As an insurance agent, you are acutely aware that the industry is a competitive and saturated market. You could have direct competition in town, throughout the metro, or even statewide. You may be wondering how to stand out from other agents – because after all, who doesn’t want to be in the top for their area?
The truth is, there are a lot of unique things about you and your agency; use them to stand out in a variety of ways! Here are a few thoughts on how to get yourself noticed even more.
Ideas to start with:
Your team
What does your team do that nobody else does? What do they excel in? Think about some of these qualities that you can highlight. No matter the size of your agency, there are ways to leverage what you do for your customers on a day-to-day basis.
If that doesn’t seem like a lot to go off, also consider what your agency does to celebrate local events, team member milestones, and more. How you present your agency’s culture could make all the difference in swaying a customer over to your side of the fence.
Highlight what you do best
Do you offer insurance services that are unique to your community? What are your clients saying that you do well, both in-person and online?
Reference the more frequented items on your list that you offer or the niche services that might be needed more in your area. Celebrate your wins from reviews, customer feedback, and peers to come up with new phrasing to use on your profiles and relevant marketing materials.
Your business neighborhood(s) and location
Highlighting your specific location is another way to improve your visibility. Consider what part of town you are in compared to your competition. Are you the only agency branch in town or the surrounding area? It might be easier for you to target customers in a certain part of town, and your competitive advantage is that some customers won’t have to travel as far to visit.
Are you neighbors with other types of businesses? For example, your business complex may hold community events that you can share. Or maybe you are a couple doors down from a coffee shop, where you can encourage people to stop by before or after their daily coffee run.
Techniques to try
Develop unique content
Since your agency is all its own, there is content that you can create that is specific to your “agency life” and culture. Whether it’s team lunches, school fundraisers, or local giveaways, these are all great examples of moments you can share about your agency to demonstrate how you are involved.
This all benefits you directly online – as we’ve discussed in the past, Google values original content, which includes unique photos.
Keep an eye on local trends
What are people talking about in your area that relates to what you offer? There might be a new car dealership in town, a neighborhood building new homes, or a new apartment complex going up.
Local information isn’t limited to development, either. Block off a few segments of time throughout the year to check in on the competition. For example, if your closest competitor is taking up airtime with frequent online posts, have you invested in this strategy?
Keep in mind, though, that simply copying trends may not be enough to be ahead of the curve – put your own creative spin on things to stay relevant.
Respond to reviews and engage online
Online engagement is always a topic worth revisiting. We’ve covered why reviews are important, but they are also a useful source of feedback (positive and negative), not to mention how your business is presented online is part of your reputation.
For online reviews, especially on Google, you should try and include keywords relating to your services when it makes sense to – ex: “Thanks for the review, [insert name], we were happy to help you with your car insurance needs.” Just make sure not to keyword stuff and include a bunch of unnecessary terms, which can penalize you.
When it comes to other platforms, comment and engage with your customers and other local businesses online. Remember the coffee shop example we alluded to earlier? Go for a visit, maybe snap a picture or two “at work,” and tag them on social media. If you see local news on your feed, branch out by using your best judgment to like, comment, and share. You may end up connecting with another organization further and even get some great backlinks out of it!
Have other questions about what you can do to stand out from the crowd? Connect with Direct Clicks Inc. today!