How to Share Interesting Content on Social Media

There are countless articles online about social media, how to use it for business, how to engage your audience on social media, etc. etc. Almost always one of the tips include sharing content on social media your audience will find interesting. But how do you know what content to share?

Sharing content that you didn't write is called content curation. It can be a great way to be seen as knowledgeable and to build your social media audience.

Here are 4 tips to help you decide what content to share with your audience:

1. Be curious.

If you are curious about the same things your audience is curious about, posting articles that share in that knowledge and curiosity will be interesting and engaging.

2. Make the connections for them.

Ever see an article that is not directly about insurance, but you see how it could apply to insurance? Post it. There is no reason why you can't share seemingly unrelated content. Just make sure you make the connection for your audience when sharing.

3. Get excited.

When you get excited about an article, it shows when you share it with your audience. Your audience will respond to your enthusiasm. So if that article you found made you excited, share away!

4. Think about your audience.

Share content that is of interest to your audience. Strive for a balance of articles that you like with articles your audience will find interesting.

Masters of Marketing: Advanced Websites for Insurance Agents

Here's the presentation from today's Masters of Marketing webinar on Advanced Websites for Insurance Agents. If you would like to join us every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. Central when we discuss marketing tips, you can register here.

Masters of Marketing: Advanced Websites for Insurance Agents

View more PowerPoint from Darmini Kara

Build an Awesome Website: 8 Things to Do Before You Get Started

When done right your insurance agency website can be the best tool in your marketing toolbox. When done right it can actually help you sell insurance.

I know what you're asking. How do you build a website so it's done right? First, you need to realize that a website is more than just a pretty design. You should first focus on why you need a website and what you want it to do instead of what you want on it.

Do you want a website that is basic and has your agency's information on it? Or do you want a website that allows you to do online quoting, generates leads and integrates with social media? In other words, do you want a website that is an integral part of your online marketing plan driving leads, educating prospects and communicating with customers?

Here are 8 things to do before you get started on building your website:

Do:

1. Set goals. Make them realistic and measurable. Here are some great ideas to get you started: Generate leads online. Increase brand awareness. Expand your market to surrounding areas. Improve conversions.

2. Learn SEO basics. You absolutely will want help in optimizing your website for search engines. But understanding the basics of search engine optimization is something you need to know too. Plus, when SEO starts working, you don't have to spend so much time trying to improve your website traffic.

3. Plan on creating a mobile version of your website. 25% of the traffic to our client's websites comes from mobile devices. This number will continue to rise as more people buy smartphones and tablets and start using their mobile devices to surf the Internet instead of their desktops or laptops.

4. Look at your competitors. Are they doing something right on their websites? What do you like? What don't you like? This is your chance to identify opportunities your competitors might be missing out on that you can take advantage of on your new website.

5. Develop custom content. One of the most important elements of online marketing is custom content. When done correctly, it improves the readability of your website and helps to optimize it for search engines. Custom content also differentiates your agency from your competition and can improve the time visitors spend on your website. 

6. Include calls to action. A call to action will clearly indicate what you want your website visitors to do. Offer online quoting? Don't just say "We'll give you a free online quote." Say "To get your free online quote, enter your information below and click submit." Have free reports to download? Instead of saying "Free report on the basics of a homeowners policy" say "Click here to get your free report on renters insurance 101."

7. Answer the "Why?"question. Visitors won't subscribe to your newsletter or follow you on social media if you don't give them a reason why they should. Don't just put up a subscribe box or follow buttons without explaining what visitors will get out of subscribing or following.

8. Trust your web designer. You've hired an expert because building websites is what he does for a living. He knows the latest trends and tricks to make your website great. Let him do what he does best, and he's more likely to not only meet your goals but exceed them.

Insurance Website Builder specializes in insurance agency websites and giving agents a strong web presence through quality insurance web designs. Every website from Insurance Website Builder is customized and optimized to sell insurance and help agencies get more customers.

Friday the 13th

there will be a total
of 3 friday the 13ths this year,
and they are each 13 weeks apart.

and this is 2012,
which is technically the 13th year.

just an fyi.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Masters of Marketing: Basics of Search Engine Optimization

We had our second weekly Webinar yesterday, thank you to all that made it. As promised here is the presentation:

Masters of Marketing: Basics of SEO

View more presentations from iwb_insurance.

Grow Your Business and Have Fun

...with a Blog!

In case we haven't made blogging sound fun, important, exciting, crucial, and easy enough with our previous posts,here's a short list of the top 5 reasons you should be blogging. It benefits not only you, but your business as well.

5. A Blog exercises your mind. Personally, I can't go a day without doing a puzzle. Your brain should develop more and more with each day to remain healthy. Thinking of new and innovative ideas to present will provide that development. It not only keeps your brain healthy, but it encourages others to come back to you & your business for what I like to call 'intellectual stimulation.' How can you pass that up?!

4. A Blog lets you speak to the masses. Part of growing your business is finding a way to communicate with future clients. People you would have had no way of reaching out to will have the opportunity to reach out to you instead. Most business owners and executives can forget about how simple and satisfying it is to spark communication. Make sure you provide that spark!

3. A Blog invites communication. Remember that 'intellectual stimulation' I mentioned? Well, it makes people think. And when people think, a blog is the perfect place to verbalize those thoughts. Whether they're agreeing, disagreeing, questioning, or simply contemplating the ideas you've presented them with, they're probably spreading your message. And all publicity is good publicity. Right?

