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The latest insights and thought leadership for independent insurance agents.
Marketing is a critical component of an agency’s success, but it’s often the first part of the business to fall by the wayside when agents get busy, or the budget gets tight. A solid marketing plan requires consistency and commitment.
The good news for today’s independent agents is marketing tools are going high tech, making lead generation and other marketing tasks less time consuming for busy agents. Tech is full of tools that can help agents save time, capture more leads and be more efficient. Here we will review a handful of ways agents can automate their marketing tasks and increase their lead generation.
Automating first customer contacts allows you to turn website visitors into prospects. There are a variety of ways to automate your first contact including smart forms, lead forms and pop-ups. The point of these tools is to gather necessary information about a visitor to your site and make a connection.
In this vein, chatbots are excellent. Intercom and Chatra, for example, are messaging platforms that allow agents to communicate with prospects through their websites, social media platforms, apps, and email. A chatbot can be programmed to ask relevant questions or provide relevant information based on your prospect’s activity with your website.
For instance, a chatbot can appear after a prospect is on your home insurance landing page for 60 seconds. The chatbot gathers lead information by asking questions such as:
The chatbot transfers the information to an Inbox for agents to follow up.
If you haven’t already done so, automating your leads and submission process is an excellent start. Applications like Zapier collect information a prospect enters in an online form and manage it for you. The app can be used to collect prospect information in a spreadsheet, or it can email it to the salesperson for that line of business.
Software programs can also be used to send automated welcome emails and SMS confirmations after a prospect has completed your form. Some tools, such as VanillaSoft, go even a step further by routing leads and updating a lead queue in real time. Moving leads that are further down the sales funnel to the top of the queue increases closing rates.
Consider automating your mobile outreach as part of your 2019 marketing strategy. Utilizing SMS to lead strategies puts your agency where your prospects are – on their smartphones.
Text messaging is the most common form of communication according to a Gallup poll. Gathering mobile phone numbers and permission to text is paramount to lead generation. Here are a few quick tips for SMS lead generation.
By now, agents know a social media marketing strategy is a must. Consumers want information, and the company that provides the best information is the one who gets the sale.
As important as it is, keeping up with various social media platforms can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Automation tools are essential to an effective social media strategy.
Hootsuite and Buffer are automation tools that serve as a social media dashboard for your agency. They also have features to help you save time and effort when it comes to social media marketing.
For example, you can create one update and post it to several social media outlets at once. Agents can also save “form” posts to quickly respond to commonly asked questions such as what products you sell or contact information.
Using automation tools for email, texting and social media marketing is the key to successful automatic lead generation. Agents who embrace the tools and invest some front end time to set them up will reap the reward of more leads in less time.
Agentero helps independent agents automate back-office and customer service tasks.
With Agentero’s Technology, you can monitor your clients’ policies and approach them in a targeted and personalized way. Save time and money managing customers. No more calls from insureds asking for their ID cards, they are getting policy and billing information at their fingertips!
Independent insurance agents use Agentero to boost their revenue, save time, and deliver a superior customer experience. We integrate with your current technology to modernize your operations and position you for growth. Check out our website to learn more.
