Social media is a great place to increase your visibility and meet your clients on a platform that encourages engagement. The more they get to know you, the more likely they are to trust you and invest with you. Plus, you will find the audience that is most important for growing your business. What is the secret behind using social media as a weapon to success with lead generation, brand strengthening and relationship building?

As technology continues to advance, social media platforms have become an integral part of an insurance agent’s marketing efforts. Do you know how to use these tools to increase your agency’s reach?

Here are eight tips to help you leverage social media on behalf of your agency:

1. Determine where to reach your target market

Find out what social networks are most frequented by your clients. You want to focus your targeted content on the right social media platforms for optimal ROI.

2. Create relevant and useful content

Whether it’s a blog post or infographic, make sure that the content you create is relevant to the customers you serve.

3. Share curated content

You are an insurance agency, not a content publisher. Although it is important to create native content when you can, it is beneficial to share posts from industry thought leaders as well. Developing relationships with respected publishers can increase your visibility and help you reach a wider audience within your target markets.

4. Post regularly

Reaching your follower base regularly is essential to establishing your agency’s social media presence and developing relationships. A good rule of thumb is to post once a day on Facebook and Twitter and two to three times a week on LinkedIn.

5. Use pictures and videos

Using media with your content can increase follower interaction and post shareability. However, make sure the pictures and videos you use are cohesive with the content you’re posting, and avoid reusing the same pictures too frequently.

6. Establish a two-way conversation

Social media is the perfect medium to interact with your customer base and create an open dialogue. Make sure you create a platform for customers to speak and interact with your agency. You should be responding to every comment, review or inquiry posted on your page as soon as possible, good or bad. Your agency can earn the trust of your followers and exude authenticity by responding to criticism and resolving any issue that may arise.

7. Stay authentic and on brand

Establish the image you want to portray, and create a voice that coincides with your company goals and mission statement.

8. Analyze your post results and adjust

Whether it’s with Facebook Insights or Google Analytics, it is important to look at the results of your social media posts. This will allow you to see what topics are successful in creating follower interaction as well as what types of content and media breed discussion. Once you have a solid grasp of the content your followers are looking for, adjust your future posts to fit the established template.

Sukanta Singha Roy, CFC, FSS, is a seven-year MDRT member who has helped thousands of people in need of financial planning in various aspects of their lives such as children’s education, retirement planning, tax savings and legacy building. He spoke at both the MDRT Annual Meeting and MDRT Global Conference in 2016 and 2019.