If press release distribution is part of your Internet Marketing strategy, you’re on the right track with your insurance marketing strategies. However, you may wonder how valuable these optimized releases are when you take a look at your news release summary reports. Was the release picked up by relevant news outlets? Have you received any media inquiries? If the answers to these questions are “yes,” great! But you can do better.

Taking a holistic approach with your internet marketing strategy by interweaving your press release content within your blogs and social media updates can really boost your results.  Consider this recent story published on one of Mediabistro.com’s blogs. The #CancersNoJoke campaign from @AbolishCancer, which focused on raising awareness for the need for bone marrow donors across the U.S., ran for one week on Twitter. After spending just $200 on creating a press release, the team behind the campaign was able to gain 22 million unique impressions by spreading the word on the social media site. So, what does this mean for you?

If you want to make the most of your press releases, don’t forget to share them on your blog and social media pages. Create a hashtag on Twitter so that you and your followers can spread the word about your press release content more effectively, and so you’ll be able to easily track how many people are talking about your release on the social platform. While it’s important to engage in press release distribution, social media and blogging, don’t do each of these separately; use all three combined to reach more potential customers. Even if your business needs a little social networking training before you get started, it will certainly pay off in the results!

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.

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.

Social Media isn’t just for Twitter and Facebook anymore.  More people are utilizing Foursquare to let their friends and family know what they’re up to.  This application is a location-based check-in system allows customers to boost your business’s status in the community.

“Foursquare unlocks your city and makes your world a more interesting place,” writes Carmine Gallo, author of ‘The Power of Foursquare’.  He continues, “It informs, illuminates, and inspires.  For small businesses, it can help attract, reward and engage customers in ways that were never possible.”  Gallo’s book give seven tips that educate business owners how the application can help them.

• Connect your brand
• Harness new fans
• Engage your followers
• Create rewards
• Knock out the competition
• Incentivize your customers
• Never stop entertaining

With the November 15, 2011 revamp of Foursquare.com, your business has the opportunity to get noticed without a customer “check in”.  Users who sign onto Foursquare via the web at certain times the website will suggest places they should visit.  For instance, sign in at 11:30am and they will suggest great lunch spots near their office.  The same will occur later in the day around dinnertime.   Foursquare is committed to helping your business connect with your customers.

Compatible with other Social Media tools, when your customers “check-in” they are able to notify not only their friends who utilize Foursquare, but Facebook and Twitter.  For every check-in, Foursquare users have the ability to “unlock” different achievements:

• Mayorships
• Reward points
• BadgesDeals

Foursquare helps your business connect with your customers in a new way.  It also brings attention to your business and community.  “Unlock” the possibilities.

Businesses of all sizes have embraced social media as a way to build communities, market their services, and form relationships with customers. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even Google+ are popular. However, one platform that is often misunderstood is LinkedIn.

Officially, LinkedIn is a professional networking site. The site allows users to input their work history in a resume-like format and form connections with others, much like the Facebook friend system. However, that’s usually as far as most people take it. But if you’re a business owner, you should know that LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for generating business.

If your LinkedIn profile is sub-par, you may be damaging your credibility. By maintaining your profile and remaining active on the site, you will show potential customers that you are a credible expert in your industry. This way, they’ll remember you next time they need someone in your field. Here are some tips:

If this seems overwhelming, don’t worry! LinkedIn is actually extremely user-friendly and will guide you along the way. The most important thing is to keep up with it. Sign in a few times each week, participate in discussions, and you’ll be on your way to building your business in no time!

So you have a Twitter! Now what? Many people have the misconception that Twitter is just updating your status…and who really wants to read about each other’s state of mind? The reality is, Twitter is much more than that.  Twitter is a way to build a community with people who have the same interests as you. It invites you to share what you have to say with people who are actually interested! Whether you use Twitter to stay in touch with friends or for insurance marketing, you should know how to utilize its tools and make the most of your account. Here are 10 ways to get your Tweeting on!

#1: Be inviting. Sure- you can just keep adding a bunch of people who are in the same field as you. Or you can take the time to get to know these people! Every once in a while, send a friendly message over—even if it is just to say thanks for the follow. Your followers will be happy to see that you are taking the time to actually communicate with them.

#2: Re-Tweet. This is considered a compliment in the Twitter world! Re-tweeting not only shows people that you are interested in what they had to say, but connect with them. And YES you have to actually know what you are re-tweeting.

