How and Why to Use PPC to Grow Your Insurance Agency

There's one word that everyone in the insurance industry knows all too well, and that's "competition". When you work in insurance, you're competing with others in the market who are looking to win over prospects searching for the fright insurance and the best deal.

These potential clients are also willing to take the time to research their options thoroughly, so a strong digital presence is a must.

Building that type of visibility isn't easy. But, there are certain marketing strategies that will help you build an online presence more quickly, one of the most powerful being pay per click advertising (PPC).

In the simplest terms, PPC is an advertising strategy that allows you to pay only when your ad is clicked on from search engines or maybe social media. Sounds straightforward enough, but it's a bit more nuanced than this, and to be effective you need to know how to grab attention and make the most out of each click.

Let's dig in and examine why you need a solid PPC strategy for your insurance agency.

PPC Defined:

PPC is a method that generates targeted traffic fast. The ads you create and promote are based around industry relevant keywords that your audience is using when searching for businesses just like yours. Search engines, like Google or Bing, offer ad placement based on your bid for using your chosen keywords.

PPC is basically a keyword auction, and it's usually the highest bidder that wins top spot.

But, not always. Search engines also look at the quality of your ad, compare it with your bid and assign you a quality score. This means that sometimes, it isn't the highest bid that wins top spot, but the one who has strategized to get the most out of their marketing dollars.

This means creating quality advertisements that are valuable for your audience and profitable for you.

This can be achieved by researching and leveraging the right keywords, structuring those keywords into targeted ads and then making it so those ads lead to landing pages that are optimized for conversions.

So, PPC takes research, time and a marketing budget. Is it really worth it for insurance agency marketing? Absolutely, and here's why.

Identifying the Value of Pay Per Click Advertising for Insurance:

What do users do when they're on the internet looking for information about insurance? They browse and click.

But, they're only going to click on the ads that speak directly to their needs through an attention-grabbing headline and a description that gets right to the point.

The fact is, nobody wants to waste time clicking on ads that don't fit their needs. For example, a person searching for an auto insurance quote probably isn't going to be interested in clicking on a PPC ad for life insurance.

While you might get less traffic with a PPC campaign, that traffic is going to be targeted and convert to leads at a higher rate than other website traffic. This is the one of the most important things to understand about the value of PPC, especially for insurance businesses with lean marketing budgets. You aren't paying for unqualified traffic like you might with other marketing strategies, so PPC generates a sizable return on your investment.

According to Google's conservative estimates, advertisers see $2 in revenue for each $1 that they spend on AdWords. A 100% ROI isn't bad at all. Notice the word "conservative" because it many cases, the return can actually be much higher.

To add to this, PPC is especially effective for the insurance industry. When looking at Google's PPC industry benchmarks, the average conversion rate for the insurance industry is 5.1% compared to an average across all industries of 2.7%.

So, with PPC we have an effective ad strategy that works fast, is adaptable and can be tailored to any budget. What is there not to love?

Optimizing PPC for the Insurance Industry:

The first step to a successful PPC campaign is deciding which keywords you want to include in your ads. This is hands down the most difficult part of PPC. You want keywords that perform, but unless you have the benefit of a sizeable marketing budget, you're also trying to find the right mix of value that will land you in a prime position on page one of search results.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

First, think about the customer you want to attract. Long-tail keywords, which are strings of at least 3 or 4 keywords together, are often the ones that reflect a serious user's intent. The more specific the search query, the more likely it is you'll be met with a conversion.

For example, "at what age does my auto insurance drop" is a more targeted search than "cheapest insurance". By narrowing in and identifying your niche audience through long-tail keywords, you're more likely to attract serious customers.

Secondly, it's important to think locally by geo-targeting your keywords. Insurance is usually very location specific, so someone seeing your add in another state, or even another county isn't going to do you much good. Narrow your PPC audience by including geographical indicators such as "new homeowner insurance for Greenville" or "best life insurance quote in Charleston".

It's also smart to consider an appeal to emotions. Think about what's going on when someone is looking for new insurance. Words like "change" and "new" are strong connection points. Think along the lines of "I want to change my auto insurance coverage" or "I need health insurance for a new baby".

Finally, don't break the bank. Keywords for the insurance industry can get pricey. Start small with keywords that might attract your local niche market but won't be of as much interest to the big players in the insurance game. Work your way up as you start to generate more revenue.

Connect with a PPC Professional:

There's a lot to know and understand about PPC. When you're looking for growth through insurance agency marketing, a professional team experienced with pay per click for the insurance industry can be your number one asset. Contact Confluency Solutions today to learn more.