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Here are the top 10 things your insurance agency needs to start doing to drive your revenue growth up to 20%.
It’s true—insurance agencies that follow the strategies outlined on this checklist have seen those results, and your agency can, too.
Now that it’s 2026, there is no better time than now to mark these items off your checklist so you can take your agency’s marketing to the next level.
From increasing the inbound leads you get to maximizing your client communications, here are the 10 things your agency needs this year to be as successful as possible.
1. Show up higher in search and AI results.
In 2025, we saw a dramatic increase in the usage of AI across industries. In particular, people are increasingly using it each and every day. That’s why, as we are heading into 2026, your insurance agency needs to pay attention to this trend.
According to a Pew Research Center study, 55% of people in the US are using AI-powered search. That trend is only going to increase in 2026.
But what does that mean for your agency?
Well, think about it this way—if your agency is not showing up in those AI results when people are asking questions about insurance (or even shopping for a policy), then your competitors probably are instead.
In order to get ahead of the game, you’ll need to do a few things.
- You should have a website with pages and content related to the insurance solutions you offer. This helps AI search engines show your agency as a source for these solutions.
- Your insurance coverage pages should include clear, direct answers to the most common questions your agency gets in an FAQ format. This gives search engines an incentive to show answers to common questions in AI search results without requiring a click.
- Your website copy should be written in a conversational tone that fits your branding. This makes your website content more attractive to search engines when users are looking for answers via AI and voice searches.
- You should write blog articles that directly address specific questions and offer deeper insights. This improves your chances of having your article linked from AI search results as a knowledge source.
While SEO standards are still essential in 2026 (which you can learn more about here), staying on the leading edge of AI search means adapting to how your audience, prospects, and clients alike use the internet, with AI- and voice-driven searches becoming increasingly common.
Check off all the boxes with a Forge insurance website.
While it might seem like your to-do list is growing to show up in AI search results, the work you have to put in (or, in this case, work that’s taken care of for you) comes down to your website.
On our Forge insurance website platform, you’ll find that it’s built to be optimized for AI searches (what you might hear called AEO, or answer engine optimization).
Forge websites come with built-in content for each type of insurance coverage you offer, along with FAQ-style questions and answers that address what AI results are expected, right out of the box.
Not only that, but there’s always room to expand even further with access to edit pages yourself by simply adding in new FAQs down the line.
And best of all, keeping up with a blog has been made so easy; it saves agencies 10+ hours a week with a built-in AI blogging tool that takes your ideas and creates articles that can help you stand out in the search results.
If you’re interested in learning more about our Forge website platform, you can check that out here.
2. Be more accessible across the internet.
Believe it or not, as much as Google is the leading search engine out there, it’s not the only way people can find your insurance agency online.
From Google to top directory listings such as Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps, and even Chamber of Commerce websites, it’s not just about where you show up, but also what shows up when someone finds you on one of these directories.
Think of it this way, if someone were to search your agency online and found you through an online directory, are you confident that:
- Your agency’s business information (name, address, phone number) is accurate.
- Your hours of operation are clearly defined and updated for holiday closures.
- Your website is linked directly from these listings to make it easy for people to visit.
- Your information for each physical office location your agency has is updated separately.
If you don’t feel confident that all of these are taken care of at this time, it’s time to change that in 2026.
The reason is simple: if someone finds you, no matter where they see your agency from, you want that information to be 100% accurate and consistent.
Without that, people could try contacting the wrong phone number, visiting your office when you are actually closed, or encountering misinformation, which can create a negative impression of your business.
Make sure your agency gets found, and your business information is accurate with Local Listings.
While you could go through the top directory listings, manually claim or create accounts, and add all the information yourself, we have something that can handle that for you.
Not only that, but with our Local Listings Add-On, it syncs your agency’s most up-to-date business information across the top 50 directory listings, so you can feel confident that wherever someone finds you, they are finding the right information and are directed to your website and contact details.
Find out how you can get Local Listings for your agency.
3. Be more active on social media.
Social media is ingrained in our society, but, more importantly to insurance agencies, it’s increasingly where people go when researching your business. “78% of people say that the social media presence of businesses directly influences their buying decision,” according to a report run by Clutch.