2. A Blog is worth the trouble. It's easy! Nothing can grow without nourishment. Water, air, food, sunlight; think of a blog as the nourishment to your business' website. In this day and age, those who put their ideas out there for the world to see have been rewarded. Greatly. Give and you shall receive.

1. A Blog can be fun. A blog is fun. Don't be afraid to share some humor and not be so serious all the time. It might be the most fun you have at work all day.

So blog away. Take inspiration from Nike:
Yesterday you said tomorrow.
Just do it!

What to Blog About?

Create a content calendar.

In the world of business, families, school, and so many other things, people have adapted to calendars; on their phone, at their desk, on their computer, even through sticky notes on their car windshield. Calendars seem to make things easier. Less stressful. Less intimidating.

So when faced with the impossible task of blogging, some people will run scared and not even try. And some will start off strong, only to waver after 2 or 3 weeks. We know you’re busy. We know you’ve got better things to do besides stopping to put your genius into words. But blogging can be your escape. Like the working mother who has to schedule dinner and a bath into her life just so she doesn’t forget to take care of herself. Schedule blogging into your life, and give it the importance it deserves.

You have a website because you want people to visit. You care about the design of your website because you want people to stay. And Insurance Website Builder gives you an easy-to-use blog because we want people and search engines to come back.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again—Content is King. Blogging is the easiest way to satisfy this straightforward desire for fresh content. But it must be done in accordance with SEO efforts. And it must be done consistently. Here is where a calendar comes in.

Create a list of events that will give you an excuse to write something. Date these events and pick the ones you deem most fitting for you to target. Decide what type of content you can produce for each of these events. Don’t worry about keeping your ideas 100% business related, that’s what news events are for along the way.

Like I said, we know you’re busy. So to help you start brainstorming, here’s a handy (& long) list of events to get your gears turning:

Your Products

• New product launches
• Product upgrades / relaunches
• Announcements about big new clients

Your Business

• Anniversary of the company
• Company conferences
• Other events / meetups
• Publication of non-commercial content (new Whitepapers, etc)
• Announcing new job openings
• Announcing new hires / senior personnel changes
• Mergers and acquisitions

Industry News and Events

• Annual Reports
• Industry Awards
• Industry Conferences (esp. those you will attend or speak at)
• Industry Exhibitions (esp. those you will attend or exhibit at)
• Industry / Partner Events

Niche Events & Celebrations

• Niche occasions (eg: new driving laws, new insurance guidelines)
• Widely recognized events (eg: ‘National BBQ Month’)
• Events just made up for PR (eg: ‘National Pool Party Week’)

Politics & Community

• Local / regional / national election cycles
• New laws / bills
• Opening / closing of political seasons
• Annual budget announcement

Holidays (Federal & Unofficial)

• Christmas
• New Year
• Easter
• Independence Day
• Mardi Gras
• Diwali
• Ramadan
• Hanukkah
• Valentine’s Day
• Halloween
• Mother’s / Father’s Day
• April Fool’s Day
• Friday 13th
• Feburary 29th
• Pi Day
• St Patrick’s Day
• Chinese New Year

Seasonal / Calendar Events

• First day of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring
• Summer Vacation / Back to School
• The Equinoxes and Solstices
• Start & end of daylight savings time
• Tax Season

Historical Celebrated / Well-Remembered Events

• Look for 10th/25th/100th anniversaries
• Tragedies (natural disasters, plane crashes)

Once-in-a-Lifetime Events

• Halley’s Comet
• The last NASA shuttle launch
• Royal Wedding / Coronation
• Solar eclipse
• Turn of a century

War & Conflict

• VE / VJ Day
• Remembrance Day
• Independence Days
• Famous battles (Bosworth, Hastings, Normandy Landings, Dunkirk, Stalingrad)
• Terrorism memorials (7th of July, 11th of September)
• Internal conflict (eg: Bloody Sunday, various Civil Wars)

Annual Sports Events

• NFL Playoffs & The Superbowl
• NBA Playoffs
• March Madness

Non-Annual Sporting Events

• Ryder Cup
• Olympics
• Soccer World Cup

Calendar courtesy of distilled.net

4 Tips to Improve Your Blog Traffic

Do you have a blog? Is it driving traffic to your website?

When done right blogging can generate great website traffic and leads. Many blogs are not done well because they don't think like the consumer.

What the consumer wants is answers to her questions. That is why people increasingly use the Internet for research. To be successful, your blog needs to answer these questions.

Here are four tips to improve your traffic and take your blog to the next level.

1. Do the comparison for them

When we're researching a purchase, we like to compare companies, products, services, etc so we know that the purchase decision we make is the right one for us. For example, you could write a blog post about the difference between full coverage and liability auto insurance. Be factual, unbiased and honest. Talk about the pros and cons of each. Doing so will result in your readers beginning to see you as an expert they can trust.

2. Give them the best

Have you ever searched the question "What is the best way to ____?" Chances are that your prospects and customers are using the word "best" in their searches, so you need to be using it in your content. For example, you could write about 10 Qualities of the Best Home Coverage or The Best Way to Prevent Accidents.

3.  Talk about problems

When consumers are deciding between two or more products to purchase, they turn to the Internet to determine the truth and get an expert opinion. Likely, they will search for something along the lines of "problems with liability auto insurance." Write blog posts addressing the problems, and your posts will begin to show in search results when people search using those phrases.

4. Share news

Posting breaking news as it happens can impact your agency's reputation as an expert and thought leader, which increases the opportunity for getting new business. These posts can bring in a good amount of traffic and attention to your blog. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to break news to your prospects and customers.

What would you add to this list?