It should not come as a major surprise that more and more businesses are getting their feet wet in social media.
For some, they were in the door shortly after social media came on the scene, while others have been arriving a little later to the dance. Whichever scenario you find yourself in, being involved in social media in order to promote your brand, sell products and services, and engage with current and potential customers is a no-brainier.
When it comes to auto insurance, consumers want the best coverage at the best price, bottom line. Many consumers also want the ease of shopping for car insurance at their given time, meaning it could be while on a break at work during the week or middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. As a result, it behooves insurance companies to be engaged on a regular basis with the public.
For the auto insurer, there are dozens of reasons how and why they should be driven to be active on social media. Among the opportunities:
* Have a regularly updated blog – Your auto insurance website should have a blog that provides relevant and timely news for consumers. Not only do you want to promote what your business is doing, but also key in consumers on things going on in the auto insurance industry. By doing so, your business will come across as an authority in the car insurance business;
* Turn to the social media leaders – While there are countless social media vehicles available for businesses, it only makes sense to first focus on the big ones, i.e. Facebook and Twitter. The two leading social media venues are a great way for your auto insurance business to interact with the public. On Facebook, make sure you have created a fan page that is informative and engaging. Twitter is also a great online vehicle in order to share links to auto insurance items like educational pieces, industry updates and more. Both sites allow the auto insurer to have engagement with consumers 24/7;
* Have a personable business approach – Yes, your goal on social media is to sell auto insurance, but you have to do it in a non-aggressive manner. Consumers on social media want to see a personable side to the man or woman selling car insurance, meaning they don’t want to get hit over the head with sales pitches all the time. It is important that personalities win out here, meaning carry on conversations with consumers just like you would a neighbor. If the consumer likes this approach, they are more apt to tell family, friends and others about you, meaning potentially more business. This also means putting a face with the name and talking about the personable side of your business. Consumers are also more likely to warm up to you on social media if they see you as one of them;
* Explore other social media options – While as mentioned Facebook and Twitter remain the king and queen of social media, sites like Google+ and Pinterest are also good venues to be seen and heard on. Whether you do the social media yourself or have a person or persons doing it for your car insurance business, explore a number of sites to see where the traffic is. Having said that, do not spread yourself too thin to where you can’t give equal time to a site and it suffers as a result;
* Link back to different media – Lastly, your social media efforts do not just have to be verbal ones. You should also use Facebook, Twitter and other venues to link back to your videos, podcasts and more. The days of advertising your car insurance business through a simple flyer or business card are long gone. Being actively involved on social networks is very important in 2012. Showing consumers you have a variety of ways to advertise your business and offer them great coverage at a great price, is more important than ever. If you are not doing this, there is a very good chance your competition is, meaning you could be left behind.
With all that social media has to offer in this day and age, is your auto insurance business driving forward or stuck in neutral?
Photo credit: theinsurancereviewsblog.com
Comments