5 Common Misconceptions About Paid Media Strategies for Insurance Agencies
If you're unfamiliar with pay per click (PPC) marketing, the world of paid media can seem complex and overwhelming. You know there are differences between paid media and search engine optimization (SEO), one of the most obvious being the monetary investment required, but you aren't sure about the pros and cons over other digital strategies. You're not the only insurance agent that has questions about PPC and you want those questions answered before you decide if it's the best investment for your business.
The solution? Just like the rest of us, you turn to the internet for answers.
What you'll find when you do this is a wealth of information on paid media. You'll also find plenty of opinions disguised as fact and a fair amount of well meaning people promoting advice that isn't well suited for every industry. This has all created a cloud of misconceptions that surrounds paid media.
What Is Paid Media?
Misconceptions about paid media often stem from an incomplete understanding of what it is and what it encompasses as a marketing strategy. Paid media, which we also refer to as PPC, is a term used to describe digital marketing efforts that involve the paid placement of advertising material. This might come in the form of a paid search engine ad, display ads on other websites or through the paid promotion of branded content.
Paid media is more aligned with what we think of as traditional marketing, where a business pays to have their brand promoted via a specific avenue, except with PPC, it all happens on the internet.
Considering the strength of SEO and organic reach, many insurance businesses question the need for PPC at all. Even though great results can be achieved with SEO, paid media still remains a vital component of a strong digital strategy. According to Google, paid ads on their platform earned an average ROI of $2 for every $1 spent. This number alone illustrates the potential of PPC for building your insurance business.
Still, questions and uncertainties abound. if you're considering a paid marketing strategy, here is the truth you need to know about five misconceptions that surround PPC for insurance agencies.
Misconception #1: My Insurance Agency Is Growing with SEO Alone, So We Don't Need PPC
PPC and SEO shouldn't be an either/or proposition. Yes, you can optimize each of them individually to generate results for your insurance business, but the reality is they work most effectively when used together.
For instance, you might be using SEO to earn a spot on page one of Google search results, but a strategically created paid ad can easily land you there. Because paid ads gets priority placement, they're a great opportunity to capture the audience's attention and earn a click. Paid media generates a surge of traffic moving to your site, which can work in many ways to boost the performance of SEO.
Misconception #2: My Insurance Business Needs a Sizable Marketing Budget to Be Successful with PPC
Some insurance agencies only see one thing when the topic of PPC is brought up - dollar signs. Unfortunately, they're not picturing the increase in revenue that can result from paid media, but rather the amount of money that they'll need to spend to make it successful.
It's true that some of the large, national insurance companies are investing a tremendous amount of money in the paid media. This doesn't mean that smaller agencies have to match them to succeed. In fact, you're competing on a different level, so your PPC campaign will be targeted to produce results using a different strategy and it will cost less.
For instance, how much you spend for an ad on Google depends on something called a quality score. A quality score takes into consideration the quality of your ad, the keywords you're using and the landing pages that a customer will be directed to. This determines the price per click, and the highest bidder for a keyword doesn't always win.
Misconception #3: Nobody Likes Paid Ads and I Don't Want to Tarnish the Reputation of My Agency
It's true, the average person will say that they dislike paid ads, especially pop-ups or display ads that are sometimes viewed as being intrusive. This doesn't mean that using them will put a ding in your agency's reputation - in fact, the opposite is true.
Depending on the platform, many people enjoy seeing ads from their favorite businesses - especially if they contain a valuable offer. For instance, a targeted display ad on social media that features a solution to high insurance premiums is likely to get a positive reaction from an audience that's already interested in your services. Plus, even when you're not earning clicks, the name of your insurance business is sticking with people, which is important for building recognition.
Misconception #4: Paid Retargeted Ads Don't Work for Insurance
Retargeted ads are designed specially for the customer that has slipped through your fingers. For example, a customer that took all the steps to generate a quote online, but then decided to not hit the submit button or those that have requested information and then seemed to disappear into the abyss.
Paid retargeted ads can be a powerful tool for recapturing the attention of prospective leads and nurturing them back into your funnel by providing the right incentive at the right time.
Misconception #5: PPC Is Lower Maintenance Than SEO
This misconception is dangerous for insurance businesses who have decided to invest in paid media. Yes, PPC doesn't require the same level of nurturing as SEO to produce fast results, but that doesn't mean that you should set your ads and then forget about them. PPC for insurance agencies requires consistent monitoring, tracking, and tweaking of the campaign as needed to get traffic moving in your direction. Failing to do so will only lead to less than impressive results.
Work with a Trusted Marketing Partner
Paid media is an important component of insurance marketing strategies. The key to success is understanding how PPC works for your individual insurance business. We'd like to talk to you about the most effective approach for creating a paid ad campaign that will attract your target audience. Contact Confluency Solutions and let one of our insurance marketing experts help you develop a plan for success today.