Insurance Agent Web Power

There are more than a few Facebook time lines that can be found on the web…some, highlight all the often controversial changes to Facebook’s privacy policy, others highlight the meteoric growth in popularity of the social media phenom, and several include changes to Facebook features.

More recently, in February, Facebook made major changes to page layouts including doing away with tabs, announced the wind down of FBML,  but added the ability for business pages to feature ‘likes’ and included a new ‘photostrip’ at the top of Facebook pages.

In the second half of 2010, Facebook added a Places feature, with the ability for Facebook users to check-in to a location with a mobile phone but did away with Facebook Connect.  In all, Facebook has averaged 5 – 10 significant changes per year, all of which require some thought on the part of page administrators and many of which change the way in which insurance agencies use Facebook.

click to see complete infographic

To some, the constant change and Facebook flip-flops are disconcerting.  But not to those who developed a social media marketing strategy before jumping into Facebook…or any other social media channel.  If you haven’t already created a social media strategy for your insurance agency, here are some considerations to help you along that path and minimize the angst of the constant Facebook changes:

1.  Who do you want to reach through social media?

• customers
• potential business customers
• potential personal insurance customers
• age groups, sex, other demographic criteria

2.  What social media do your targets use?

3.  How will your use of social media integrate with your insurance agency website and other marketing and communication initiatives?

4.  Who will be responsible for updating your social media channels and how much time and expertise do they have?

5.  What objectives will you set for social media marketing success and how will you measure those objectives?

I don’t like to use this blog space as a commercial for Confluency Solutions, but I couldn’t help it this time.  In a  recent video blog post Google’s Matt Cutts answers the question:  what are the three things you would do to optimize SEO for 2011.

Number 1: Optimize for speed; it is a page rank factor, but more importantly, all evidence shows that, when web pages load quickly, site visitors do more on your site, resulting in better ROI.  Confluency has done a lot of work over the last 12 months, making our sites faster and faster.  Right now, nearly all of the websites Confluency has engineered rank in the top 1% of the fastest websites in the world.

Number 2: Make sure everyone in your organization understands good content management practices and make sure you are using good internal linking strategies within your website. Confluency recently added an automatic linking feature within our website CMS to further improve internal linking and we just kicked off a new process to make it more simple than ever for agents to understand and engage in sound content management practices, all at the cost of 20 minutes a week.

Number 3: Engage in social media marketing.  Social media activity can result in direct traffic to your insurance agency website and will also mean occasional back links to your website, which is good for SEO.  Confluency has long provided guidance to the agents we work with on using social media as a business branding and marketing tool and we are now rolling out a service to provide social media marketing directly for those agencies who want those marketing initiatives handled for them.

Three for three.  Not bad for a day’s work

Are you thinking about hiring a full time blogger and social media marketer?  According to Socialcast, the median salary for a Social Media Manager is $45,501.  Toss another 20% on top of that for benefits and other head count related costs and the cost of a full time social media manager could be over $54,000 a year.  For most insurance agencies, that means another 200 policies a year have to be written each year just to recover these new costs.  That’s real money and real production.

Facebook and other social media, as I’ve said here before, aren’t sales mediums – they are branding channels.  But an an ongoing expense like a Social Media Manager requires some justification – especially if new personnel costs are layered on top of additional new costs.  Before you foray out beyond dabbling in social media commitment, a strategy and cost justification and ROI method should be put in place.

Source:  Social Cast

Take a look at the chart above and notice that 77% of Social Media Managers have four years or less experience (and probably no experience as an insurance agent).  That means that you may not be able to rely on your new hire to come up with a compelling case for social media return on investment.  Social media campaigning for restaurants, entertainment-based business, and consumer products is not the same thing as social media marketing for insurance.  The principles are the same, but the positive emotional attachment to insurance products and services are different, requiring a different approach and justification for insurance agents who are ready to dip more than a toe in the social media waters.

None of this is to say that insurance agents should eschew social media, only that a well thought through strategy and a way to tie social media success measures (number of fans, e.g.) to increased net revenue needs to be the first step.

