davidbristol23: Social Media Marketing For Insurance Is Just Like Risk Management ...

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Social Media Marketing For Insurance Is Just Like Risk Management ...

There aren?t many insurance agents using social media marketing effectively. Some agents use it but aren?t sure how to get the most out of it. Others don?t use it at all for the same reason. If you fit into either category, it?s probably because you don?t want to learn a new set of skills. The funny thing is most agents already know how social media marketing for insurance works.

Obviously it takes experience and social media knowledge to be create really successful social media marketing for insurance. But most insurance agents should be able to start a social media campaign, because you already use a similar process every day.

Identify = Analysis

In risk management, the first step in the process is to assess the client?s needs and identify the risks involved. Social media marketing for insurance works exactly the same way. Except for marketing isn?t about risks, it?s about prospects and leads. Before you start your social media marketing campaign, you need to analyze the market.

You should have a look at your target market on social media and identify what they?re interested in. You should analyze what kinds of content your prospective clients like to share and comment on. Just as risk assessments build an image of a client?s needs, social media analysis builds a picture of your prospects? social media preferences.

Plan = Social Media Strategy

Once you have identified the kinds of social content your prospects like, you need to build a strategy to meet those needs. In risk management that means putting measures in place to ensure a particular risk is controlled on a daily basis. Marketing for insurance is a daily activity too. Your social media strategy should outline the kinds of content you need to share and schedule how often you need to share it.

You should also define the social channels you want to use to get the best results. Some social channels will be more effective than others, which will be identified in your analysis. You should remain active on as many social channels as possible, while focusing more activity on the most important channels. Minor channels still offer opportunities in the same way that minor risks can still create problems.

Manage = Social Media Engagement

Once you have a risk management plan in place, you need to put it into action and stay on top of it. The exact same statement applies to social media marketing for insurance. All you have to do is follow the plan and you should start to get some interaction and an increase in brand awareness. The important thing is to keep at it; progress can be slow in the beginning. Just remember that the more active you are, the more engagement you?re likely to get.

Once you become active on social media, you need to stay active. Social accounts that are sparsely updated and accounts that have huge dips in engagement become brand risks. Just like a poorly managed risk strategy, if you don?t follow your social strategy you could end up doing more damage than good.

Repeat

The last step in risk management is the same in social media marketing. Just like risk, social media is a constantly evolving concept. New social channels appear all the time, so your analysis and planning needs to be ongoing. You can?t create a risk management strategy that will never need an update and the same goes for social media marketing for insurance.

You might be unsure about social media marketing. You may be putting it off because you don?t know where to start. But social media marketing for insurance agents is easy, just do what you do every day.

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