You know Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms. You want to use it to reach more people, right? You researched for your competitors’ page, too. You read tons of Facebook marketing blogs. And you invested your time creating dozens of posts yourself.
Yet, you are not seeing the result you want…
Are you publishing content just for the sake of publishing? Did you set clear goals for your posts? And do you know why people are on facebook in the first place?
According to Statista, the three main reasons people use facebook are:
- to stay in touch with people they care about
- to find entertainment to enjoy and
- to know about what’s going on around them
If you try serving these purposes when creating your posts on facebook, you will have a much higher chance to get noticed or even likes and shares. However, this is not usually the case and we often see insurance agents not writing with their audiences in mind.
Here are the 8 common facebook marketing mistakes insurance agents make:
1.Using Too Many Jargons
Let’s face it. Insurance is a century-old industry with a legacy of jargons – which most people can’t understand. People get frustrated by jargons. But you probably live and breath jargons into your life so you might not even notice they are all over your posts.
The fix:
Explain the jargons – one at a time: Teach your audience about insurance. Help them understand how it works to protect them. Or even share interesting facts and stories about insurance. For example, you can create short posts to explain an insurance term:
Definition: No-claim bonus (NCB) – is a discount in premium offered by insurance companies if a vehicle owner has not made a single claim during the term of the motor insurance policy. (source)
Then you may point out the fact that NCB is accumulated year after year and can reduce up to 50% off of the premium. And the earned discount is also transferable if they buy a new car and so on.
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2. Being Product-Selling
I get it…You spent hours learning all the 33 features of a new product. You are so excited about them and you think it’s very important to tell everyone about all of them.
But you know what? They just don’t care. Who looks for insurance product features when they are on facebook? People think you just want to sell your products.
Chances are most insurance agents share the same product with the same features given by their companies at about the same time. They just look the same and people will get tired of it.
The fix:
No one wanted to be sold to. Focus on how you would add value with your service that helps them make better decisions. Here are a few approaches you can take:
Know your clients: Ask questions to identify the client’s needs so you can explain how your products will satisfy those needs.
Focus on the benefits, not the features: There may only be one or two features that interest your customers at some point of their lives. Explain how they can benefit from the features.
Sell your service on top of the features: The more knowledgeable you are on your product, the better the solution you can provide. Tell your customers how you could help them save time and money by using your service.
3. Being Price-Base Selling
Today, people go to insurance comparison sites to check the best deals. They’re comparing on price, and they’re buying on price. At least this is true for P&C (Property and Casualty) business because products are very similar from one provider to another. Customers even jump ship the moment they see the same coverage with a lower premium.
Many agents thought people will be attracted to price only and try to tease them with premium discount offers like retailers do on Black Friday. But will people actually buy more policies when they are on sale?
The fix:
Instead of selling on the price, there are many ways you can talk about premium across different kinds of insurance. You may explain how an insurance concept works to help your customer to reduce, defer or even skip paying their premium under different circumstances.
Here are some keywords you may start with:
- Deductible
- Coinsurance
- No-Claim-Bonus (NBC)
- Waiver of premium
- Premium holiday
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4. Not Selling Enough of Their Service
Insurance agencies face fierce competition among themselves. Most of them are selling similar products. And many agents use the same content provided by their company. They all look the same.
The more knowledgeable you are on your product, the better the solution you can provide. Tell them how you can help them to save time and money by using your service. You must give clear reasons for people to buy from you.
The fix:
What do you have to offer to your clients? What is your expertise in the insurance domain?
Show them how you add value by making a claim quick and easy. Or explain how you can save their time and money by using your service. Give reason for people to buy from you.
5. Lacking Engagement
Remember you’re on social media. You can’t skip the “social” side! You need to talk to your audience and respond to their comments.
According to a study by Facebook, the majority of people say that being able to message a business helps them feel more confident about the brand. People who engage with your content on Facebook are more likely to buy from you.
The fix:
With mobile devices and messaging apps, today’s consumers expect prompt responses. But you have to be attentive to comments and messages. Otherwise, they will find someone else who does.
With social media platforms like facebook, you can create engagement opportunities at literally no cost. Ask them questions, seek for their options, use polls and so on.
6. Lacking Shareable Posts
If you’re on Facebook, it’s a good idea to post content that gets as many shares as possible. The more people do this to your content, the higher the chance their facebook friends will see it in their news feed.
Look at all your posts over the last two months. How many of them get shared?
The fix:
The New York Times did a study on why people share a few years ago. It has become the manifesto of social media sharing.
The five main reasons for sharing online identified are:
- to bring valuable and entertaining content to others
- to define ourselves to others
- to grow and nourish relationships
- for self-fulfillment
- to market causes or brands
The next time before you hit publish, review the post and see if it can serve one of these purposes. If you have no idea, look at other people’s posts that get lots of shares and identify if they have these identities.
7. Unclear Call-To-Action (CTA)
Interestingly, when it comes to the Call-To-Action (CTA) in a Facebook post, it’s either too many or not enough. Some agents are anxious about their message and try to put as many links as possible in one single post. More than often, these links are usually lengthy and take up a lot of space.
On the other side, some posts may contain blocks and blocks of information and do not have a clear CTA to tell your audience what to do.
The fix:
To fix this, you must set a clear goal for each of your posts. If you want likes, just ask them to hit like. If you want them to share your posts, make it clear. Or if you want to engage with your audience, ask them questions and invite them to comment.
On top of this, you also have to give them good reasons to do so. For instance, instead of showing a link and ask them to click, say “Click to learn how to save more money on your car insurance.”
Tell them why they should take that action and tease them with what they’ll get out of it.
8. Posting Randomly
I can tell. You were in between meetings and want to make good use of your time. Or you just came up with the best sales pitch and you can’t wait. You take a bit here and there before putting them together in a post.
You wait for likes and comments to come. But nothing happened. It seems like you are writing to a ghost town.
The fix:
You know what? Time does matter on facebook. It will affect the engagement on your posts.
A report from sproutsocial found that Facebook in general showed the most consistent engagement during the time period of Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
On the other hand, the lowest engagement that you may want to avoid occurred every day either before 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
Final Thought: Let Facebook Do Its Best
Maintaining a facebook presence is not easy. And it won’t boost your sales overnight. As an insurance agent, you need to keep your content authentic, be less salesy and be more focused on engaging your audience.
Ask questions. Solve problems. Educate potential clients. Provide useful information. Be helpful. And make them a smarter consumer. Use your facebook to differentiate yourself. Show both current and prospective clients how you add value.
Most important of all, you have to keep testing to find out what work best for you and your audience. You need to discover that success recipe yourself by trying new posts day after day, month after month. Good luck!
Background photo created by natanaelginting – www.freepik.com