Insurance agents, and businesses in general, sometimes have a hard time getting their heads around ROI (return on investment).  Confluency Solutions measures what I would call direct website ROI:  calls, and online requests for insurance quotes; conversions to policies and average commission.  And the ROI numbers are good.  Annual reviews identify areas where insurance agency website ROI can be increased.  These generally fall into three categories:

1.  More website traffic;

2. Higher levels of traffic conversions (% asking for quotes and better quality prospects);

3. Support for other agency marketing and customer development initiatives. The reason many of us have a hard time getting our heads around ROI is that most of these measures (like website traffic, e.g.) don’t have a place in ROI calculations.

Social media, like Facebook and Twitter, are even murkier.  Where do increased numbers of Facebook fans or Twitter followers enter the P and L statement?  The short answer is that they don’t.  However, social media and website activity does contribute to ROI – the measures mentioned in the preceding sentences would fall into the category of ‘transactional precursors’ or what we sometimes call leading edge indicators.  Put another way, if your website visits increase, at some point you should expect a net increase in quote requests, insurance policies written and new sales commission.  Ditto for Facebook fans and so on.

If you are interested in quantifying your insurance agency website and social media activities in a hard-nosed, bottom line way, then take a look at the excellent slide set on the topic from Oliver Blanchard.  Not only does it contain good information, but it’s pretty darn entertaining as well:

GEICO is the Insurance Watson

It isn’t news to most of us that IBM’s super computer, Watson, recently matched wits (or more accurately, databases) on Jeopardy with two of the worthiest opponents the human race could offer.  The results of that game are neatly summarized in a recent Mashable post:

IBM supercomputer Watson has defeated two of Jeopardy‘s greatest players, and it wasn’t even close.

But some weaknesses in Watson’s otherwise impressive capabilities were revealed.  So you can look at the Jeopardy spectacle in two different ways:  1) Singularity is right around the corner so suck up to the machines to make sure you get a good slice of the pie in our cyborg dominated future; or 2) We need to change the rules of the game so the humans win, not the machines.

An article in CNN Tech provides some further insights into those weaknesses:

At the end of the day, Watson is not really conceptualizing a clue’s meaning. It simply number-crunches its way to the right answers by comparing vast amounts of data. This is why it dominates the “fill in the blank” knowledge clues (Aeolic, spoken in ancient times, was a dialect of this), but falters on some more “common sense” deductions.

So, to all you humans who like to be humiliated by wires and circuits:  go ahead and play jeopardy with computers (and the future *is* written).  Or perhaps you would rather compete with computers in a game where the questions were framed by common sense clues instead of straight-on facts and data?  I would.  I like winning.

So what does all this have to do with a blog about insurance marketing?  It has to do with an observation I make from time-to-time, that is, I see insurance agents trying to match the value propositions of insurance marketing equivalents of Watson – GEICO and Esurance.  While it may be true that your agency can also save new customers 15% or more, and you do it just as frequently as GEICO, competing on that value proposition is a losing proposition.  GEICO is really good at it, and while they promote the 15% or more savings, they simultaneously devalue relationships (what are those anyway?), one-stop convenience and other value propositions that most local insurance agents could be cultivating.  GEICO is Watson.  Don’t compete with them in a game dictated by rules that work to Watson’s advantage.  Come up with your own rules, and beat the borg.

A couple of days ago, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of 125 crime family figures in what the FBI is calling the largest mob round up in history.  Every now and then, a major news story reminds us that often, law enforcement is working quietly for long periods of time, building up to a major disruption of criminal activities.  The announcement made me wonder if we won’t soon here a similar announcement heralding the curtailment of spam and near-spam web trickery.

For your consideration (as Rod Serling used to say), point one: Google has recently undertaken a manual audit of Google Place Page reviews.  Many speculate that the audits are a precursor to an algorithm change to recognize and clean up spam reviews.  Reviews, positive or negative, have been a big factor in Google’s local search algorithm.  Because of that, Place Page reviews have been targeted by spammers who post false reviews to influence search results, in violation of Google’s terms of use.  The large number of obviously fake reviews that have proliferated over the last few years has finally prompted Google to take action.  That first step is human review and a possible and likely outcome may be a blended machine algorithm and human audit process.

