What You Need to Know About Lead Generation for Insurance Agencies

Insurance lead generation is a constant challenge for many in the independent insurance sector. The good news is your unique position presents some great options for generating leads in insurance that have been proven effective and reliable for insurance agents and brokers all over the world.

From an engaging website to working lead lists, lead generation in insurance requires an understanding of your audience. When you understand how potential leads prefer to communicate, you can interact with your audience where they are the most comfortable. For example, some potential leads respond best to email campaigns, while others prefer social media engagement. 

Your next step is to get personal. That means finding common ground using genuine conversations that show your human side and get your potential leads to open up. Find out what’s most important to a particular lead and you can build trust and a strong relationship that helps you earn their business. Here are seven insurance lead generation tips for understanding and attracting the most viable leads for your agency.

Build a Professional and Engaging Website

Your insurance website should be the foundation for your digital marketing and lead generation efforts. To attract leads through your website, we recommend:

• Prominently displaying “Get a Quote” buttons and contact forms on every web page, but keep your calls to action per page to a minimum.
• Featuring a testimonials page and using quotes from testimonials in other content pages. 
• Optimizing your website and its content to increase insurance lead generation and appeal to search engines. 

Your insurance website must be designed to serve as a hub for all of your marketing efforts. From attracting more leads to positioning your insurance brand as a valuable resource, ensuring consistent messaging across your website and digital channels is critical for growing your business. But even the most effective website can only do so much, so read on to discover more insurance lead generation ideas for growing your business. 

Get Involved with Your Community

Because of the highly “local” nature of independent agencies and brokerages, community takes on a special significance. I can think of no better example of community involvement than longtime client and friend of Agency Revolution, McClain Insurance Services in Everett, Washington, who have made active community involvement part of their company DNA. 

McClain Insurance participates in, conducts, and hosts over a dozen separate community programs every year. Here are some examples of the ways McClain Insurance gets involved in their community:

• Providing space for the annual “Stuff the Bus” Charity, which provides school supplies for local kids in need.
• Hosting a “Cinema Under the Stars” event that offers free outdoor screenings of family movies during the summer.
• Offering a defensive driver training class that can lead to a discount in coverage.

Getting involved in community activities does more than advertise your brand — it lets the people in your community know that you are there and that you care. Whether it’s because they heard your name on a local news report, saw your name on a banner at an outdoor movie, or saw that your agency is hosting an educational course they want to take, it shows people that you’re a part of their community, and that’s a powerful message.

Here are other ways you can harness the power of community outreach: 

• Join the Chamber of Commerce
• Advise local nonprofits on their insurance needs.
• Host insurance webinars for local small businesses and organizations.
• Sponsor local events, sports teams, or community programs.  
• Advise neighbors, friends, and relatives.
• Read your local paper to stay informed about the community and identify marriage and other announcements that could lead to sales opportunities. 

Set Up a Strong Referral Program

Referral programs are a powerful resource for attracting the very best kind of leads. Referrals are proven to have a high closing ratio and are more likely to become long-term loyal customers who often bring in even more referrals.

One of the most important tools for increasing referrals is insurance email marketing. When agents and brokers automate the email marketing process, it’s easy to send the right message at the right time to keep your brand top of mind with clients and potential referrals. Whether you’re driving referrals online or in person, don’t overlook the power of incentives. 

Let’s take a look at another Agency Revolution customer, Knapp-Tedesco Insurance, in Ames, Iowa. They have a popular referral program that offers a $5 Starbucks gift card for every referral. Every month they hold a raffle for a $25 restaurant gift card with the names of everyone who submitted a referral that month. Two times a year they hold another raffle to give away a $100 gas gift card. The raffles don’t just provide motivation for people to refer their friends; they make it fun and rewarding. Knapp-Tedesco has created a regular stream of new customers through their referral program and has proved that you don’t need a big fancy prize to drive referrals.

You can also keep your referral pipeline flowing by optimizing your email signature. You likely already use an email signature that includes your credentials and links to your website and social media platforms. What better place to include a referral request than in the communication tool your agency or brokerage uses most often? Because your referral request is so easy to fulfill — all your recipient has to do is press the “forward” button — they could be more inclined to pass along your valuable content. 

Share Informative and Interesting Content

As an insurance agent or broker, you know a lot about insurance. And most insurance consumers have a lot of questions they aren’t sure how to find the answers to. It’s the core of why content marketing has become such an important tool for generating leads in insurance. Like we illustrated in our recent content marketing guide, you don’t need to have the prettiest content out there to attract the people you want, you just need to prove that you’re a valuable source for the information they need.

Start by figuring out what people want to know and answer their questions online in as many ways as you can. Whether it’s by writing blog articles, creating a two-minute video, or hosting an insurance Q&A on your Facebook page, you should show off your insurance knowledge at every opportunity.

If you feel crunched for time and creative resources, there are plenty of options for getting the help you need. For example, Agency Revolution offers world-class copywriting and web design services, and our powerful lead-gen suite, Attract™ comes bundled with a constantly updating content library full of articles, videos, infographics, and more great content perfectly suited for today’s busy agency or brokerage.

Be Social — Brag a Little

When you’re creating helpful, informative content, it’s important to make it easy to find. Lead generation in insurance is all about connecting and sharing your expertise. Whenever you create something that you know can help someone find the answers they’re looking for, you should feel proud of that, and you should let the world know. Don’t just stop with posting links to your content on social media; be part of a conversation with people online, and share that content whenever you see someone looking for answers.

In our webinar presentation “6 Social Media Marketing Musts” we noted that one of the very best ways to establish a strong social media presence is to create great online experiences. There’s no better place to start than the kind of community involvement we focused on at the beginning of this article. People like companies that support their communities. If you’re doing something to provide real value and support, no one’s going to mind if you brag about it a little. That’s exactly what people “like” online.

When other members of your community are part of the project you supported or made possible, they want to share those stories. Those are the posts people will write comments on, share with their friends online, and let people know, “Hey, I saw my agents at this charity — it’s really cool they helped make it possible.” The more you interact with and support your community, the more experiences you, and your audience, can share online.

Connect with Influencers

Connecting with influential people in your community acts as a multiplier for everything else you do to generate new leads. Whenever you get involved with a popular community or charity event, share a helpful and informative piece of content, or set up a great new referral program, the right influencer spreads that message to their community network as well. When those influencers share your message, it carries the trust and reputation they’ve created and it strengthens your brand and your position in the community.

Where to Go from Here

All of this may seem like a lot to take in, but it comes down to one unifying concept: Connecting on a personal level and building strong relationships with the people you serve is the best way to increase lead generation in insurance. Find fun and helpful ways to get involved with your community. Share your knowledge and the experiences you create at every opportunity. Create relationships with other people and organizations that your audience trusts.

When you’re ready to put these insurance lead generation tools to work for your agency, let our automated platform Fuse™ streamline your efforts and build more genuine relationships. Get a free demo today and start generating better leads more often.