You have to be where the young people are and that’s on Social Media. 01 The beauty of a site like LinkedIn is that, when you do it right, you can meet a lot more qualified prospects than you’d come across at a Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club meeting.
Young adults are on LinkedIn but they’re also on a half dozen or more other social media sites. The whole concept of being in touch constantly is very important to them, much more so than someone older, say 35 or so, might realize. All social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, etc.) have the power to send people to your website, operating like an inside lead-generating team directing potential prospects to your online “store”, where you might offer a free insurance evaluation or information about specialized products like cyber insurance. Once prospects get to your site, you can gather names, email addresses and permission so you can begin conversations and, ultimately, relationships.
Younger folks are quite comfortable on social media. Here are a few ideas you might want to try:
- Get some help. Find people who are passionate about social media and good at targeted copywriting. These could be freelancers who work a few hours a week or people who work with you now. Make them part of your Social Media Team.
- Begin the process by signing up on LinkedIn, if you haven’t already. It’s where most business takes place, and it will be easier for you to talk about insurance there, as long as you keep it interesting. Join LinkedIn groups relevant to your target audiences be they small business owners, entrepreneurs, women’s groups, or new business startups.
- Look for local groups. A lot of groups on the busiest sites are national and even international; dealing with them can be interesting but it can waste a lot of time. Wherever your natural market is, be it New York City or Sarasota, Florida there are worthwhile groups you can meet without even moving from your desk.
- There are a lot of potential social media sites you can explore, especially looking for younger audiences. It’s probably best to start with LinkedIn and Facebook then experiment with the others one at a time.
- Always test sites, groups and different types of messages, keeping track of results. Also keep track of ongoing involvement – who responds to requests, offers insights in discussions, asks you for information and, eventually, buys something. You’ll gather response data, real metrics, on how well your program is working (and which elements are working best). Make a chart and then you’ll know exactly what kind of a response rate you’re getting and who you should be following up with.
Focusing at least partly on younger adults can lead to longer relationships.
Many insurance agents think Social Media is free. It’s not. Your time, and your support staff’s time, cost money, and sometimes a lot of it. You need to have a good idea of hours spent and from that you can work out your return on investment (ROI). Give it time. Idea starters you might want to test include:
- Create a plan for Social Media and describe the voice of your brand.
- Post facts and news about insurance products that not everyone knows or understands. You’ll begin to be seen as an authority.
- People on Twitter and Facebook read what you’ve written most often when it includes a link to something relevant: your blog, someone else’s blog, TV interview, newspaper item, book review, etc.
- Feel free to step outside your comfort zone if you’re dealing with younger people. Their attitudes can be quite different than your older audiences’
- Don’t make your tweets or posts all about you, your insurance products or your company. People get bored with that very easily.
- People react positively to real stories: human interest, news, and success. Keep them short, interesting and relevant and your prospects will read them.
Build real relationships with your contacts. Send holiday cards, invite them to events and ultimately make them your clients.
