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!

I am sure that by now you have gathered how important it is to constantly enhance your blog posts. We constantly remind you that CONTENT IS KING, but how should you be writing your content?  As a blogger, I have tested out a few different styles of writing, from paragraph form to bullets, to numbered lists. The results? I found that using numbered and bolded lists receive much more shares than any three-paragraph post.

Structuring your blog post as a list is your next challenge when it comes to your insurance marketing strategies. Here are a few reasons why lists are so great!

#1: Easy to plan. Planning out what you are going to say in a post is much easier when you have headings. First, number your points and then go back to fill in the details.

#2: Easy to scan. It is important that readers will be able to quickly scan over your content. It is also much easier for readers to go back when they go to reference a specific point. Your main points can get lost in a paragraph!

#3: Less intimidating. A bunch of paragraphs are much more intimidating than a simple list. Many readers may actually pass by your post if it seems to be cluttered and lengthy.

#4: Creates a structure. Having a structure to your post will benefit both parties; makes it easier for you to write and easier for your audience to read.

#5: Straight to the point. It is easy to stray while reading a paragraph. With a list, you will be getting right to the point without any useless filler content. Your readers will appreciate that.

#6: More shareable. If your readers enjoy your easy-to-read blog post, they are much more likely to share! It will also be much easier for your readers to say “Check out bullet #5!” then having to scroll around and search.

Once you start writing your posts as numbered lists, you will never go back to paragraphs! Not only is it a much easier way to produce content, but much easier on your readers eyes as well. Once you are done, don’t forget to edit your work. If you need some advice in the editing department, feel free to check out a few editing tips from one of our past posts!

Everyone knows that good public relations is essential for any business, regardless of how large or small it may be. Public relations plays a role in how the public perceives your company, whether or not people find your business to be reputable and the level of expertise your employees are believed to possess. While big corporations may have an entire team of PR experts working on their behalf, smaller companies do not have to forgo some of the most effective PR and insurance marketing strategies just because they think that they do not have room in their budget.

Here are some of the low-cost, yet highly effective PR tips for small businesses:

• Write articles on industry-related topics and submit them to online services like ezinearticles.com. This will help establish your credibility as an expert and help drive traffic to your company’s website if you use back links within the article.
• Submit press releases on new initiatives that your business has taken on, charities that you are involved with or simple current events that relate to your company.
• Profile your company on Wikipedia so that when potential customers want to get more information on your company, they can find it on multiple sites.
• Get active within your industry by attending trade shows. This can be a great opportunity for networking.
• Use social media to help brand your company and reach out to other businesses and potential customers. Not only is it free, but it gives companies the chance to show their office culture and make their employees more relatable.

Good PR doesn’t require a fancy agency or lots of money. Whether you just want to get your company’s name out there or put your insurance marketing ideas into action, it’s all possible with a little dedication and with the power of the internet. Take some time today to think of creative ways to execute PR strategies for your small business and you may be surprised by the results!

Think about your favorite band- why is it that they are so successful? Is it their cool hair or their killer vocals? It is probably a mix of both- but there is a lot more to it! Now think about YOUR business. Of course you have been working on your insurance marketing strategies and incorporating social media into your marketing plan. However, are you truly using social media to its fullest potential? Believe it or not- but a good social media strategy is a lot like your favorite band’s strategy.

#1: Patience. Do you think that U2 just became famous over night? No way! Having patience is key in the social media world. You may not have many fans and followers in the first few weeks but if you keep posting, interacting and searching- you will grow!

#2: Originality. Like 311 says, you have to “Come Original” if you want to be heard. In your case, this will mean having an original site, slogan and even original blog posts! If your business is different from the rest, people will remember you and be intrigued.

#3: Time. If you do not have time to update your social sites, it may be time to hire someone who does, or even hire an intern. You need time to build relationships, connect and communicate. Logging on for 10 minutes every morning is not going to cut it. Busy bands do not have the time to promote, so they hire someone!