For your consideration, point two: Back in November, a new search engine launched named Blekko.  Blekko was built in response to the increasing amounts of spam showing up in Google search results.  We’ve all seen useless and unremarkable websites show up at the top of search, and searches related to insurance services are no exception.  Google is clear on their mission to promote sites with the most useful, relevant content.  But, through ignorance or willfulness, website owners still employ tricks to fool Google’s algorithm and gain search visibility.  When Google discovers spam SEO techniques, it levies severe penalties against offending websites.  But that doesn’t stop website owners from trying to out game Google’s algorithm – especially when spammy techniques work.  There is a growing consensus that Google is loosing the battle.  That’s why Blekko’s search results will depend on human input to determine search rank.

For your consideration, point three: Among the initial investors in Qwiki, another new search engine promising a ‘search experience’ are a co-founder of Facebook and a co-founder of YouTube.  Will Qwiki become a major search player?  It’s worth keeping an eye on, but take a look at the introduction video on their home page and notice the reference to curated information.  Yet another search service recognizes the short comings of purely algorithmic search results.

So are we on the cusp of an internet ‘mob’ round up?  I think so, although the bust may not be so sudden and dramatic as the January 20 AG announcement of the real mob round up.  But the trend seems set:  expect more human intervention in all search results.  The message for those of us that own websites?  Google’s mantra, that quality content counts, may actually become more true than ever.

Local Search:  Reviews are More Important than Ever for Your Insurance Agency

Let me just start by beating that dead horse for a minute or two (children in the room, please cover your ears…).  Local search *has been*, *is*, and *continues to be* an important vehicle for most insurance agents who want to be found on the web.  Reviews *have been* an important factor in Google’s local search algorithm.  Reviews *are* an important ranking factor in the local search algorithm.  Reviews *will continue to be* an important factor in Google’s local search algorithm.  Agencies, even brand new enterprises, who acquire just a few legitimate reviews, tend to show up very quickly in top local (and now organic-ish) search results.

A few more insurance agents have claimed their local listings this last year, and thanks to some insurance company programs like Progressive’s ListAgent, local agencies are getting better visibility and new business through Google Place pages.  But most agents continue to lag behind in claiming their free local listings…and even those that do claim are not putting a process in place to routinely capture customer reviews.  And as noted in the preceding paragraph, those reviews continue to be important.  (OK, the children can uncover their ears, I’m done flogging the horse).  In fact, all evidence points to reviews taking on an even larger role in local search rankings.  And now that Google is blurring the lines between local and organic search, the influence of reviews on insurance agency web visibility now impacts organic search optimization as well.

Changes to the Google SERP

Back in early November Google started mixing local search results with organic results.  The local results don’t always display the same way and experts who watch local search closely haven’t yet fully digested the implications of recent changes.  But there is broad consensus that, to some degree, Google’s local search algorithm and their organic search algorithm have been consolidated in some areas.  This can be seen in the following SERP, where the top local listings (push pins) incorporate page titles and meta descriptions from websites (previously the domain of organic search and SERPs exclusively).

And sometimes, local search results show up in middle of organic results, as in the following example:

Google’s boardroom and on screen changes make clear that they are focused on making local and mobile services even more effective (partly in response to Yelp, Foursquare, and Facebook’s Check-in feature).  As part of this effort, Google has launched a new user review service called Hotpot and has quietly launched a full frontal assault on review spam, starting with Google Places’ reviews.  The review clean up effort has been bumpy for some, resulting in the removal of legitimate reviews for some businesses.  Google is working through both a manual review process and an automated algorithm to identify and remove suspect reviews.  Google has hinted at the increased importance of reviews in determining local search rank so it makes sense that they would want to exert a little quality control over them.

Specific, unique, well written reviews are less likely to be removed by Google – those reviews look less like spam, no matter what algorithm Google evolves to. Interesting and well written reviews will also result in more click-throughs from potential customers.  So, the best thing for your insurance agency to do is the same thing that’s always been the best thing to do:  encourage your customers to post reviews to Google, Bing, Yelp, or any other place your insurance agency’s local listing shows up.

