Digital Marketing For Insurance Agents

Understanding Local Directories and Review Management

Increasing visibility to local audiences is a key for generating growth an insurance agency. After all, the people who are most likely to use your services are going to be local to you, so you want to make it as easy as possible for them to find you. But, if you're like many smaller and mid-sized agencies, you're probably wondering what exactly can be done to become more visible to this vital local market.

The answer can be found in two places that might not even be on your radar- local directories and online reviews.

When you take your presence in online directories and combine it with the quality of your reviews, the sum is something called your reputation. For the insurance industry, a great reputation spurs growth. The key is learning how to leverage reviews and directories to build a stellar reputation and capture the attention of your local market.

Let's take a minute or two and talk about why directories and reviews are essential and how to optimize them for your insurance business.

Bring Customers to Your Door with Online Directories

It might seem like everyone's talking about social media, content and pay per click strategies for building awareness in this age of digital marketing. But, before you even think about doing any of these things, there's one essential tactic that should be priority number one on your list, and that's getting your listing in online directories.

Online directories are basically digital versions of the yellow pages of days gone by. The difference is that instead of flipping through page after page until you found what you were looking for, today's directories allow for a targeted search that lands the user right where they want to be.

Businesses can register for free on most of the top directories, such as Google My Business (GMB) or Yelp. Just registering with your name and contact information instantly increases visibility. Directories like GMB allow you to add in additional information and features to make your listing stand out among the others.

But, let's talk about how directories do their job. Consider that someone is buying a home in a new city and they're interested in talking to someone about homeowner's insurance.

They do a search for insurance in their new city. What happens next is that businesses with entries in the online directories show up first and grab the person's attention. Each directory listing has the location, phone number and possibly a map. The map is especially useful to this person since they're new to the area.

The customer looking at the directories has another advantage. They're able to compare different agencies side by side and look at reviews to get a feel for the type of experience and service they offer.

Now, let's throw a couple of statistics into the mix. When people connect with businesses on local directories, 76 percent of the time it results in a call to one of the businesses they found. Plus, 78% of local mobile searches result in online purchases.

The bottom line?

Local directories lead real customers directly to your door.

The Reputation Connection

So, online directories make it easy for customers to find you, but what does that have to do with your reputation?

Pretty much everything.

Directories are more than a listing. They're a way to build validity for your insurance business. When you have a presence on multiple directories, and your information is consistent among all of them, it adds credibility to your name. This is true for customers and in the eyes of Google.

People and search engines love credible businesses. When your information is the same on Google, Yelp, Yahoo and Bing, plus it matches what you have on your Facebook profile, it sends a signal that you're real and established.

The second component of a directory listing that builds your reputation is customer reviews. These reviews are critically important because 90% of customers read them before visiting a business. In fact, they're so powerful that just a 1 star increase in a Yelp rating can yield up to a 9% increase in revenue.

This combination of validity and customer reviews makes you instantly more attractive to local customers.

Putting It All Together

What we've discussed here is an incredibly easy way of building your image, but it's not going to just take care of itself. You need to optimize your presence across the board to be the insurance provider more people turn to and trust.

Here's how you're going to do it.

The first step is getting your name out there. Make sure that your insurance business has a listing in all the main directories, especially GMB. In addition to registering your business, take the time to make sure your information is consistent across all platforms. It's a good idea to do a search query for yourself and check the accuracy of what you find.

Once you've registered on the directories and claimed your GMB page, make the most of it. Fill out the information completely, including a map, images and links to your website and social media accounts. GMB includes a feature that allows you to post on your listing. Use this and update it frequently.

Once you've covered these basic steps, it's time to manage your reviews. Encouraging both existing customers and new contacts to leave a review of your services is step one. The second step is managing what happens next.

Hopefully, you'll get some stellar reviews. Check regularly and take the time to thank the customer for their kind words. But, what happens if something shows up that is less than flattering?

Take control of the situation. New customers are going to put more weight on how you've handled negative feedback more than having a couple of 2-star reviews. This means that you need to catch the feedback early and attempt to reach a resolution.

Sometimes You Need a Little Help

As your business is growing, you might need some help with your insurance agency marketing. After all, you have your hands full welcoming new customers and keeping your existing ones happy. We're a team that specializes in marketing that's focused on growing insurance agencies. Contact Confluency Solutions today to learn more.