#4: Open. Show your followers what is going on in your company. Post pictures of company events or blog about future plans. It’s important to keep them involved! Take a lesson from blink-182; every hour or so they update their Twitter AND Facebook with pictures from the tour, their bus and current status. Fans love it!

#5: Visual. What is one of the best parts of a rock show? The light show! You need to WOW your clients with your social site presentation. Use colors that represent your company on Twitter. For Facebook, be sure to add your favorite pages and show the world that you are much more than a business page…you are a real person and a friend!

#6: Consistent. If a band does not put out music every few years, they may fall off the radar. Same with your company! If you tweet once a month, you are going to fall off your follower’s radar. It’s important to update daily and keep content fresh.

These few tips are sure to lead to success. The main goal for a band is to build an audience- and that is exactly what you have to do on your social media accounts. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+…whatever you use- they are sure to boost your business. But without an audience, there would be no show. So keep your audiences coming back for more!  Once you have done that, then you are a true social media rock star!

Okay- so you have been blogging for months now and you still don’t seem to have many readers. What gives? There are a number of reasons why your blog may not be doing very well. Sometimes it takes time to gain a good audience and you need to be patient. But many times, you could actually be the problem. But have no fear! I am here to help with you with your insurance marketing strategies and find the core issue.

Here are 10 blogging mistakes you may not know you are making:

#1: Boring content. This is the number one killer in the world of blogging. Boring and dry content will never get you readers. Don’t be afraid to incorporate some humor in your posts, or even pop culture. Write about things that people WANT to read. Tips & advice are always good go-to topics as well.

#2: Too personal. Your business blog is not a place for you to vent about the fight you and your spouse had last night. This is a place to build relationships with clients! And please, stop blogging about your dog.

#3: Poor grammar. There is nothing worse than looking like a 7-year old wrote your blog. Always go through and make sure all your words are spelled correctly- spell check doesn’t always catch mistakes!

#4: Title lacks creativity. If your title is boring, why would anyone want to click your link? This is your chance to grab your readers’ attention- so don’t mess it up!

#5: Not replying to comments. If your readers comment, it’s time to be social. You can’t just hide behind your blogs…come out and play. Engage with your readers and you will be rewarded with followers.

#6: Repetition. If you have recently blogged about car tips, then lay off the car tips for a week or so. If you do not switch up your content, readers will get bored.

#7: No SEO efforts. There is a fine line between too much and too little. Of course you do not want to seem spammy, so it is best to link only a few keywords (2-3 at the most). But not linking at all is sure to hurt your blog efforts.

#8: Not blogging enough. Not blogging enough is a sure way to lose followers. People will become disinterested in your once a month post.

#9: Blogging too much. Ha! See that? Blogging too much is also an issue. You need to find a happy-medium. Blogging 5 times a day is only going to look like spam. Three times a week should be fine…once a day at the most.

#10: All about you. If you constantly blog about your business and how great your business is, people are going to stop reading. You must blog for your readers, and incorporate your company in subtly. So keep it interesting!

Blogging should be fun for you and fun for your audience to read. If you do not keep content fresh and interesting, your audience is never going to grow. I promise, if you take in these blogging mistakes and re-evaluated your efforts, you will be sure to see an improvement. Just don’t give up! Now go forth and blog your little hearts out (but don’t overdo it!)

Fear has a lot to do with the unknown. SEO is still a relatively new development in the marketing industry, so it stands to reason that many companies are hesitant to dig into it. I’ve outlined five of the top reasons companies fear search engine optimization in hope that eventually we can quell these fears. The more you learn about SEO, the less intimidating it will become and the easier it will be to implement a solid optimization strategy.

Fearing SEO or being intimidated by all of the work required of a successful strategy is no reason to steer clear of this proven marketing tactic. According to G.I. Joe, knowing is half the battle – so start your education today. If you can grasp the fundamentals of SEO, then you are one step ahead of the pack. If you don’t have the time to implement an SEO campaign on your own, team up with a consultant but be sure to stay away from the false “quick results” scams out there. Then prepare yourself for some hard work and eventually you’ll see some astonishing results!