Top 10 Agency Marketing Questions, Answered

If your insurance agency is like most, marketing isn’t always your focus. In fact, there are probably questions swirling around that you’ve wondered about.

And, if you’re curious, you might have even asked these questions in a Google search, or even gone down the rabbit hole of asking AI for more information.

In the spirit of curiosity, I did an AI search of my own, this time asking the question: “What are the most common questions that insurance agencies ask about marketing?”

What I found was intriguing, so much so that I’ve not only compiled a list of those top questions, but I took an in-depth look at every question and tried my best to give an answer that can give you the clarity to those questions you’ve probably thought about, but never got the chance to ask.

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1. Where do potential clients search for solutions?

This is a great question to ask, because it turns the focus away from the agency, and puts us in the shoes of someone looking for insurance. And that’s exactly the mindset you need to be in, in order to have a presence in the places they are spending time or where and how they are searching for your business (or businesses like yours).

To answer that first part, while it varies, most people are going to be searching on Google or even Bing when they are first starting their exploration into insurance agencies.

How they search on these platforms can vary, as more and more people are actually using the AI search function, which scours the internet (as well as your website, reviews, and online listings) to pull relevant information at a moment’s notice.

Regardless of how they search for you, the important thing to keep in mind is how you appear, and is the information that shows up about your business accurate?

You can experiment with this on your own. Try running an AI search and ask a few questions about what it knows about your agency, how to contact your business, and other details. Does it get it right, or are some of the details fuzzy?

If what you see makes sense, you’ll know you at least have a good foundation for your online listings and website. If the info that shows up is questionable at best, you might need to consider what’s displayed on your website and across directory listings.

That takes us to the second part of this question, “Am I present in those places?”

This can be a harder question to answer unless you know where to look. The best places to start are, by far, Google.

Do you have a Google Business Profile? Do a search of your agency’s name, and see if your business details show up in the right-hand sidebar. If nothing appears, you might need to set one up.

Some places to check would be commonly used sites like:

• Google
• Bing
• Facebook
• Bing
• Apple Maps
• Yellow Pages

Regardless of the results, you’ll want to make sure the information in those directory listings is accurate. And, if possible, you’ll want to follow the steps to gain access to your listings. Being able to update these listings means your information is correct, so that people looking online for your business (or even searching for the services you offer in your area) can ideally find you.

If you don’t want to put in the work to check all those places manually (and we wouldn’t blame you), we do have a cheat code with our Local Listings Add-On. This completely streamlines the process of updating (and maintaining) your agency’s business information across not only the top listings I mentioned but also 50+ others.

2. How do I get my message to potential customers?

One thing that can get your agency on the map in the noise of the internet is simple: a website. But your website needs to have some key things to actually do what you want it to do, namely, getting your message across.

Those elements that every insurance website should have include the following must-haves:

• Reflect the agency. Make a strong first impression that shows what your business is all about.
• Meet expectations. Incorporate 24/7 client self-service forms, live chat, and client portal integrations.
• Sales tools. Support your sales pitch with tools that empower your agents.
• Mobile responsive. Ensure your website is designed to work across all device types.
• SEO foundations. Build a structure of great content for your offerings to show up to the right people.
• Easy to use. Keep it simple and accessible for users to find the information they are looking for.
• SSL security. Make sure your website has a security blanket to protect it from spam and hacking attempts.

If you have a website right now, I would encourage you to ask your provider whether they already do these things for you, and, if not, how they can rectify that.

And, if you have a Forge insurance website, you can sit back knowing that these core essentials are already built in for you, keeping you ahead of the game so you can showcase your business and reach the right people.

3. How do I stand out from competitors?

Standing out from the crowd comes down to identifying and marketing your agency’s niche.

And by niche, I’m talking about:

• Insurance products that you specialize in.
• Industries with which you do a lot of business.
• A region or area that you are focused on.
• Additional services on top of insurance that you offer.

Your agency, be it generalist or not, still has a niche, even if you haven’t clearly defined it yet. The best way to figure out what your niche is to ask yourself, what does your agency do really well that sets it apart from the agency down the street from you?

You can follow the steps outlined here to find and make an impact in your area of expertise, but simply put, you can follow this core approach to give your agency the edge in your particular market.

