Facebook for Insurance Agents (15 Best Practices)

For industries with a longer sales cycle like insurance, using social platforms like Facebook to strengthen your relationships with policyholders is one of the smartest business decisions you can make. It can cost five times as much to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer. But what does it take to retain someone in the digital age? It takes regular communication that is engaging, valuable and relevant, and Facebook offers the opportunity to create just that.

Knowing where to start and how to get the most out of Facebook can be challenging; that’s why we’ve compiled our favorite insider tips to help you succeed. Ready to talk Facebook for Insurance Agents? Here are 15 best practices:

1. Revisit Your Profile Information

When was the last time you read your own profile? Make sure it’s current, personable and shares relevant information about your business.

2. Pick Your Profile Picture Carefully

Your Facebook profile picture is small but mighty. This image will be tied to everything you post, so use a high-quality, professional-looking photo. Both company logos and personal headshots work in this space. If you use a logo, make sure any text is legible and if you use a headshot make sure you’re recognizable.

3. Keep Track of Your Peers

If your page has at least 100 likes, you can see the page insights of your peers and competitors. From the Insights tab, scroll down to Pages to Watch. Click Add Pages and search and choose at least five pages you’re interested in. Click Watch Page for each. You’ll be able to compare your likes, number of posts, and engagement on a weekly basis with each page you added.
If a peer page had a super engaging week, visit their page and see what they’ve been up to.

You can also stay on top of industry trends and peers by simply liking their pages, along with relevant publications and organizations so you can see their posts on your timeline. This can serve as a robust resource for articles, videos and information to share and repurpose.

4. Post Valuable Information

You have something your policyholders want but don’t necessarily have — knowledge. You are an expert when it comes to all things insurance, which, to be honest, is pretty complicated and confusing for many people.

Use your Facebook page to share bite-sized nuggets of insurance information that makes people feel like they’re gaining the inside scoop or learning something new and helpful. This is what people like and share. At some point, when they need someone who’s knowledgeable about insurance, they’ll remember you.

5. Check Your Facts and Spelling

This standard practice should go without saying, and yet, it still needs to be said. Review everything for typos, proper grammar and correct info before posting. Take a minute to check for these easily avoidable mistakes.

6. Include Images in Your Posts

Facebook posts with images not only see 2.3 times more engagement than text posts, visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared. Log on to any social platform, and it’s easy to see how far the scales have tipped in favor of visuals. Take your own photos or use stock photography. Whatever you do, make sure the images are high quality.

7. Connect Your Instagram Account to Your Facebook Account

Because Facebook owns Instagram, there’s a pretty seamless interaction between the two platforms. The next time you want to post a photo to Instagram, select the Facebook icon first, and the app will take you through the steps to connect your accounts. This is a great way to get some extra mileage out of your Instagram photos.

8. Incorporate Videos, Native if Possible

In Facebook speak, videos that have been uploaded directly to the Facebook platform versus using a third-party site like YouTube are called native video. Native videos get twice as many views as YouTube embeds, and their engagement is seven times greater — that’s huge.

Use videos as a creative way to share facts and quick tips. This puts you front and center with your Facebook community. If you’re not comfortable in front of the camera, you can turn images and text slides into a short video. Just keep it upbeat and interesting.

9. Target Your Audience for Posts

Facebook allows you to target your posts based on interests, age, gender, location and language with their “Audience Optimization” tool. Use it to increase engagement with posts that speak to a specific audience, like sharing an article for policyholders in their 20s versus one more relevant to policyholders over 50.

10. Make a Calendar

Creating a content calendar is an easy way to manage your Facebook presence. Mark the days you want to post and the type of content you’ll be posting. You can even plan ahead and bookmark interesting articles and videos to share later. Need post ideas? We’ve got you covered.

11. Schedule Posts on Weekends and Holidays

As business owners it may seem sensible to post during regular business hours. But that’s not when people are browsing and engaging with posts the most. The highest engagement occurs from 5pm to 1am And weekends, especially Sunday, have high engagement rates too. In Facebook’s post box, you can click the clock icon and schedule posts to publish anytime, day or night.

Bonus Tip: Remember to post on holidays. A holiday-themed image and message is a nice, personal touch that can be scheduled ahead easily.

12. Use Facebook Insights

Not only is this where you go to track your peers’ stats, it’s where you should be going to see how your posts are doing. Find out what people are responding to most, and do more of it.

13. Budget for Boosts

If you want to extend your reach further, it’s going to cost you. But it won’t break the bank; you’ll get more online visibility for as little as $5. And every time you boost a post, you reach your target market beyond those who already like your page. This can help attract new followers.

14. Respond to Messages in a Timely Manner

For Facebook users, being able to send a quick message to a business is useful. For business owners, this means you need to log in regularly, check your messages and respond promptly. Your average response time is displayed on your business page for everyone to see!

15. Spread the Word and Request Reviews

Add a link to your Facebook page on your website, email signature and newsletter. Promote your page on other social media networks. You can even put a small sign on display in your office that says “Like us on Facebook!” Make it as easy as possible for people to find you, and ask your most pleased policyholders to leave reviews on your page.

Bonus Tip: Have Fun! If you’re not enjoying what you’re sharing and doing, chances are your audience isn’t either.

Long Story Short

Take it from the folks who spend their days handling online marketing for thousands of business owners like yourself — use these 15 Facebook best practices to maximize your impact and reach. Sure, it takes a little time and effort, but in the long run, it’s worth the investment. And you’ll be making it a lot easier for potential policyholders to get to know you and see how much you have to offer as an insurance agent. All it takes is a little planning, posting and tracking your engagement to make a big difference.