How to Get Reviews for Your Insurance Agency

How do you do that?  The answer to that question just happened to have dropped into my in box in the last day or two.  I recently stayed overnight in an Asheville NC hotel.  One day later, an email showed up that looked exactly like this:

Notice the inclusion of Facebook and Twitter – the Hotel Indigo recognizes the importance of connecting with ‘friends’ wherever their friends might choose to congregate.  But also notice the Trip Advisor section:  the hotel is encouraging online reviews.  Insurance agencies should be sending similar emails each time:

a.  A new customer is brought on board

b.  Your agency quotes, but does not acquire a new customer

c.  At the end of most claim settlements

d.  After selected service transactions

The email should come from the agency owner or upper management.  Obviously, your agency isn’t going to encourage customers to leave reviews on TripAdvisor.   Rather, you should mix up Google Places (Hotpot), Bing Local, Yelp, or others.  Doing this will require a little discipline; you will need to set up a systematic process so that you review transactions and send a few emails each day.  It won’t take much time, and the rewards will snowball over time.

God reached his hand down from the sky
God asked Noah if he wanted to die
He said no sir, oh no sir
God said, here’s your future: it’s gonna rain

—Here’s Your Future – The Thermals

Just a few years ago, the very future of internet music phenom Pandora hung in the balance as the RIAA tried to impose it’s legacy cost structure on this legitimate music delivery service, and by extension, every other streaming service. Today, Pandora thrives and legacy music delivery systems, like CD’s and radio are losing listeners.

According to a recent study from Edison Research, listening to the radio longer predominates as a morning activity for 12 – 24 year olds, dropping from 74% ten years ago to 41% today.  In the same time frame, 12 -24 year olds have chosen to purchase 62% fewer CDs.  This age group spends an average of 3 hours a day on the internet, and when it comes to acquiring tunes for their music libraries, they cite illegal downloads or transfers as the 2nd and 3rd most popular means of augmenting music collections.  Between the lines:  we don’t care how you manufacturers and distributors want to supply music, we want it the way we want it, ‘legal’ or not.

To fall back on another popular music reference, the video documentary chronicling former Clash front man Joe Strummer’s Clash history is titled The Future is Unwritten.  That’s not exactly right.  The stats mentioned here lead to some very obvious conclusions.  Here’s your future.

Insurance agents don’t need to drag their collective feet on the way to a prosperous future.  61% of all Americans use Facebook, more than half do so at least twice a day.  And that 12 – 24 age group – your future insurance consumers – they don’t read the papers (only 4% read a paper almost everyday).  You know where your future is, and if you want to do business in the future, you know where your agency needs to be.

Clock radio photo under Creative Commons license http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexkerhead/

It seems like I’m on some kind of SEO Truth-Quest lately…last month I posted an article pointing out that CMS (content management system) is not equivalent to SEO.  I was driven to do that by claims I was hearing in the competitive space for insurance web marketing  that essentially amounted to this:  We give you CMS so therefore your site is search optimized.  If you want a summary of the article, it boils down to this:  NOT.

More recently, I came across some literature from an insurance company who is providing their agents with *free*, search optimized, websites.  It reminds me of an office Christmas party I went to years ago, during which we had to exchange token gifts with a co-worker whose name we drew from a hat.  My giftee wanted a Jaguar for Christmas.  I got her one – a toy, Match Box, Jaguar.  Hey, it *was* a Jaguar.  Likewise, there is SEO and there is SEO.  Robust SEO takes time, effort, and expertise, and as wonderful as it might seem to get SEO for free, you probably aren’t getting much; of course, if you really want to know if you are getting SEO value, take a look at your website analytics after a few months – that’s the proof.

There are levels to SEO, and I suppose someone can say they provide SEO, even at the lowest levels, but it seems disingenuous to me to claim search optimization without providing any details.  Below are four levels of website search optimization – I’ve started with the most basic level – some form of which I suspect the aforementioned free SEO really consists of.  But next time you come across a website provider who claims to deliver SEO for a price that’s too good to be true, go back and ask them which of these SEO components they are actually delivering.