#3: Be Human. A few things fall under this category. First, don’t just spit out links all day. People would like to know that there is actually a personable and caring person behind the username! It’s important to incorporate a few random thoughts or even highlight some of the days interesting events. People will be able to relate with you on a greater level than if you just link back to your sites and work. Second, if you get a response to something, respond back! Trust me, people love getting replies. Yes- it makes them feel special! And don’t try to be cool…you know you enjoy seeing your name with an @ in front of it!

#4: Become a slave to the trends. Trending topics are seen with the hash tag (#) in front of them. Use them! If you want your post to be seen by others, this is a great way to do so. It’s a great way to connect with users who have similar interests as you.

#5: Time your tweets. Okay so we KNOW you want to market and post every link to everything you do. However, no one wants to scroll for 2 minutes with just your face and a link next to it. Find a schedule that works for you! Maybe send out 2 links in the morning and then another few around lunch.

#6: Jazz up your bio. This is your chance to share who YOU are to your followers. Don’t make it sound like you are a workaholic! Write about your interests and share a few quirky facts about yourself.

#7: Picture perfect. A picture is just as important as your bio. No one wants to be friends with the giant egg. This will make others feel like you do not take your Twitter account seriously. Your company’s logo is also not a good way to go. Your followers want to see YOU. Give them what they want!

#8: Incorporate humor. Being serious all the time never got anyone anywhere. It’s important to amuse your audience! Tweet a line from a funny movie or something funny that has happened in the office. Score more points with a funny joke or riddle for all to solve. Show your followers what you got!

#9: Tweet regularly. If you do not keep up with your tweeting, people may assume you are inactive. This doesn’t mean you have to spend all your free time and weekends tweeting about your life, but it doesn’t hurt to open up outside of work hours sometimes! If you don’t feel like going on your computer, think about getting Twitter for your mobile device. Makes tweeting on the go easy!

#10: Reach out. Don’t just wait for people to come to you. Send an @ message to one of your followers and ask how they have been. Sending a direct message is also a nice way to reach out. Show people that you care!

Twitter success is not going to happen overnight! It takes a lot of time and patience with your followers. As long as you reach out to others, you are sure to become build a fan base and connect with others in your field of interest. Happy Tweeting!

It’s no secret the influence social media has had on Americans especially those in younger generations. What once started out as an application for people to meet and interact online has now become a super highway of sharing personal and public information. With this data, businesses and search engines are able to follow trends and tendencies among users and see what types of topics and products are popular and, more importantly, unpopular.

In recent years social media use has exploded at exponential and alarming rates. Now, not only do younger people use these platforms, but adults do as well. While Facebook and Twitter have over 700 and 200 million users respectively, it’s impossible to deny the influence they have had on society and culture. It’s especially been helpful for businesses. When information about the product is supplied and repeated, more traffic is brought to the company. With Google’s new social media platform Google Plus gaining in popularity, businesses are obviously at a disadvantage if they are not spreading their brand via social media.

Although most users access their social media accounts on computers, a new trend is beginning to emerge in how consumers gather and spread information: Smartphones. Ever since the release of Apple’s iPhone in 2007, mobile companies have been churning out phones with World Wide Web capabilities at rates that seemed impossible five years ago. Smartphones are so popular that, according to a recent study, of the people that own cell phones, 42% have a Smartphone. That’s closing in on 50%, and it’s only going to increase. Eventually, the inevitability of technology will cause every phone to be a smartphone.

So what does this mean for social media marketing? How does the increasing usage of Smartphones affect your agency and the way we use social media?

Because so many Americans have smart phones, information is being gathered and shared at the highest rate the world has seen. Social media marketing, and marketing in general, is in over its head with the ability consumers now have to see everything that is going on in the world wherever they may be. Consumers use Smartphones for surfing the internet as well as accessing their social media accounts. Individuals are notified of any happenings and updates on social networking sites through their cell phones in real-time. The consistent connection to social sites means agencies can remind and update followers about their capabilities, offerings, importance and much more. Additionally, advertisements are always in view of the user as well. Simply put, your agency has the opportunity to be sending messages and information to your followers wherever they are at all times, so why not take advantage?

Smartphones are overwhelmingly changing the landscape of business and marketing. Because information is now available anywhere, it’s up to you and your agency to implement a social media strategy that will provide constant updates for your followers with smartphone access.

With social networking applications teaming with Smartphones, spreading your brand has never been easier.

Monitoring your social media campaigns can very easily become an addiction, and a waste of time, if you do not have the correct goals and boundaries in place.  There is always the temptation of straying from the path when you see something interesting on the social network you are working on at the moment, all I can say is stay strong and re-focus on the task at hand.  By effectively screening your social profiles you will be able to capitalize and improve upon the following results:

• Boosted rankings in the search engines
• Bring in more qualified leads
• Increase business/brand exposure
• Drive more traffic to your website
• Improve sales
• Decrease marketing costs

In order to reap the benefits of monitoring your social channels there are a few things that must be put in place.

