I’ve been writing a lot about how agents can use social media to prospect for new business. My main focus has been on building their online reputation via a blog and connecting with others through LinkedIn. I recommend that you keep your focus on these two methods until it becomes easier to switch to something else. Another option is usually a Facebook Fan Page, or Twitter. Let me tell you how you can benefit as an agent from Twitter.
Are you curious about Twitter?
Twitter is one of my favourite ways to connect with people and make new connections. However, many people feel that it is pointless and a waste. I was fortunate to have a mentor and friend in social media who helped me navigate the process. I was introduced to Twitter Etiquette by her friend. You might also want to read my article, To Tweet or Not Tweet, Baby Boomers Undecided. This article will provide tips and tricks on how to properly tweet. Social media is a great way to communicate your ideas and find solutions. It is enough to have the solution.
Twitter is home to over 145 millions users. I am proud to have over 3,300 followers in a very short time. There are many tools that can automatically get you followers. However, I don’t recommend them as they may not be relevant to your market. It is important to realize that there must be customers among the 145 million people and businesses on Twitter. Twitter’s unique feature is its ability to open up your market and geography far beyond your immediate area.
You must find people and businesses to follow when you log on to Twitter. This might seem overwhelming to you. Where do you look for people in your target market?
Follow Your Target on Twitter
Twellow This is my favorite place. This is a sort of a Twitter yellow page directory. Sign up first and create a profile. This is because you want other people to find you. You would list insurance as one of your categories. But, be creative and you will make yourself more than just an insurance geek. After you’ve created your profile, you can start searching for people by using the category list.
Here are some categories that might suit your target market: Hospitality, Telecommunications and Construction and Building Electronics Energy – Oil and Gas Alternative Energy Food – Restaurants and Beverages Law, Real Estate and Small Business People are more comfortable identifying themselves as the place they work.
Click on the category to see a list of people. You can read their profile to decide if you are interested in them. Click on Follow to continue. You will be followed back nine times out of ten by most people, and that is what your are looking for. With informative articles, you want to be in their “twitterstream”.
Twitter – This free download will help you find other businesses that are on Twitter in your local area. It also includes a directory organized by type of business, which could be useful for small business programs. This directory could be used to generate leads for your business!
LinkedIn connections are the best place to look for key people to follow. You have likely built a strong connection list on LinkedIn with key people from your target industry groups. LinkedIn has a function called Tweet that allows you to connect with your Twitter connections. This feature is very useful because, if they have a Twitter account, you might be able gain their attention. This application is located under the “Other tab” at the top. You must then add it to your Linkedi.
Twitter Content
You might be wondering what you can say in 140 characters. You can watch the conversations of others. You will notice that many of the tweets contain links. They share what they consider important content with others. It could be an article they’ve read, or their blog post.
1. Twitter is a great way to market your blog posts: You can start a blog, post articles and position yourself as an expert in insurance by writing and publishing relevant articles. These articles can be shared via social media, such as LinkedIn groups and your Facebook. You don’t want to be too self-promotional. People will notice when you talk about yourself constantly. You can be interesting if you approach your articles as a way to solve problems and then tweet them.
2. News from the local and national industries: This could include market predictions regarding pricing or safety.
3. Flood, Earthquake and Special Event policies. Surety. Condo solutions. Coverage issues.
4. Special Programs: Twitter allows you to provide solutions for your program (e.g. You can now reach a wider audience by offering solutions for your special program on Twitter. You should also include articles about the targeted marketing programs that you are marketing on your blog. These articles are indexed by Google so they could be found when someone searches for insurance online.
5. Twitter is a great way to market your customers and prospects. If you’re connected to key prospects or clients on Twitter, you can create special groups that will allow you not miss their tweets. You want to assist them in marketing their business by retweeting their tweets. Although it may seem small, everyone on Twitter can see when someone has retweeted them. It is common to publicly thank them on Twitter. They will often retweet one of your tweets. This strategy can be very powerful because it creates a relationship. You will get them curious about you, and they will visit your blog. This is why you should start one. They should visit your blog and look at the About Me section.
Before you start your Twitter, learn the basics of social media.
1. Start connecting by creating a LinkedIn profile.
2. Make your online business card and position yourself as an expert and valuable resource
3. Share articles from your site with LinkedIn Groups
4. You never know who your Facebook friends might be connected to if you share the articles.
5. Tweet your posts and join the conversation
To keep your involvement consistent, and efficient, put in place a process. This should be treated as if you were prospecting. Each week, set aside time for these tasks. To keep your blog fresh and interesting, you should post or publish an article once per week.
This economy has reduced the number of customers and made it easier for insurance agents to compete for the same business. Although your competitors may not be everywhere on social media, it is likely that they will soon. Young people in their 20s don’t see themselves in corporate America. Instead, they are setting up businesses. They are not your 40+-year-old clients. These are people between 14 and 30 years old who see business in a different way than we do. You can increase your market share by appealing to customers who communicate via a variety of channels. Learning Twitter correctly could be a way to help you grow your clientele.
Market needs are constantly changing, whether we like or not. It is important to serve the market in the way they want and not according to our ideals. You can attract new customers by embracing new communication methods and retain your existing customers.
