Can it be done? Can social media marketing, specifically Facebook, have a direct ROI for my insurance agency? Two questions that as a social media manager I receive all of the time. As Facebook has grown to be the go-to marketing tool for businesses, the capability of measuring the ROI of the efforts has grown as well. Many local insurance agencies are now using Facebook not only to promote and brand their agency but to get direct leads and grow their book of business.

Recently, at the E-Agent Summit in Las Vegas, we had a break-out learning session with Carmouche Insurance Inc. and Remland Insurance to learn how to better implement social media marketing into an agency culture. Both agencies have successfully become socially savvy, in ways that have not only branded them in a positive light online, but brought in new business.

Real World Insurance Marketing Through Social Media

Carmouche Insurance’s Ryan Pattinson spoke to groups of agents at the Summit about how their agency grew their book of business by 30% just from the

implementation of social media marketing, more specifically Facebook campaigns. Pattinson put it simply by saying: “Change is inevitable, if you’re not constantly adapting with the market, your losing business.”

Carmouche Insurance knew they had to make changes in order to compete in today’s marketplace, especially online with so many agencies trying to grab the consumers’ attention. So how did they do it? Pattinson decided right when he started at the agency that he must be able to tie a metric to his efforts. He knew social media would play a big role, but he knew he had to use it in a different way than most businesses, since insurance isn’t a one-time purchase and not the most interesting topic for many consumers. His answer was to tie in the local community with their Facebook efforts, making the topic of insurance more appealing.

Selling Insurance Through Facebook: How They Did It

Carmouche Insurance started off by running a charity drive to donate toys to needy children during the holiday season. They promoted the efforts on Facebook, and videotaped each individual child unwrapping his or her gift for the donator to watch. This helped create a viral effect within their Louisiana community.
But it’s about more than one campaign at Carmouche Insurance. Another social media marketing tactic they use is having each producer have their own Facebook quoting link. If a friend, family member, or referral enters information to receive a quote, the quote goes directly to the producer who promoted it with their specific URL. This helps drive the employee participation at the agency, along with bring in a handful of new leads.

Facebook hasn’t just helped them get new customers organically; they have had many referrals and renewals as well! By posting the gift cards going out to current customers for referrals, it helped the agency get even more when current clients saw the initiative and sent their friends and family to the agency for a quote!

You Can Do It, Too

Carmouche Insurance went about using social media in a direct way to get leads, but there is more than one way to do so. Christi Gartner from Remland Insurance spoke to how their Orange County California-based agency was able to grow their business using social media as well – simply by making their presence known in a place they had already been for years!

Remland Insurance has been around since the early 1950s and involved in the Orange community for decades, but just recently have their efforts been noticed online – specifically on social media. The team at Remland participates in many charity events, puts on events of their own, shops and promotes local small businesses, and even blogs about their community. These efforts have lead to people in their area mentioning seeing their presence online and features they have had in local publications such as the Orange County Register. Christi Gartner from Remland spoke to the next step of getting the sale by saying: “People in our community tell us they have seen our social media presence. We have now gotten better at asking for their business once the conversation has started.”

A Social Media Strategy You Can Use

Two agencies of different size and in different locations have utilized social media sites such as Facebook to gain new business. Both agencies agreed that you have to start slow and build your fan base organically at first. Having fans that are current clients is important for referrals, but also important for renewals. Social media marketing is a great way to keep current clients in the loop about promotions the agency is running, and attract new clients by showing the caring culture of your insurance agency, which they might otherwise not see.

How have you used social media tools such as Facebook to grow your business? Share with us below!