If you have missed the latest buzz about Google’s latest attempt at going social, they have recently released their +1(Plus One) button for everyone, both businesses and consumers alike, to start using.  The Google +1 Button, Google’s version of the Facebook “Like” button, except it is available for you to click on in the search results when you perform a search on Google.  By clicking this button you basically say that this site was relevant to what you had searched for.

Why You Should Embrace Google +1

A person’s +1 recommendations are visible to everyone of their online connections. The same goes for your customers.  If your customers are using the +1 button to promote your business chances are their connections when they perform a similar search.  Seeing that someone who is close to them, that they trust, has recommended your product or service via the +1 button will give them a heightened sense of security and more of an incentive to inquire about what you have to offer. 

This study on the affect of Google +1 on organic traffic had found that,
“The Google +1 button saw a 20% increase in rankings which led to a corresponding lift in Clickthrough rate (CTR).”

“If a +1 increases clicks, it naturally follows that sites will see a boost in search position (even if they don’t show up as +1′d to non-logged in users) as well as the automatic boost from appearing in social circle results.”
Many blogs and website’s are already integrating and promoting the Google +1 Button to their followers and fans on their social networks to have a greater impact.  The greater number of +1s your blog or site has associated with it will positively impact the traffic you receive as well as reduce the uncertainty of the new customer base who is just starting to do research about you.

Here are a couple quick tips how to drive more +1 recommendations using your social networks:

• Tweet to all your followers that the +1 button is now on your site and blog, encourage them to click the +1 Button.
• Use your Facebook Fan page to spread the word about your new button and stress to them how much you appreciate them clicking it reinforcing that you truly value the customer’s interaction.
• Push out a blog post to drive attention to the button and to share this news with their connections.

Don’t pass over this opportunity, add the Google +1 Button to your site today!  Working it into your social media strategy will only benefit your organization, so don’t get left behind, get social!

Businesses that are new to digital marketing often ask, “How do I make social media work for my business?”.  Social media supports and enhances business functions that are focused on achieving specific business objectives, such as expanding brand awareness, driving leads, customer service, and more.  However, just as in any other department of your business you want it to be well planned.  Producing an effective and successful social media campaign comes down to three factors:

Having a Clear Vision

Clarity about what you want to achieve with your social media campaign is of most importance and must be discussed thoroughly before you even begin your campaign.  Get with your staff and outline what it is you will be using it for. What is the focus of your campaign:

• Cut cost on customer service?
• Expand your reach and brand reputation in your  market online?
• Encourage repeated business?
• To gain valuable information from your customers on how you can make your business better?

Regardless of what your goals might be, they must be clearly defined before you even think about registering your twitter account!

Purpose = Value

As important as what your goals are for the social real, what is equally, if not more, important is “why” they are of valuable objectives.  Don’t get caught up in the mindset of, “We have to have a twitter account because our competition has one” or “We can rank better for terms in the search engine.”  While these have some truth to them, they should not be the driving force of your campaign.  Purpose creates value, and customers can smell it a mile away.  If your market sees that you are there for a specific reason and feel you care for their needs, they will know where to go when they have issues.  Make it more about the sale, make it about the customer, for without them there is no sale.

Execution Requires Time and Patience

You may have heard the common phrase, “Social Media doesn’t happen overnight.”  Well there is a reason it is common, because it’s true.  Developing a successful engaging social presence doesn’t happen on your first try.  It requires trial and error, which implies failure.  Temporary failure.  Finding out what doesn’t work is just as important is discovering what does work, by learning not to make those mistakes again.  What can ease the sting of failure is being hones with yourself about all the things that can go wrong and create a plan of action should that situation arise.  Make small objectives and take them one at a time until you find what works.  You will see your wins increase as you patiently press forward in your social journey.

Go For It!

Combine all these elements Clear Vision, Purpose and Execution and no doubt you will begin to see astonishing results.  Olivier Blanchard from from the BrandBuilder Blog said it best,
“Understanding the objectives, clarifying the value, and demonstrating that you understand the risks, hurdles, and challenges ahead will go a long way toward deflating fear and instilling confidence in your endeavor.”
Remember you are the expert in the field and you know your customer’s better than anyone, give them what they need in a way that only you can.  Speaking with authority and confidence will build a customers trust for your brand.  A little trust goes a long way.

We would love to know how you organize your campaigns, define purpose and brainstorm for social media success!  Comments are always welcomed and appreciated.