• Identify what sets your agency apart.
• Expand your reach with marketing in your niche.
• Build a referral network based on your target audience.
• Use technology solutions to promote your niche online.

That, combined with the fact that you’re likely an independent insurance agency, gives you the advantage over captive agents.

You have to remember that the independent model focuses on advising and relationship-building, so lean into that as a major part of what helps you stand out.

4. How can I rank for ‘insurance agency near me’?

Ranking on Google and other search engines, especially on the first page, is not something that you can flip a switch on. It’s more of a marathon than a sprint, where you need to stick with the core foundations of your online presence to truly grow and expand your reach in search rankings.

The technical term for this is SEO (search engine optimization), and you might have heard about it before. These include 200+ factors, many of which are out of your control, to determine how and where your business shows up online.

However, there are things you can control to make an impact, and with the right foundation and a little work on your side, you’ll see improvement over time.

I’ll break this down into three buckets:

• Establishing SEO foundations. There are key elements that your website needs to have, including content that covers what you offer, location pages, image optimization, mobile-friendliness, and more.
• SEO content. Creating and adding to your website content in the form of blog articles and coverage pages that specifically address real client questions and offer insights into the services you offer and locations you serve.
• Proactive strategies. Leverage reviews, backlinks, social media, and more to boost your online presence over time.

If you want to learn even more about how to stand out online and take a deeper dive into these three buckets, you’ll want to download our Ultimate SEO and AEO Guide for Insurance Agencies, which has everything you need to understand the basics, what steps to take next, and what you need to be aware of going forward.

And, if you want to have a website that already has these essential SEO foundations built in so you can get found in the first place, our Forge insurance website platform gives you a strong starting point to work toward ranking higher in search results.

5. How do I prevent my marketing emails from going to spam?

If you’re running into issues with your emails not being seen or opened by your audience, or, worse yet, being sent to spam, you might need to rethink the systems you have in place for sending emails in the first place.

The reasons for this could include:

• The number of emails you are sending, and which email server they are being sent from.
• Emails are being sent to contacts who are not expecting communications from you, resulting in negative impacts and spam complaints.
• Not having the right domain authentication, which some email providers will see as suspicious.
• Using free, generic email domains like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com instead of your company’s domain name.

Now that you know the dont’s of sending out emails, you might be asking, “How do I do this the right way?”

To answer that follow-up, I’ll give you an example of what our Fuse marketing automation platform does to help agencies send out automated emails with high deliverability rates:

• We proactively work with you to ensure the email you use (or that we help you set up) follows best practices for sending marketing emails.
• We use our own mail server to send emails with smarts built in, so every email looks like it’s coming directly from a real person at your agency.
• We have a built-in system that can notify your team of who in your audience on the AMS level does not have an addressable email, so you can resolve that and increase your email list.
• We have built in unsubscribe options to cover E&O requirements, so you don’t get hit with spam complaints.

With all of this in mind, by following best practices and ensuring you reach out to the right people through a system with those pieces in place, you’ll start to see an increase in client engagement from your email marketing efforts.

6. How do I make it easier for people to contact me?

Having a website is one thing; having your business information easy to find online is another. Thankfully, this is, in many ways, easier to resolve once your website is established.

Try the following experiment: go to your website, and count how many clicks it takes (if any) to find your agency’s contact information, such as your phone number and email address.

If you have to click more than once to find that information, you’re already hitting up against a wall. The best practice, especially for an insurance agency, is to have that information as easily accessible as possible.

On our Forge insurance website platform, we’ll feature this in the top menus, in callouts on the homepage or footer, so that without clicking even once, you can see the contact information.

This is a game-changer, and it ties in with the fact that most people, especially if they are not a client of yours, will only stick around on your website for a few seconds before deciding whether to move on.

If you can prove to them in those few seconds, “Here is what your agency offers, and here’s how to get in touch with you,” you have them. If not, they will likely look for another agency to meet their needs.

This is why it’s crucial to have your business information front and center and easy to find, so you can make the best first impression and keep things simple for the end user.

7. How do I get more qualified insurance leads?

Getting real, genuine leads for your business can be broken down into two things.

One, website lead generation forms.

This is a must for every agency to have an easy way for visitors to your website to request a quote or consultation with your business. It also ties in directly with the call-to-actions built in across your website to drive people to take the action that you’re intending them to take.