This shows us that, however someone hears about your agency, whether it’s a direct referral or because they found you online, 8 out of 10 people are going to be judging your agency on your social media presence.
Here are the key factors that you can take control of now to ensure your social media presence makes the best first impression:
- Create or claim your social media profiles on the platforms your audience uses most. Most agencies will opt to use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, among others.
- Update your social media profile information for 2026. Revamp your social profiles by updating your agency’s information, changing your logo and profile images, and ensuring they match your website’s branding.
- Create a social post schedule and stick to it. Whether it’s once a week, more often, or less often, set a schedule to get started posting regularly.
- Post a mix of content that highlights the people side of your business, as well as educational information. Share photos of your team and agency that personalize your business, and also share content that highlights your agency as a trusted expert.
By doing this, you’ll increase engagement and build a first impression that makes an impact.
Stay one step ahead on social with our Social Media Add-On.
If social media has been on your wishlist for a while now and something you’ve held off on, we have the tool for you.
Our Social Media Add-On includes everything you need to stay active on social without all the extra work.
Not only does it connect to your social media profiles so you can post from one place across accounts, but it also comes with ready-to-share content that you can post, as well as automated posts that you can schedule on a rotation as often as you’d like to supplement the personal posts.
This tool makes Social Media simple by saving you time and energy while ensuring that your agency stays active and has a pulse on the social media platforms where your clients and prospects are finding you.
Find out how you can get access to our Social Media Add-On.
4. Get even more Google reviews.
Reviews are the new referrals, and as we learned from BrightLocal, “76% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”
If your agency has been online for any measure of time, you likely already have reviews, most likely on Google—and that’s great!
Reviews on Google are directly tied to how your agency shows up online, as well as the first impression you are putting forward with the words that your real clients have said about you.
Even if you’re proud of the reviews you have now, reviews are a thing of the moment. The more you have, the better, but getting more consistently over time is key.
This is true not just for search engines. It’s also true for people who are researching your agency.
Having recent, timely reviews that your agency actively responds to adds a layer of credibility that you cannot achieve otherwise.
Here’s what you’ll need to do to get more reviews while maximizing the impact of each new review you get.
- Claim or create a Google Business Profile for your agency (one for each physical office location). You’ll need to lock this in place to get reviews in the first place.
- Make it easy for clients to leave you a review. Feature a link to write a Google review on your website through a form, and include a link in your email signatures.
- Respond to reviews in a timely manner. Positive or negative, you’ll want to leave a professional reply (personalize it where and when you can) within the same day or week you get a new review.
- Feature new reviews on your website. You likely already have great reviews front and center on your website—mix them up with fresh ones in 2026 to stand out.
Taking these approaches will help you boost your agency’s online reputation, resulting in greater trust from clients and from people who are just discovering your business for the first time.
Streamline how you ask for and manage reviews with our Reputation Management Add-On.
It might seem like it takes a lot of effort to grow your reviews, and it can be an uphill battle—but with the right tools in place, it’s not as difficult as you might think.
Our Reputation Management Add-On (which comes standard with our Fuse marketing automation platform) streamlines the entire process of requesting reviews, replying to them, and featuring them on your website, while automating the majority of it for you.
Simply select from your client database, or sync with your AMS, to send regular, timely surveys that ask for internal feedback and, in turn, prompt a review on Google.
Not only that, but the system notifies your agency when a survey is completed, so you’ll be able to provide a timely response if they also leave a review on Google.
And, your positive reviews can automatically be added to your website to keep things fresh, so you don’t have to worry about changing them manually.
5. Build a modern insurance website.
In 2026, the last thing you want to come up against is a website that looks outdated, loads slowly, or doesn’t work on other devices.
In the context of a typical online search, your agency has only seconds to make a great first impression that decides whether someone stays or leaves your website.
If your website is running up against those problems, then here are the key factors you’ll want to consider with a modern website in 2026:
- Build a new website that uses modern design features and is mobile-responsive. Work with a provider, such as Agency Revolution, to create a website that reflects your agency and creates the best experience for your users.
- Make quote and service requests as simple as possible. With straightforward navigation and simple forms, create a streamlined experience for submitting forms and receiving real-time notifications.
