Between networking opportunities and prospecting, there are plenty of ways for insurance agencies to leverage LinkedIn. The following guide will help you get the most from your LinkedIn marketing and networking.
Optimize Your Profile
Before you do anything else on LinkedIn, take the time to optimize your profile. Make sure you have a good summary and title, complete with keywords.
Make your profile comprehensive, as this will help you rank higher than other insurance agencies on LinkedIn. You may not realize it, but a surprising number of people look for insurance agents on LinkedIn.
Include Your Full Name
When setting up the name on your profile, include your first and last name, along with your middle name, if applicable. Avoid nicknames, but feel free to add your insurance designations.
Include a Profile Image
Part of optimizing your profile includes adding a profile image. Adding a headshot will help you establish trust. It will also help people make a human connection.
Include a Banner Image
Don’t just stop with a profile photo; add a banner image as well. This will help with branding and professionalism. For the best results, make sure your banner image follows the same branding as your website.
Headline Tips
The headline is the line of text that appears right underneath your name on LinkedIn. It can be something like “Founder and CEO of ABC Insurance.” Be concise and creative. Do your best to include key terms.
Include Your Education
Don’t skip filling out the education section of your LinkedIn profile. This will show clients and other agencies in your network that you have the skills and knowledge to offer your services.
Add Projects to Your Profile
Many insurance agencies overlook the ability to add projects to your LinkedIn profile. But this is a great way to highlight the benefits you offer to clients or your experience.
You can include eBooks, blogs, events you organized, research papers, and more.
Join Relevant Groups
If you are new to LinkedIn, you may not realize that it has a plethora of groups. This means that you can easily find one for insurance agents in your region. Look for and join these groups to maximize your networking opportunities.
In the rare case that there isn’t already a LinkedIn group for agencies in your area, make one. As a bonus, you will prove yourself to be a leader and be in control of how the group functions.
Connect With Both Clients and Your Network
As mentioned, smart insurance agencies will use LinkedIn for both networking and marketing.
Start by sending connection requests to your email contacts. Just look at your list of contacts in Jenesis and find them on LinkedIn.
Remember that when someone sees your profile, they can see how many connections you have. If you have more connections, that improves your first impression, maximizing the chances that they will want to become your client or work with you.
Post Job Listings
LinkedIn is one of the go-to platforms for people in search of a job or recruiting opportunities. Take advantage of this by posting any job openings in your agency on LinkedIn.
As a bonus, most people who look for jobs on LinkedIn will have a detailed profile. This gives you even more information about the candidate so you can decide if they are a good fit for your agency.
Integrate Your Blog
Your insurance agency hopefully already has a blog as part of your content marketing strategy. Make sure to link every new post to your LinkedIn page. This takes a matter of seconds and can make a significant difference. Think of it as another way to boost traffic to your blog and establish yourself as an industry authority.
Integrate Your Business Twitter
Don’t just integrate your blog posts on your LinkedIn profile. You should also integrate your Twitter feed. This saves you the hassle of having to make the same post on both networks.
Just make sure to only do this with your business Twitter feed. If you tweet all types of content from a single Twitter account, LinkedIn offers a solution. You can set up a hashtag that you use on Twitter posts to indicate they should appear on your LinkedIn profile.
Link to Your LinkedIn
Most companies today have links to their social media pages on their website. Do this for all of the pages you have a business profile on, including LinkedIn.
This makes it easy for website visitors to find your LinkedIn page. The result is access to social proof and the ability to learn more about your agency.
Consider LinkedIn Ads
Depending on your strategies and goals, you may also want to invest in LinkedIn advertising. LinkedIn makes it easy to purchase pay-per-click ads. These come complete with hyper-targeting abilities. Impressively, you can even target a specific profile with your ads.
Conclusion
Every insurance agency should have a LinkedIn strategy. Doing so will help you connect with other local businesses and insurance agents for networking. It will also help you with attracting and retaining clients.