Content Marketing 101 for Insurance Agents

Going for the hard sell isn’t always the best approach. When it comes to sectors like commercial insurance, taking the time to build relationships and provide helpful information can go a long way toward turning leads into loyal customers. That’s why content marketing can be a powerful tool for insurance agents.

As The Content Marketing Association explains, “Content marketing is the discipline of creating quality branded editorial content across all media channels and platforms to deliver engaging relationships, consumer value and measurable success for brands.”

In other words, content marketing for insurance agents can involve creating anything from blog articles to infographics to videos that would interest customers, and it can be win-win long-term. For example, a promotional message might be a Facebook post that says, “Buy insurance now, discounted premiums available!” Yet, as an insurance agent using content marketing, you might instead share one of your blog posts about budgeting strategies for new business owners. 

Although this content might not immediately lead to a sale, it can help draw prospects in and deliver value to current customers. Over time, that can lead to increased trust, helping you get more signups, renewals and referrals. 

In this guide, we’ll dive into more depth on:

• Why insurance agents should consider using content marketing
• Types of content marketing for insurance agents
• How to create content marketing
• How to turn content marketing into sales for insurance agents

If you want to convert the prospects you draw in through content marketing into customers, we can help. Simply click the button below to learn more. 

Why Should Insurance Agents Use Content Marketing?

Content marketing tends to be more of a long-term play for insurance agents than some other forms of marketing. It takes time for audiences to move from consuming your content to eventually purchasing. 

For example, a business owner might come across your content via a web search that takes them to your blog. They might read a couple articles and then move on. They have made a purchase, but they are now aware of your brand. A few months later, they might decide to search for business insurance providers and come across your site. They remember your content and decide to go with you. 

While this may not sound very efficient, it can still pay off. Content marketing for insurance agents offers benefits such as:

Reaching a more engaged audience: 

Content marketing for insurance agents can include helpful content for business owners and executives. So, your audience might be more receptive to what you have to say, as opposed to potentially having their guard up when reviewing sales information. This receptive audience can then engage with your brand for long periods of time. Reading a whitepaper, for instance, can be far more of an in-depth interaction than scrolling past your ad.

Improving SEO: 

Content marketing can be a great way for insurance agents to improve SEO. If you blog, for example, you can include keywords in your articles related to the audience you’re trying to attract. Or you can add keywords to targeted landing pages (like what you can create with Wheelhouse). Then, when they search for those terms, they might come across your content and learn about your brand.

Expanding your social media audience: 

Sharing quality content on social media could lead to more engagement than promotional posts. For example, if you share on Twitter a helpful article for business owners, that might get retweeted by one of your followers who thinks their own network would benefit from your advice. That could lead to more people learning about and following your brand.

Growing your email list: 

Similar to how insurance agents can grow their social media using content marketing, it can also help you add email subscribers. If you send out e-newsletters with content that provides value to customers, they may share that with other business owners, who then join your email list. Over time, these new subscribers could become customers.

Enhancing your reputation: 

Content marketing can also be a great way for insurance agents to boost overall brand perception. If you share helpful, insightful content, that may make others think highly of your brand. As your reputation grows for having a valuable voice among your audience, that can lead to more customers. For example, your current customers might recommend your insurance agency to other business owners because they appreciate all the useful content you provide, rather than just bombarding them with sales pitches.

Types of Content Marketing for Insurance Agents

Content marketing can come in many different types of formats, which is great for insurance agents who excel in different areas of content strategy and creation. These types of content include:

Short-form written content: 

The most popular type of B2B content marketing is blog posts/short articles, according to a 2020 survey by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs, commissioned by ON24. Other types of relatively short written content, like case studies, are also popular. Keep in mind, however, that content like case studies should still be used to provide value to your audience, rather than just bragging about your brand.

Long-form written content: 

Another good approach to content marketing for insurance agents could be long-form written content. Commercial insurance can be complex, and writing about business ownership also has a lot of layers. You can’t always provide the nuance these areas deserve with short content, so sometimes it pays off to create longer written content, like whitepapers or ebooks.

Videos: 

Many brands create videos to connect with their audiences. This type of content marketing for insurance agents depends on your topics and audience. Some clients might be interested in reading more in-depth, informational content. But if you have a decent following on social media, for example, you might find that sharing short videos about business advice could be engaging.

Email: 

Email marketing for insurance agents can be highly effective, including when approached with a content marketing mindset. It is also the second most popular form of B2B content marketing, according to the CMI/MarketingProfs survey. That’s not to say that you can never have promotional email campaigns, but you might find success by having your general e-newsletters more focused on delivering value through content. You could link to some recent blog posts, share a video from another brand, write a few helpful tips related to the current economy, etc.

Graphics: 

Another type of content marketing for insurance agents is infographics, charts, and/or photos. Nearly two-thirds of B2B marketers use these, finds CMI/MarketingProfs. You could create everything from charts about small business trends to photos of company events as a way to showcase the personality of your brand.

Events: 

You might not think of events as content, but webinars, in-person seminars and other events can be used to share helpful information with your audience. In many cases, events can tie into other types of content marketing. For example, you might create an email campaign connected to a webinar series you’re hosting about small business sales advice. 

How Can Insurance Agents Create Great Content Marketing?

When it comes to creating content marketing for insurance agents, there are a few different ways to go. For example, you can:

• Create the content yourself
• Have colleagues create the content
• Jointly create content with colleagues or other business professionals
• Consult with a third-party, such as working with a freelance content marketer to help you shape your ideas
• Outsource your content marketing entirely to a third-party 

All of these approaches have their pluses and minuses. Much depends on your budget and comfort level. If you like to write, you might find that creating your own blog posts works well. Then, perhaps, you might work with a video producer to create a series of educational videos.

Or, you might be limited on time, so jot down notes and have a content marketing agency clean them up into finished articles. No matter the approach to content marketing for insurance agents, keep in mind the following:

Remember your audience: 

You want to create content that’s valuable to prospects and customers, not just something that promotes yourself.

Create what you know: 

Don’t get too far out of your comfort zone. If you know a lot about business budgeting, write about that. But if you don’t know what to say about how small businesses should approach hiring, then skip that topic.

Be patient: 

Content marketing for insurance agents can involve a lot of trial-and-error. See what works in terms of attracting an audience, and don’t give up if you don’t find success right away. “Results will vary, but you should see results within six months of starting your content marketing efforts,” says Fractl, a content marketing agency. 

Getting the Most Out of Content Marketing

Content marketing can be a valuable way for insurance agents to connect with customers and ultimately grow their businesses. To get the most out of it, though, it helps if you have the tools in place to easily close deals. 

If a prospect comes across your blog you want it to be easy for them to move through the sales funnel. Be sure to include a call-to-action, such as to schedule a meeting, sign up for your email list or receive a quote. 

Using tools like Wheelhouse can help. You can create custom landing pages to use for your CTA links. And you can easily enable website visitors to obtain bindable quotes. That way, you don’t always have to push to close deals. As your audience engages with your content they may look on your website to learn about your offerings. 

So, by having Wheelhouse in place, they can quickly get the information they need. Plus, you have made it easy to purchase a policy from you. After all the hard work you put into creating content and marketing it, it’s nice to have a simple way to close deals.