It’s no secret anymore that social media is huge in the marketing world. If you own a business, or are in any sort of sales driven field and you aren’t on social media, open a new tab and start a face book, or twitter, or Instagram, anything, then come back here and we will continue. Older generations may be a little more hesitant to dive into social media, but as millennials grow up, you need to be on social media. Social media can seem intimidating or silly, but if you set measurable goals, social media may be what your marketing is missing.
Like any kind of promotion or marketing, you need to figure out the ROI or return on investment. Social media is no different. As an insurance agent, leads are what you are after, so how can you determine if you have leads coming via social media? Online we are looking for conversions, essentially they are measurable actions to gauge how effective your marketing is. For an insurance agent, you can gauge effectiveness by measuring
– Contact forms
– Information downloads
– On-line quotes
Nowadays you can track your customers or leads activity on your site or on your social media, so you can determine how many people saw the ad vs. how many people completed the desired action ie. filled out a form or visited your site from your social media.
Once you figure out what you want to accomplish with social media, you have to decide what platform you want to be on. If you are unfamiliar with social media, each platform lends itself better to certain business areas. Instagram, for example, is primarily based around the sharing of photos or short videos, so naturally businesses that have visually appealing merchandise or products, like a restaurant, could use Instagram to great effect. A business like insurance sales wouldn’t necessarily lend itself to Instagram, but it doesn’t hurt. That’s the beauty of social media, it doesn’t cost you a thing, and you can (and should) be on multiple platforms. The only thing that will cost you money on social media is boosting posts or paying for ads, and these are easily tracked so you can tell how effectively your money is being spent.