These are the steps your agency needs to take to start an integrated insurance agency blog. Blogs for insurance agency marketing are not an option. Younger buyers will be more likely to use blogs and website content for much of their information. You should at least have one blog for your insurance agency website. But, optimally, you should take advantage of this opportunity to have multiple blogs to make sure your agency has a competitive edge.
1. Make a website blog that is integrated and relevant to your market. Make sure to post at least twice per week. Also, keep the postings short. Link to an internal web page for additional content for each posting. Think of it as your front page in your electronic newspaper.
2. You can add widgets on your website blog to make sharing your blogs easy for your visitors. Include your social media icons, such as Facebook, Twitter (LinkedIn, Twitter), YouTube, Buzz, Digg and StumbleUpon, Delicious, etc. Your key social media icons for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube should be prominently displayed. It is important to have an RSS feed, and a simple subscribe box for your blog. You can tweet, digg and buzz your blog to help get it into cyberspace.
3. Use your keywords to promote your blog. You don’t have to keyword-stuff your blog, but you should be capable of creating content that addresses the most important keywords for your agency. Take, for example.New York Commercial Insurance, Texas Fleet Insurance?, Midwest Group Health Insurance are all long tail keywords and can readily appear in an applicable blog article. Your blog should have a minimum of 6% keyword density for your trophy keywords. This would be the case if your long tail keyword phrase is Professional Liability Insurance. The phrase should appear one time for every hundred words on your blog. The keyword density formula is more complex than that, but the example gives an approximate idea.
4. Your mantra should be content, content, content. Be relevant, educational, and succinct with your content. Although it is fine to occasionally include “sales pitches” on a blog or website, the core of the blog should still be educational. Your blog postings should be varied and relevant to your target market. You should avoid controversial topics like politics. However, you are free to write about other topics than insurance. You can write about OSHA changes, tax changes and healthcare regulations for a B2B-oriented agency.
5. Keep blogging, but don’t quit. You might also consider adding a vlog to your blog. Consistency is key to success in blogging. Even if you blog only a few times a week, it is important to blog consistently. Blogs can be used to announce webinars, review business books, discuss fund-raising events, link to government websites (new IRS regulations), or even link to great articles. This can be used to direct visitors to other areas on your website or other groups within your agency. Video blogs (Vlogs) can add an additional dimension to your blog. They’re informative and sticky and can be uploaded to YouTube. After you have mastered your blog about insurance agencies, create an insurance agency video.
Blogs should not be used to sell insurance. Blogs should be used to educate and clarify. Your blog will grow if you provide compelling, relevant, and interesting content. Prospects who find your content valuable will be more likely to engage with you agents. You can either outsource the whole thing to a reputable agency that is experienced in blogging, or you can add it to your agency’s social media marketing program.