- Incorporate pages for each insurance coverage and office location. Boost your agency’s online presence and make it easy for people to get insurance with you and contact your agency.
A lot of these features might be taken for granted, but in 2026, it’s time to make sure your agency has a website that competes, because as more and more of your competitors in the space are adapting, you don’t want to get caught behind.
Level up your insurance agency’s online presence with a Forge insurance website.
Most website providers do not understand the insurance industry. That’s not just their problem, but it becomes your problem if you have a website designed through them.
The reason is that, as an independent insurance agency, there is way more to insurance coverage than just the cost. It comes down to the value you offer as an advisor, along with the educational approach to informing clients and prospects about their options.
By getting a Forge insurance website, you’re not only working with a team that’s solely worked on websites for independent agencies from the beginning, but you’re also getting access to 200+ ready-to-use coverage pages and 60+ interactive graphics to educate and sell policies more easily.
Find out how you can upgrade to a Forge insurance website.
6. Manage leads as quickly as possible.
Just as people are using your online presence to judge your agency, they are also using the internet to compare and contrast you with your competitors.
One of the most common ways they do this is by requesting multiple quotes through different agencies in their area.
While things like price and coverage are their own beast, there is one crucial part you can control to help your agency stand out from the rest.
To do this, it all comes down to how you manage your leads, both sales and service, and most importantly, how quickly you do so.
Here are the steps you need to be taking to manage your leads as soon as you get a sales or service request:
- Vet and research your leads. Identify who they are, what they are asking for, assign a priority level, and have the right person on your team reach out right away.
- Follow up with your leads right away. Connect with the lead, make contact using the information you have, and guide them through your sales or service process.
- Close the deal or task. Take leads through your sales or service process in a streamlined way to reduce work and focus on the most engaged—don’t let bad leads linger.
By making these 3 changes to how you approach lead management, you’ll see an increase in your lead conversion rates and in the way you engage with those requests.
Boost your lead conversion rate by 4% with Lead Management Pipelines.
Our Fuse marketing automation platform includes a built-in Lead Management Pipeline tool that makes it easy to handle leads like this.
Not only does it sync with your sales and service forms, but it also lets you fully manage and automate the lead process, ensuring your agency responds right away and makes the best first impression.
On top of that, our Lead Management Pipeline tool provides a seamless dashboard your entire team can use to vet leads, connect with them, and move them from stage to stage.
Discover how you can stay on top of leads with Fuse marketing automation.
7. Upsell more policies in your current book of business.
According to Forbes, it’s 9 times less expensive to retain a client than to attain a new one. This comes down to the value of the policies each of your clients has with your agency and, ultimately, how sticky they become.
One of the key factors in increasing client retention rates—something that agencies using Agency Revolution have seen, with year-over-year increases of upwards of 5%—is sending targeted cross-sell campaigns via automated marketing (typically a mix of email, text message, and direct mail).
In order to take advantage of this strategy and start upselling more policies in 2026 to grow your retention, you need to:
- Identify which policies you want to cross-sell and focus each campaign on that. Review your book of business to identify gaps and trends.
- Split up your client list to create your target audience. Segment your clients who fit the category of having certain coverages but who don’t have others.
- Create content that motivates clients to take out another policy. By sending a more targeted message that resonates with your specific audience, you can build a stronger case as to why they need that additional coverage.
Developing cross-sell campaigns can give your agency a much-needed lift in client retention and lead to more clients getting additional policies with your agency, so they stick around longer.
Automate cross-sell campaigns with Fuse marketing automation.
Cross-sell campaigns are great, but without automations and ready-to-use content, it can take a bit of work.
That’s why, with our Fuse marketing automation platform, cross-sell campaigns are prominently featured and designed to use out of the box, so you can see the impact of this type of marketing campaign right away.
Not only does it automate the messages sent, but it also includes a content library full of campaigns you can use and audience-targeting tools that make it easy to send right-time, right-place messages.
Boost your business with cross-sell campaigns using Fuse marketing automation.
8. Meet and exceed service expectations.
As an independent insurance agency, you know all too well how important it is to serve your clients. It’s the key factor that sets you apart from captive agencies: you are your clients’ advocate.
From claims to renewals, staying on top of the service requests your agency likely receives daily will be even more critical as we head into 2026.