This comes down to call-to-actions that lead to a form for quote/new business requests:

• Within your main menu.
• On the homepage.
• On targeted insurance coverage pages.
• In the footer.

Second, lead management.

Every agency I speak with wants to know how to get more leads, but they aren’t asking what they should do with those leads when they do come through.

This is where I see many agencies struggle to make timely contact with these leads, and often they get missed, and by the time the agency reaches out, they’ve already signed up with another agency.

You need to have a lead management system (or at least a process workflow) that you can follow up on each and every new business request as soon as possible.

So, in looking at your own website, see if you have a form that one, not only shows interest in working with your business, but also informs the right people on your team to take immediate action in handling that lead.

In fact, our Fuse marketing automation platform comes built-in with a Lead Management Pipeline tool that lets you add leads, assign them to your team, send smart notifications to the right people, and uses an interactive interface to take leads from interest to client across several steps that align with your agency.

8. How can I get more online reviews?

I can answer this in two words.

The best place to start with getting more reviews is simple: Just ask.

It sounds so simple, and in many cases, simpler than it would actually be in practice. But at a high level, when working with your clients and building those relationships, there are key touchpoints in that cycle that present a prime opportunity to ask for a review, which can ultimately bolster your online reputation.

Taking this right-time, right-place approach is the best way I’ve seen agencies lean into growing their reviews.

You also need to be in the mindset of not just celebrating the wins (those great 5-star reviews) but also knowing when to stop, listen, and adjust when you get less-than-positive feedback from your clients.

In fact, the negative reviews are almost always the best for your agency in terms of growth opportunities, as you can internalize the feedback, identify the problem, and find not just a resolution to that one situation but also a way to prevent it in the future.

If you want to automate review surveys, our complete insurance marketing platform includes our Reputation Management feature, which can be synced up to your AMS to send out targeted surveys to your clients using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) system, that let’s them give you internal feedback and the option to also leave a public-facing review on Google.

9. How much time should I spend on social media?

This question on the surface level makes sense, but when we dig into the layers of what you’re actually spending your time on with social media, it’s more about the content you are sharing, where you are sharing it, and who you are trying to reach.

Not every agency needs a dedicated social media person. In fact, most agencies we work with do not.

That doesn’t mean that they (or you) should neglect social media entirely. Rather, you need to go into it with purpose and a plan.

First, what do you want to achieve from engagement on social media, beyond the importance of just having a presence? Are you looking to post about the personal side of your business, educational content to help your clients, etc.?

Second, which platforms do you want to focus on, and where are most of your clients and target audience spending their time? We’ve found that most agencies land on using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, but it comes down to how you want to engage and what content you want to share.

Once you have those two pieces mapped out, the last part is content creation and execution. And this is where I see the drop off of many agencies that want to be engaged and active on social media, but fail to do so for lack of time or input.

The key to solving this is using a system that can post for you, if not at least make it as easy as possible to draft or use content to post in just a few clicks.

Our Social Media Add-On does all of this and more, empowering you to set up automated posts that pull from your preferences, allowing you to post personalized content and images from one platform, and even leans into AI to suggest content to post and share. All of that to say, it does your marketing for you and helps you strategize what to post to stay active.

10. How can I build long-term client relationships?

Contrary to what you might expect, the answer is that your clients actually want to hear from you more than they currently do.

Most agencies I speak with say their communication with clients starts at sign-up, and otherwise only when it’s renewal time. Having only a couple of interactions each year is a dangerous path to tread, simply because if you aren’t being communicative and staying proactive with your clients, someone else will.

As an independent agency, you can’t sell on price alone. You need to establish strong relationships and trust that keeps your clients around longer.

The best and easiest way to do that is to engage in marketing automation to streamline the communications you send out, be it email, text message, or direct mail.

With a smart automation system, you can not just reach out to your entire client base, but with our Fuse platform, you can also connect it with your AMS directly to automatically send messages during key milestones:

• A welcome kit to onboard new clients.
• A birthday message to celebrate their special day.
• A claims follow-up that offers instant support.
• A series of renewal reminders and cross-sell opportunities.

These are just a few examples, but the gist is that hearing from your agency is the best way to retain your book of business, and spending more time in one-on-one communication with those who engage with and reply to your automated messages is better spent there than manually sending emails each week.

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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.

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