There’s that person at every party. The one who spends the entire evening huddled nervously in the corner, mingling with nobody except the guy passing around the meatballs-on-toothpicks tray. If your agency isn’t using social media to get out there and meet new clients and referral partners, you might as well grab yourself a cup of punch and sidle up next to Wally the Wallflower.
A 2015 Shareaholic report revealed that social media is now the #1 source of referral traffic to web content. That means that your potential clients and like-minded colleagues are already living it up at the social media party. Your agency can’t afford to hang out by the punch bowl. Here’s how to get your agency out of that corner and into the mix.
If your agency doesn’t already have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ accounts, start there. If you already have those up and going, consider a few other popular channels like Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram too. Start playing around and learning how they all work – it’s not a bad idea to set up a separate, personal “guinea pig” account first so that you can experiment and learn the rules, and any early missteps won’t reflect on your agency.
Once you feel comfortable with the channels, let this rule be your guide. Try to keep your posts informative, interesting or entertaining. Click here to see some examples. And don’t forget to include posts about topics that are relevant to your demographic, but NOT about insurance.
As you start bonding with referral partners, you can help promote each other via content-sharing. For example, that real estate agent you met may have some cool home ownership articles that you can link to, and she might want to direct her clients to your awesome “Tips for Preventing Theft” video!
Listening to the people with whom you engage is vital. Use social media monitoring to determine what resonates with your audience, and respond accordingly.
Whether you’ve decided on once-a-day or some other schedule, stick with it. “Out of sight, out of mind” isn’t just a saying when it comes to social media. If your agency stops engaging, people will quickly forget about it and move on.
Make sure that whatever you post is reflective of your agency’s brand.
Or at least, don’t be afraid to try different formats to engage people. Post photos and videos, provide links to articles, ask questions, run promotions – Consistency isn’t a such a good thing when it translates to BORING.
Put those social media icons on your agency website and on your email signature so that people know where to find you.
How are your agents getting out of their comfort zone to befriend prospects on social media? Tell us in the comments section.