The reason is that clients’ expectations for service are rising, and in the insurance industry, that means you need to raise the bar to meet and exceed them.
There are simple, meaningful changes you can make to how you get and follow up on service requests to keep up with the growing demand:
- Use simple forms to enhance accessibility to the service. Make it easy for your clients to request their policies by including forms on your website or in an email campaign.
- Set up real-time notifications to never miss a request. Stay on top of service requests and resolve them as quickly as possible by notifying the right people on your team.
- Incorporate automated follow-ups. Use an automation tool, like Fuse, to send out real-time responses to service requests—like claims and renewals—to show that you are there for your clients.
Changing the way you handle service requests and being more accessible goes a long way toward meeting the high expectations your clients have.
Simplify service requests for you and your clients with our complete insurance marketing platform.
Imagine having built-in forms that give your clients peace of mind and 24/7 access to submit a service request, even after hours?
Now, add on top of that automated responses that set expectations of when they’ll hear back from your agency and the next steps they can take.
Plus, add on smart notifications that get these requests into the right hands at your agency.
Put all of those together, and you’ll have a recipe for a satisfying client experience that shows you are there for your clients.
Get client service center forms and more with our complete insurance marketing platform.
9. Give clients more ways to communicate with your agency.
In 2026, there’s no reason your agency should not already be providing your clients with as many ways to contact you as possible.
Not only does it add to your accessibility, but it also builds your agency’s credibility and trust with clients, knowing they can conveniently connect with your agency in their time of need.
Two of the most common gaps we see in insurance agencies’ client communications that should be addressed in 2026 include:
- Live website chat. People buying insurance and clients who need help opt to chat online, and having a live chat feature meets that demand.
- Text messaging. Most clients prefer to do business with your agency over the phone, including receiving text message updates and reminders from you.
When it comes to the insurance industry, it’s all about the role of servicing your clients. It also plays hand-in-hand with how they prefer to communicate with your agency.
While you likely already have a phone number and email, in 2026, make the change to be more accessible and available to your clients with live chat and text messaging.
Get both live chat and text messaging in one simple tool—Business Texting.
The most significant barrier to upgrading to live chat or even text messaging is the technology solutions available.
We created our Business Texting Add-On to enable your entire team not only to send and receive one-to-one text messages, but also to set it up as a live chat feature on your Forge website.
With a simple, single interface, smart notifications, and the ability to even use your existing phone number in most cases, Business Texting makes upgrading your client communications game easy.
Access our Business Texting Add-On to streamline communications.
10. Stand out from the competition.
When it comes to the insurance industry, standing out means doing something different from your competition.
Making changes to how you market and brand your business can have a lasting impact, putting your agency on a path to success.
In 2026, build a plan to stand out with marketing strategies that set you apart:
- Create a content calendar of email, blog, and social media content. This helps you plan your year ahead and ensures you can create and share timely, relevant content that drives more business.
- Find a niche and focus on that. Identify the insurance coverage or service area that sets your business apart, and focus on that in the content you create.
- Collaborate with a team, like Agency Revolution, to take the reins of your agency’s marketing to save you even more time. Marketing is essential, but imagine the power of marketing without the time investment.
Standing out in 2026 is going to come down to how your insurance agency is able to be the trusted source of information and insurance that you’re known for. A lot of that comes down to marketing your agency effectively.
Partner with Agency Revolution and our Do It For Me Marketing Add-On.
If you’ve always wanted to enhance your agency’s marketing but just don’t have the time or capacity, our team can handle it for you.
With Do It For Me Marketing, our team will collaborate with you to share email and social media content with monthly content calendars driven by thought leadership and industry insights that resonate directly with your audience.
Most importantly, this gives you time back in your day to focus on your clients while we handle your marketing.
Get done-for-you marketing with our newest Add-On.
Want to learn more?
If you’re ready to take the next step, our complete insurance marketing platform offers the tools and features your agency needs to stand out and succeed.
From marketing automation that keeps you connected with clients and boosts retention, to insurance websites designed to drive growth, and a suite of marketing tools to meet your needs, Agency Revolution is everything you need after your AMS.
Learn All About Our Complete Insurance Agency Marketing Platform
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