Certain aspects of the insurance industry should never change.
At its heart, insurance will always be about building relationships with people and businesses. You want them to feel safe and secure enough to thrive.
However, in order to carry out this mission, other aspects of insurance must change. Mainly, replacing outdated legacy tools with more advanced technology. It means throwing out manual processes in favor of automated workflows that save time.
Modern insurance brokers need to not only reconsider how they work with customers, but also how they attract them. And that means becoming more familiar with digital marketing.
Whether through websites, email, or social media, insurance digital marketing has long since moved from a speciality skillset to a mainstream necessity.
Any insurance broker interested in gaining more clients and selling more coverage (i.e., every broker) must now learn the strategies for standing out online.
From Traditional Networking to Digital Marketing
Referrals and word-of-mouth style networking once reigned king in the world of insurance.
After all, as a relationship-driven business, receiving a trusted recommendation was often the only way clients could know if a broker was a good bet.
But a lot has changed since then.
These days, like in pretty much every other industry, the first place most clients turn to start looking for what they need is the internet.
Recent research from LSA has found that 69% of insurance consumers run an online search before scheduling an appointment.
What’s more, a huge majority—89%—conduct online research to see what other customers are saying about a company before they make any commitment.
This habit of searching online before doing anything else is what marketers call the zero moment of truth. And it’s exactly why building up a digital presence has become so important for today’s insurance brokers.
Think about it.
If a broker can capture a prospect’s attention from the moment they start researching, they’ve already got an advantage. And if they can build on that attention by demonstrating their expertise, showcasing past successes, and differentiating their services, then they’ll already have a head start on the trust-building process.
In contrast, the traditional referral process works much slower.
Brokers must wait to get referred in the first place (which itself depends on someone else), then must wait for the client to contact them. When they do, then they must arrange an interview, discuss their needs, and sell their services. By this time, their original reason for reaching out may have changed.
This isn’t to say that referrals aren’t important. They can still be a valuable way to gain new clients.
But wholesale brokers that have a robust digital presence will be better positioned to capture clients who are actively searching for high-risk coverage. And that shortens the sales cycle, which can make all the difference.
SEO: Digital Visibility and Search Presence
One of the first things insurance brokers should do to increase their digital presence is to make sure that prospective clients can find them. But how do you do that?
This is the job of search engine optimization (SEO), or the process of creating content and using strategies that help make you and your website more visible in search engines.
This way, when people search for something generic (such as “local insurance brokers”) you will be more likely to appear at the top of the search results. After all, most people start their insurance journey at a search engine.
While there are many different ways to improve SEO, here are three of the most important for insurance brokers.
Maintain Basic Website Hygiene
All websites are not created equal, especially when it comes to SEO.
In order to ensure you attract as many visitors as possible, it’s important to be aware of some simple but effective ways you can get your website to rank higher in search results:
- Focus on fast load times: No one likes a slow website, including search engines. Try to get your website load time to three seconds or less by minimizing large images and keeping content length manageable.
- Make it mobile-friendly: Over 60% of worldwide web traffic is now mobile, so it makes sense that websites that work on both mobile and desktop rank better.
- Fix or remove broken links: Nothing says outdated like links that don’t work. Make sure all your URLs are correct so that visitors and search engines know you are maintaining your website.
- Use scannable headers: Walls of text aren’t fun to read online. Instead, break up your content with headers (H1s, H2s, etc.) so that it is easy to scan and find relevant content.
How your website performs technically is just as important as what’s on the website.
Use Keywords to Create Intent-Based Content
Anticipate what kind of searches prospective clients are most likely to make. This way, you can use targeted keywords and phrases to steer them toward your website.
For example, if you specialize in energy industry risk, you may want to include content on protecting against contaminated job sites, renewable technology, and other relevant topics your clients might be interested in.
But if you’re working with real estate risk, you may want to have keywords around property coverage or renovation damage.
If you aren’t sure what keywords or phrases you should use, there are plenty of tools that can help out. Google Keyword Planner is a great place to start, but you could also use services like Semrush or KWFinder.
Think About Local SEO
The most effective SEO strategies are those specifically targeted toward local prospects.
That’s because local clients are often the most high-intent, meaning they have the best likelihood of converting into customers. Plus, earning local clients can help you earn trust and credibility in your own community.
A great place to start this process is by creating and maintaining an accurate Google Business Profile.
This improves the chances that your business will be visible in local searches and makes it easy for prospects to see essential information, such as hours, location, and contact details. You can also use it to answer customer questions or even send quotes remotely.
Other smart ways you can optimize local SEO are by using location-based keywords on your website (such as the city or state you operate in), getting local sites to link back to your website (such as through articles or mentions), and encouraging local customers to leave reviews of your services.
