s a nice break to just let loose and have fun.

2. Volunteer to be a guest speaker at a local college or university. Aside from influencing the future insurance buyers of America, you’ll probably have the opportunity to earn a few good links. The most important link you’re looking for will come from the college itself; that .edu URL puts some major authority behind your website link. You could also consider sponsoring a scholarship for the college or local university/high school students in general. Along with presenting yourself in a positive light, it’s likely that information about your scholarship (and links to your website) will be posted on other education websites as a reference for students.

3. If you are interviewed for a story that will be released in a non-Internet form of media (like a print publication or television), don’t be shy about asking for a link! Most newspapers, magazines and TV stations also have websites, so although their website isn’t the primary way they will be distributing your story, there’s a good chance it will be going up there, too.  Don’t let a reporter walk away without your website’s URL.

Link building is just a small part of insurance marketing, but can be very valuable if you do it correctly. Always keep your eyes and ears open for a great link building opportunity!

Happy New Year to all! Have you been keeping up with your New Year resolutions? While some of you are planning to lose weight and be more active, others have vowed to work on their insurance marketing efforts. In order to step up your game, you must continue to blog on your site, bookmark your posts, and keep up with your social media strategy. We understand that it may be hard to keep up with these efforts, but trust us- the end result is worth it!

In order to keep up with these efforts, I have put together a list of strategies and tips in order to make the most of your efforts.

Blogging:

-If possible, make sure you have a blog post up every single week. If you can get two or three up, even better!

-Make sure you include keywords in your content with the correct link attached. Choose keywords with high search volume and low competition.

-For the New Year, test out a few different blogging strategies. Try posting in a list form one day and then paragraph form the next- see which blog receives better feedback and has more shares! Pinpoint the best strategy for 2012.

-Do not be afraid to add some humor or pop culture references to your posts. The more interesting, the more shareable, the more memorable!

-In order to have your blog be seen by others, bookmark! Choose bookmarking sites such as Delicious, StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit in order to share your posts with the public. It doesn’t hurt to share on your social media accounts, too!

Social Media:

-Set aside 10 minutes every day to look through local business pages on Facebook and accounts on Twitter. Follow those who you hope to connect with!

-Be a real person. It is important that you do not only spit out links all day. Throw up a few personal tweets and status updates to engage your followers

-Tweet and post at least 3-5 times a day. One post will not cut it- you will be lost in your followers’ twitterfeeds/newsfeeds!

-Motivational quotes, fun facts, and other random posts are always appreciated by your followers and tend to be the most retweeted/liked!

-Have you been shy on your social account? Reach out to your fans and followers this year!

Start 2012 off the right way! By sticking to your resolution, you will not only feel accomplished, but are sure to see results. Good luck!