The constant growth in sales of vehicles for both commercial and personal purposes has led to a rise in road accidents leading to an increased need and demand for auto insurance policies. This is a great business opportunity for auto insurance agents but is it actually benefiting them with the ever-increasing competition from other sources?
About 90% of consumers wouldn’t mind purchasing their auto policies online, according to a JD Power study. They can conveniently do it from their internet-enabled personal devices, but who’s on the other end of this digital connectivity? Direct carriers!
With their all-online processes, direct carriers have over the past few years dramatically expanded their auto insurance market share. However, their industry dominance doesn’t necessarily spell doom for independent insurance agencies. Why? Because most online insurance shoppers buy policies offline in the end.
The role of independent agents as experts who can explain complex insurance policies to buyers remains intact. Prospects still need help with insurance risk assessment, evaluation of coverage options, and personalized advice to make informed purchase decisions. No software can provide these real-life experiences and replace expert consultations.
What independent agencies should do to stay relevant is provide the seamless multi-channel experiences that consumers expect in their purchase journey. Auto insurance marketing is a great way to achieve this.
What Is Auto Insurance Marketing?
Auto insurance marketing is a mix of strategies designed to promote agency policies and services to a specific audience. The ultimate objective is to generate quality leads for auto insurance agents through various campaigns, such as referrals, search engine optimization (SEO), and content marketing. In the end, you want to build brand awareness and position your agency as the go-to local auto insurance provider.
Auto Insurance Marketing Ideas to Win Local Clients
Ideally, most prospects aren’t looking to buy an auto policy too far from where they live or work. This is why local targeting and building your agency as the go-to brand in the community is very important to attract customers. However, you also need an effective strategy to grab consumers’ attention at the very beginning of their auto insurance buying journey. In this blog, we will cover these and more auto insurance marketing ideas to attract and retain customers in this digital era.
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Increase Your Agency's Credibility & Presence with a Website
The modern insurance shopper prefers a multi-channel experience with physical and digital components. They also want to explore coverage options, costs, and providers before buying. A website gives your insurance agency a strong online presence to satisfy these and much more consumer needs at various stages of their digital purchase journey. You can use the asset to showcase your products and knowledge in various consumer pain points, which increases your credibility online. A website enables auto insurance agents to quickly connect with prospects online, which is necessary to succeed in the digital space.
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Attract Buyers in Their Initial Phase with SEO & Keyword Targeting
Most consumers begin their search for insurance policies online. They have little chance of finding your local agency if it’s invisible on the web. To get the attention of these prospects, you want your brand in the right spot at the beginning of the consumer journey, which is an online search. SEO will elevate your agency’s internet visibility for the specific keywords that consumers are searching on Google and other search engines.
You can attract prospects this way at any stage of their journey, from awareness to purchase. Just make sure your entire website, including blogs and service pages, is optimized for the insurance keywords you’re targeting.
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Engage Prospects by Integrating Sales Support Tools on Your Website
Prospective insurance shoppers aren’t demanding multi-channel experiences for the sake of it. They expect superior engagements at each digital touch point to make informed purchase choices. For those visiting your site to request a quote, you should provide real-time quoting to convert more. Others will need some immediate answers before converting.
Conversational chatbots on your site can provide timely real-time responses to them as part of a highly streamlined sales process. Also, website integrations like promo panels and smart quote forms can drive high-converting engagements online, helping propel prospects further down your sales funnel.
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Help Users Make Informed Decisions with Educative Articles, Posts, & Videos
One big challenge for insurance consumers is that multichannel research online hasn’t always offered the information they need to purchase the right policies. So, many have ended up with the wrong product or coverage option. This is where independent insurance agents come in. Not only do they know what most prospects want, but they also have the vast knowledge required to help them find it. They can help by providing educational information based on the insurance issues or brands that most local consumers are searching for online.
It's important to share the content across all channels, including YouTube videos, blog articles, and social media posts. Digital alone can’t provide this level of personalized insurance shopping advice to prospective buyers.
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Be Available to Serve Everywhere Your Prospects Go
Auto insurance buyers conduct multi-channel product research before deciding to buy. They might prefer to engage you in person, visit your agency website, call your customer service, email, or even chat online. Your insurance agency brand should be everywhere these prospects are during their pre-purchase research. Being present across these touchpoints enhances brand recall and helps to generate more converting engagements for your agency.
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Build a Reputation and Protect it with the Right Tools in Place
To increase insurance purchases from your community, your agency must have a stellar reputation. One of the most cost-effective ways to start building a name for yourself and getting noticed locally is by increasing your involvement in local public events. Consider organizing or attending community events like fun sports competitions, auto shows, or business networking.
Online, attract more customers by generating testimonials and reviews from happy clients and showcasing them as your success stories. You can automate the process by installing our reputation management tool on your site. The software, which comes with our Agency Local package, can help you build trust in your local community by generating positive reviews.
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Don't Forget to Harness the Power of Referrals
Referrals are some of the oldest but still practical auto insurance marketing ideas for independent agents. They can help you generate leads, often without a heavy investment in acquisition. As an agent, you should be extra active in asking for referrals. Being active can mean attending networking events and even giving presentations while promoting your offers.
Better yet, build a comprehensive online referral program for your agency. Your digital assets, including social media, video recordings, and a dedicated web page are ideal places to promote your referrals program. Consider incentivizing clients to refer others to your agency, such as by offering a discount on their next premium or cash.
Outshine Your Competition, Acquire New Clients for Your Auto Insurance Policy Today!
With direct carriers increasing their online presence, today’s multi-channel consumer journey compels agencies to get creative with their auto insurance marketing campaigns. It’s pretty simple - provide experiences that prospects won’t get on digital channels.
Inside our Agency Local solution for insurance agents, you get everything you need to effectively target local consumers and increase your insurance sales. The package includes key features necessary to boost your local search visibility with a prominent online presence, from reputation management to website design and SEO. Contact us for any inquiries!
