Did you know that LinkedIn is one of the most powerful marketing tools for insurance agents?
That’s right, LinkedIn is more than a website to show off your work history and connect with other professionals.
However, there is a strategy for effective marketing on LinkedIn. Simply having a profile isn’t enough to attract clients, but you’re on the right track if you do have one already.
With just under 400 million users, there are more than enough potential clients to keep your insurance agency busy. All you have to do is reach them and that’s exactly what you’re going to learn how to do in this article. Below are LinkedIn marketing tactics for insurance agents to attract more clients and transform their business.
LinkedIn Marketing Tactics
1. Optimize Your Profile
Similar to Google, social media websites are also search engines. Your LinkedIn profile needs to be optimized so potential clients can find you easily — just as you optimize your website for search engine traffic.
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile is simple. Just follow the guidelines below:
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- Upload a professional profile image.
- Include keywords in your headline.
- Complete each section with detailed descriptions.
- Add skills and get endorsements for those skills.
- Showcase your honors, awards, and certifications.
- Feature professional memberships.
- Incorporate branding into your background image.
- Add a link to your website.
Depending on how complete your profile is, this process might take you 15 minutes to an hour. Spend the time to do it right and you won’t have to mess with it again, except for minor updates.
2. Join LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn groups are excellent for networking with other agents and for sharing industry advice with each other. You might not get very many clients from these groups, but you can gain valuable insights that help you improve your business.
LinkedIn groups are small hubs where professionals share marketing tips, discuss industry trends, and act as a supportive community for all of their fellow members. Don’t miss out on one of the best benefits that LinkedIn has to offer!
Featuring these groups on your profile also adds credibility and makes your profile look more complete to prospective clients.
3. Create Content on LinkedIn Publisher
LinkedIn has an active community of content publishers and consumers that you can take advantage of for free. When you create a post on LinkedIn Publisher your post will automatically become part of LinkedIn’s Pulse network and get your message in front of thousands (or millions) of people!
Getting started is easy and the engagement is often much higher than insurance agents see on their own websites. The only real downside to LinkedIn Publisher is that you don’t own the content. Also, the content will be featured exclusively on LinkedIn.
For this reason, you don’t want to abandon your company blog entirely for LinkedIn Publisher — but it’s certainly a great addition to your content marketing strategy.
4. Share Content From Your Company Blog
Speaking of sharing content on LinkedIn, the business-friendly network is one of the best outlets for promoting your blog content. As a result of the professional atmosphere on LinkedIn, potential clients are more likely to engage with your content on LinkedIn than they are elsewhere.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be promoting your content everywhere you can, because your specific target clients might prefer another platform. However, LinkedIn can be a massive lead generator and it’s often overlooked in favor of Facebook and Twitter.
5. Always Be Connecting
When it comes to sales, the mantra is “always be closing” — but when it comes to successful marketing on LinkedIn, the mantra is “always be connecting!” Your ability to meet new prospects is largely determined by the size of your network and the quality of your connections.
Obviously you don’t want to start rapidly connecting with random people for the sake of having a gigantic network. You want to make real, genuine connections in large quantities.
This might sound challenging, but it won’t be if you’re following the tips outlined in this article. By optimizing your profile and getting active in groups, you’ll find that more people will start reaching out to you. As you publish content you can connect with people that comment and share your posts, as well as with other publishers.
6. Add a Link to Your Profile in Your Email Signature
This is one of the easiest ways to grow your network on LinkedIn. As an insurance agent, you’re sending emails all day long. Each one of those emails is an opportunity for a new connection on LinkedIn.
You should have a link to your profile on your website and other social media pages, as well. People won’t think to find you on LinkedIn if they don’t know you’re there.
7. Generate Leads With LinkedIn Ads
Other than Facebook, LinkedIn has the best overall advertising platform of the social media networks. It’s similar to advertising on Facebook, with slightly less targeting features.
However, I will point out that pay-per-click advertising can quickly drain your marketing budget if you don’t have a solid game plan. Rather than throwing an ad together in a hurry, do some research and start your first campaign with a limited budget to test things out.
One of the significant benefits of LinkedIn Ads over other social media advertising is that it’s especially powerful for lead generation.
If you’ve had limited success with PPC advertising elsewhere, don’t write it off altogether until you’ve tried LinkedIn Ads.
The Rub
In the digital marketplace, LinkedIn sits atop the list of content marketing destinations for every insurance agent.
Becoming proficient at LinkedIn marketing will take time and effort. However, the juice is definitely worth the squeeze for those insurance agents who establish their expertise and authority on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Tablet Photo via Shutterstock
I think that this is not only for insurance agents. I think that you can also use these tips for other types of business.