Social Media for Insurance Agents

Social Media is not going anywhere anytime soon, if you’re not using this tool for your business, you may be missing out. Social Media, once understood, is an easy way to get your message, and services, in front of the right people. With an estimated 3.48 billion people using social media, your clients and prospects are ready and waiting to hear from you.

The use of social media by seniors 65+ continues to rise every year, with numbers doubling since 2012. Tech-savvy Baby Boomers are aging. What this means is that your clients and your prospects are without a doubt on social media. Are you marketing to them through these platforms?

Understanding what the platforms are, how they work and using data from Pew Research Center will help you decide which platform to use to grow your business. We’ll begin by breaking down what you need to know about the most frequently used social media platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Facebook usage continues to rise year after year, especially in the 50+ age range, making the case that Facebook’s demographic is getting older. Since users visit this platform at least once a day, if not more, this a great place to begin building your social media presence.

• 75% of American women and 63% of American men use Facebook
• 7/10 US Adults use Facebook 
• 74% visit Facebook at least once daily
• 68% of those aged 50-64 use Facebook 
• 46% of Facebook users are 65 and older, which has doubled since 2012
• 43% of females are users and 57% users are men

LinkedIn has a very specific user base, mostly educated people who are looking to connect, for business purposes, in a professional manner. While you may not be actively looking for prospects on LinkedIn, it’s still important to have a professional, personal page on this platform, and actively connect and post content. This shows you as an expert in the Medicare field, and your connections will remember your name when it comes to referrals.  

• 630 million users; 303 million monthly users
• 57% male; and 43% female
• 45% of users are in upper-level positions
• 49% of users earn more than $75k annually 

Twitter is more complex in terms of marketing, as it moves at a high rate of speed, which shortens its life span and the limit on characters is also a challenge. In recent years, the average age of a Twitter user has increased, partly due to the Baby Boomers aging.

• 330 Million Monthly Active Users, and 134 million daily active users
• 63% of Twitter users are between 35-65 years old, the average age of a Twitter user is 40
• 66% of users are male; 34% of users are Female

Even though Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter all bring value to your business in different ways, don’t feel like you have to use them all at once. It’s better to do one well, rather than being stretched too thin and having mediocre results.

Get Started with Social Media

Once you have chosen which channel you’d like to begin with, it’s time to get started on how to use social media effectively for your business. We’ve outlined some tips for you to consider when getting started: 

• Have A Plan – We all know to be successful; we need to set goals for ourselves, a marketing strategy is no different. Knowing what you’d like to provide your clients and prospects will help when developing content for postings. You may want to take a look at other businesses similar to yours to see what they are doing for some ideas. 

• Stay Compliant – CMS has strict rules when it comes to marketing. Making sure you stay generic in your postings and content will help you stay compliant. If you are a UIG agent we have put together some compliant generic graphics to get you started. 

• Content is King – Providing value will show your clients and prospects you are the expert in Medicare and will deem you as trustworthy. Whether you are writing blog posts on topics you find informative for your clients and prospects, or you are using curated content, properly credited, of course, will help you to educate your audience.
  
  Some places you can pull curated content from: Medicare.Gov, AARP’s Blog, Senior Planet

• Be Consistent – If you decide to be active on social media, make sure you stay consistent with postings. Not only does this help with relationship building, but the more often you’re engaging and posting, the more your postings will be seen by your audience. If posting every day seems like too much to handle, commit to posting 2-3 times a week. You can even develop a monthly content calendar to keep you organized and save time during the day.

• Creativity is a Must –Remember, a picture, or graphic, is worth a thousand words, so make sure you include one. UIG has developed some generic graphics for our agents to use on their social media outlets. There are also a few sites such as canva.com or pexels.com that offer free images to use on social media channels.

• Video Content – Over the last few years, video has taken social media by storm. Posting a 30-second message to your audience provides a good ROI, as 54% of Seniors and Baby Boomers watch videos online. A Google study suggested 3 out of 4 baby boomers have taken an action after watching a video online.  

Being active on social media will enhance your online presence and provide a source of networking and referrals for your business, if you keep these tips in mind. As always, UIG is here to help you grow your business, please let us know if you need any help getting started on social media.