Content Marketing: Establish Topical Authority
If the job of SEO is to get people’s attention, the job of content marketing is to earn their trust.
Building upon keywords and phrases, content marketing relies on long form content like blog posts to educate visitors and keep them engaged.
Crucially, it focuses on delivering content that readers will find informative and valuable, rather than on selling them a product or service. It’s about firmly establishing yourself as an authority in your space before you even speak with a client.
So what should you write about?
This is where you can get creative. One good strategy is to use Google Keyword Planner or the other tools mentioned above to research topics prospective clients are already searching, then write out helpful articles that address them. For example, if you work with wholesale environmental insurance and see that many people are searching for “pollution insurance cost,” you could write an article explaining how these costs are calculated.
You could also organize content according to where prospects are in the sales funnel or sales cycle. For instance, a top-of-funnel article would be directed at readers who are just starting their search for an insurer. Any content for them should be purely educational, such as blog posts explaining how wholesale insurance works.
In contrast, mid-funnel content is aimed at readers who may already be familiar with you and/or your industry. This is where you can start writing about more specific topics, such as how-to articles that explain the way coverage actually works.
As you produce your content, remember that you can always reuse and repurpose it across different channels, such as social and email. Not only will this increase its range, but it will also help attract even more interested readers to your website.
LinkedIn & Email Campaigns: Building Direct Relationships
You can take your digital outreach to the next level by utilizing even more direct means of communication than your website.
Social media channels like LinkedIn can give you an easy way to interact and respond to interested customers in real-time, while email campaigns are great at garnering a steady amount of attention from your prospects.
Both these strategies allow you to lean into the relationship-driven heart of insurance.
Using LinkedIn for B2B Relationship Building
Of all the social media options, LinkedIn is the one best suited for promoting your insurance business. That’s because it’s focused solely on professional networking versus the more casual connections of other social media sites. This makes it ideal for establishing your credibility with prospective clients and capturing new business opportunities.
But it’s not enough to just post on there and hope for the best. Instead, it can help to take a more strategic approach:
- Transform your profile into a service page: Don’t just list off your broker resume on your profile. Instead, describe the specialized services you offer. Remember to include outcomes and results of your expertise too.
- Talk business, but remember to stay human: As you sell your services and showcase your success, describe specific and personal ways you helped your clients. By showing off what they gained or the difference you made in their business, you can help others see your value.
- Comment on other posts as much as possible: Become an active and engaged member of your LinkedIn community by reacting to what other businesses and people are posting.
What about when it comes to writing your own posts?
In general, the same rules apply to LinkedIn as your content marketing: aim to educate and inform instead of making a sales pitch. But above all, remain authentic. When it comes to social media, people value and trust others who aren’t afraid of showing their true selves.
Creating Email Campaigns That Nurture Customers
Email may be one of the oldest ways to market yourself digitally—but it’s still one of the most effective. This is especially true when you move from one-off emails to targeted nurture campaigns.
Nurture campaigns work by delivering a series of emails that take recipients through a sales funnel.
The most effective campaigns don’t just send generic, one-size-fits-all emails. Instead, they tailor messages based on what people want (e.g., their insurance needs) or are looking for (e.g., a specific insurance product).
There are many ways to segment emails according to user needs or preferences.
For example, by signing up to download an article about how to prevent common on-site injuries, you could send them a targeted campaign on your casualty coverage solutions. Or by registering for a webinar on preparing for natural disasters, you could send them a personalized campaign on your small business property products.
Remember to consider the details of each email.
For instance, you can raise open rates dramatically by making your subject lines short, clear, and action-oriented. Try to create a sense of curiosity or urgency in order to encourage recipients to open them. If possible, make them personal by including specific information, such as the recipient’s name or concern.
And in every email, just like in your social posts and content marketing, provide something of value. Whether this is a piece of advice or an update on recent insurance trends, prospective clients are much more likely to respond to this than a direct sales pitch.
You Don’t Have to Do Your Digital Marketing Alone
The world of insurance digital marketing is vast, but so are its opportunities.
Insurance brokers who know how to navigate the many ways of marketing themselves online will be able to reach more prospective customers, create stronger brands, and build more successful businesses.
Fortunately, none of this is something you have to do on your own.
By using technology like QuoteWell’s AI-enabled submissions and automated appetite matching, you can identify customer needs faster, streamline your quoting process, and cover risks with confidence.
This makes it possible to transform from a generalist to a specialist in your space so that you can target exactly the people and businesses most likely to convert.
Start building relationships the modern way. Find out how we can help.
