First, there was Black Friday, and now there’s Small Business Saturday. Small business is trending. In fact, Small Biz Trends states that “more than a quarter of U.S. consumers say that they’re likely to shop at small businesses more often in 2018 than they did in 2017.” If you’re not selling artisan beer or a line of decorative pillows, how can you step into this small business trend and use it to boost insurance jobs at your independent insurance agency?
Focus Advertising in Your Local Community
Whether you’re developing inbound blog posts or placing ads on Google, focus some of your energy on the local market. Use locally-oriented keywords and focus on the local connection in your blogs and social media advertising. Your local customers will appreciate the fact that you’re targeting that specific market.
Pair Your Website With Your Local Presence
It’s not enough to have a brick-and-mortar storefront. Invest time and money in your online presence as well. Build a strong website with information and products that appeal to your local demographics. Create landing pages and other website pages that focus on the needs of locals: for example, if you’re hosting events about specific emergency or insurance issues, highlight those for locals to find. Create customer support options online or on devices, such as text-based support or web support. Use artificial intelligence such as bots to complement your personal touch on the web.
Bricks and Mortar Matter
According to Small Biz Trends, “60 percent of shoppers prefer to buy or interact with small businesses in stores.” Your customers want you to be able to answer questions in person, and they want to talk with you about your insurance products. Don’t get so wrapped up in your web presence that you forget about your in-person customers.
Give Customers an Opportunity to Get to Know You
For the emerging Millennial generation, it’s particularly important for them to know a small business deeply. That means that you need to have obvious corporate values and share them with others. That might mean exploring how you interact internally and creating a value statement for your website. It could also mean that you explore how you want to interact with the local community and focus on a few charitable causes every year.
Know Your Locals
Just because customers are local doesn’t mean that they’re all the same. Get to know your local audience by dividing your customer groups not only in terms of geography but in terms of interests. For example, you will get better advertising results if you talk with those who are interested in attending a workshop on auto insurance rather than just sending out information about the workshop to everyone in your local email list.
At American Agents Alliance, we’re here to support the development of your small business. We understand the needs of insurance companies and will work with you to help you network, educate your employees, and protect yourself with E&O insurance. Contact us today to learn more about our many membership benefits.