Site Structure – This includes having a well organized website, including elements like xml site maps, good meta data, URLs and H1 tags, using canonical URLs and server header response tags where appropriate, highlighting the most important site content by keeping it near the top of your site map, and architecting a website for fast page loads.

Content – Unique content, for a variety of reasons, is king in web search.  Keyword research and optimization is important; for instance, if you have a choice between using the phrase ‘car insurance’ or ‘auto insurance’, in your page copy, which would you choose?  Hint:  one is searched on a lot more than the other.  You cannot optimize one page for everything, so a well SEOed website will use separate pages to concentrate on one or two keywords each.  Ease of editing and adding web content in and of itself isn’t an SEO practice, but it sure does make practicing SEO a lot easier, so I’m including it here.

Internal Site Linking – Some SEO practitioners view how well a site is linked within it self as accounting for 25% or 30% of SEO performance.  Confluency Solutions subscribes to that view – your most important pages should be linked to and from other pages within your website and different, keyword rich, link text should be used.

External Links or Back Links – Google and other search engines consider each third party website link back to your insurance agency website as a ‘vote’ for your website.  More weight is placed on what Google considers higher authority websites, but any legitimate* link will help improve your website’s search visibility.

SEO Today, Gone Tomorrow – Search ranking is extremely fluid:  your competitors** are changing their SEO and the search engines are constantly tweaking the algorithms that rank web pages for relevance.  More robust (and generally expensive) SEO monitors your page rank for key search terms, as well as your competitors’ and watches for changes in search engines ranking formulas; this leads to periodic modifications of your website.

Visitors are Nice But Conversions are Money – Put another way, 10 website visitors a month, all of whom become clients of your insurance agency is a better bargain than 100 website visitors, none of whom become customers.  Robust and full featured SEO will help you define conversions and make changes to improve conversion rates – and get the money.

I also notice that some insurance website providers will do a *free* evaluation of your current website.  (Geez, I wonder how that will come out?)  Again, you have to be skeptical about what you get for free.  At Confluency Solutions, we offer an SEO audit and road map, but it’s not free.  A thorough SEO evaluation can take 8 – 10 hours, and it’s hard to give that kind of time (and work product) away for free and stay in business.  Confluency’s SEO road map can be used to make improvements on an existing website or can be taken to a third party for implementation – it isn’t a sales trick to get you to become a website customer.  How much depth and specificity does a free website evaluation go into?  Is the information sufficiently detailed so you can improve your existing website or use the evaluation as a blueprint and have someone else build your website?  If it covers the elements itemized above, it will.  If not, it’s probably just a sales trick.

*Links you buy from an offer claiming to be able to deliver hundreds or thousands of back links aren’t going to be legitimate

**Competitors in this regard aren’t necessarily other insurance agencies, but rather, other websites competing for the same keyword.  These could be law firms, medical care providers or even directories.

I was reminded of something I have heard in the past:  it’s a lot easier to love your insurance agent than your insurance company.  If I remember who jogged my memory, I’ll weigh in with a comment to attribute credit where it’s due.  In any event, that statement made me stop and think about the recent primary climate wherein many incumbents didn’t even make it through their party primary.  So much for the old axiom about people hating congress but loving (and reelecting) their congressperson.

I don’t necessarily think that incumbent agents are in for the same throw the bastards out treatment, but we would all do well to stop and remember that insurance and insurance companies are not popular with the masses – and that includes your customers (and your competitor’s customers, ahem!).  So what do you do?  Let people see the personal side of you and your staff, that’s what.  Quit acting like an insurance salesperson once in awhile and let people know what interests you as a person, what you care about, and what you are involved in.  And let your friends know you are interested in their interests.

That’s at the core of social media – you know – the whole social (i.e., *not* business) thing.  It’s been said before in other forums and more eloquently but insurance agents have to learn how to socialize. Share pictures of staff in action at charity events…in fact, use social media to *raise* money for charities.  Does your insurance agency insure plumbers, accountants, retailers, and realtors?  I bet it does.  Let others in your social circles know about these service providers; everyone will thank you.