5 Insurance Marketing Strategies for Every Agent

The word marketing has a different meaning for each agency. Although insurance customers renew their policies yearly, insurance agencies still depend on using marketing strategies to consistently grow their customer base. That’s why it’s important to work with carriers that have a robust offering of tools and solutions that can provide guidance on marketing for insurance agencies.

1. Develop a local organic search strategy

It’s no surprise in today’s world, nearly all online experiences begin with a search engine. Furthermore, 46% of all Google searches are for local information, proving that investing in organic search can directly translate to relevant, local leads.¹ Think about the last purchase you made, chances are you did some online research first.

When it comes to appearing in search results, keyword research plays a big part in SEO. To optimize your content, you’ll want to research the top keywords for insurance agencies and ensure you include them.

Learn more about SEO for insurance agents

For appointed agencies, every agency location has its own page on the Nationwide Agent Locator to help their business appear in search engines for local searches. Having a page on the website of strong brand like Nationwide improves the agency’s overall authority on the internet and allows their locator page to rank for commonly searched terms that a small business would otherwise find challenging. The capabilities with the Agent Locator ensures Nationwide agents are highly visible anywhere a user is interacting online. In 2022, Agent Locator had a 18% year-over-year increase in revenue-generating engagement like clicks-to-call, direction clicks, and clicks-to-email.²

2. Utilize co-branding assets

Insurance agencies differ on their views of co-branding, but those who embrace it find that it can be an effective marketing tool.  With co-branding, you can add brand credibility and find new marketing opportunities. To help make the most of the opportunity, think through your goals with co-branding.

• Who is your target audience?
• Will co-branding help me appeal to a larger or different audience than if I just used my agency branding?
• What tactic will meet your needs – a digital or print piece?
• Do I have the partners’ permission and standards on how to use their logo?
• Do they provide tools to make it easy (e.g., logos in various formats, templates)?

Nationwide offers a variety of marketing resources materials for independent agents on Marketing Central that can be built and ready in a few simple steps. Agent Brand Suite, our signature campaign, allows agencies to lead with their brand and help a client understand the value of an independent agent.

3. Create content that conveys authenticity and consistency

When it comes to digital marketing for insurance agencies, it’s important to share an authentic perspective consistently across platforms. Your mission and core values can be a good place to start, consider sharing content that answers:

• Why you’re in this business
• How sales and support staff believe in the mission
• How you meet customer needs
• Ways you’re involved in the community

Keep in mind that you should always think “outside in” when designing content for your insurance agency. Connect your capabilities and experience to what it means for the customer and think of engaging ways to deliver the message. For example, instead of just saying your agency has been in business for 25 years, it may also be effective to have a few of your best customers provide a testimonial of how your agency has gone above and beyond for them, especially after a claims event.

Learn more on how to thrive with local marketing

4. Invest in client communication

Findings from an Agency Forward survey showed 94% of agents reported they are regularly checking in with their customers to make sure their policy fits their needs. However, only 69% of customers reported sufficient check-ins from their agent.³

When it comes to their preferences, our research found customers preferred to receive communications from their agent or Nationwide via email.

Top reasons included being able to document conversations, account changes, and transactions. Email allows them to easily sort through exchanges with their agent and carrier.

Learn how clients rank their communication preferences

Our research found customers appreciated a follow-up via mail, especially to ensure they didn’t miss any critical communications. For example, when it’s time to do an annual review. In an industry that’s all about relationships, materials like sending a personalized greeting card, calendar, or small token of appreciation to a client can go a long way. The Nationwide Catalog has some great ideas to help you reconnect.

5. Consider pay per click advertising

Developing content allows agencies to grow their clientele organically, but in such a competitive industry, agents should use every tool to their advantage. Pay per click (PPC) advertising is a powerful insurance marketing strategy for agents looking to get a step ahead of their local competition.

According to Google, every $1 spent on PPC advertising experienced a $2 return on average.⁴ At a minimum, PPC advertising allows insurance agencies to target specialized queries, locations, and audiences, to appear in front of more potential customers.

In an increasingly digital world, the future of an agent’s business relies on insurance marketing strategies that can meet the clients where they are. Using these tips and tools to find potential new customers is a great start.