This article originally appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of SA Today.
TCI Insurance is an example of an agency doing the right things to build an online presence that is simply an extension of who they are as a team. TCI’s approach is to focus on quality— of the content, people, and interactions— rather than checking social media off a list.
Founded in 1985, TCI Insurance is headquartered in West Fargo, N.D., with two branch locations and nearly 20 staff members. The agency has been working for over a year to activate an online presence, including an email newsletter, blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
We talked with Steve Huber, vice president and sales manager, and Stephanie Blair, marketing/sales, to learn how they’re making social media work for TCI. Blair came to the agency with a P&C and financial advisor background. Her interest in social media led to the opportunity to make that part of her role at the agency. Today, managing the agency’s online presence is 40-50 percent of her job. Huber and Blair agree that having someone focus on the web has helped improve their efforts to build an online presence that benefits the agency.
What were your goals for social media?
Blair: We saw that other agents were doing it, and it was getting popular. We started by building a small social media presence, and our goal is to increase the engagement and interaction. When we were first out there, it was very one-sided. We weren't having a lot of discussions with clients or prospects, so our goal was to increase engagement.
Huber: We knew we should be doing social media, but it was also kind of overwhelming. We were talking about newsletters, our website, Facebook, Twitter. It was “analysis paralysis.” We knew there was value, but we weren't 100 percent sure how to go about it and didn't want to do it incorrectly. I have seen friends and others in this line of business that have used social media, and it hasn't come across the right way. So we were always concerned that whatever we did, it was doing something that was providing a service or knowledge to clients or prospects, and not having it come across like, “Hey look at us, we’re trying to sell you something.”
What have you tried to increase discussion online?
Blair: Part of the challenge is finding the balance to give your agency the human touch but remain professional and not too “sales-y.” Asking a question has been successful, and people really seem to enjoy seeing what our people are doing, from accomplishments to community involvement. Those posts usually get the best responses. Also, being active on other people’s pages has helped. A lot of agencies go wrong by focusing only on their own pages. We connect with carriers, local nonprofit organizations and businesses, and even competitors. It’s a friendly space.
You've had a newsletter since 2009, and now you also have a blog. How are you connecting the two?
Blair: The email newsletter is sent to clients and has a pretty good open rate. For prospects, we print out hard copy newsletters monthly and hand out a bulk of them to producers, who insert them into proposals or give out when visiting prospect locations. Our blog posts feature content from the newsletter, and the newsletter promotes our social presence. We see people connect with us on social media after receiving the email.
How are you measuring your efforts online?
Blair: We use Facebook Insights to measure engagement, including comments and likes. The more people are interacting with your Facebook posts, the more reach your post will have. On Twitter, we look at retweets and clicks.
Huber: Sometimes it can be frustrating when you put something out—anything we put out we think is the greatest thing in the world—and you only get a handful of likes or retweets. Just like the sales process, you can’t take it personally. You have to remember that you’re trying to be a resource whether people are clients or prospects, and hopefully if something comes up in someone’s mind that they remember where they saw it and think of TCI again.
Blair: We've talked about doing contests to increase page likes, but we don’t want to rely too much on the number of likes on the page. I’d rather have quality people that are interacting with our posts versus a higher number of people who don’t care about what we’re sharing.
Huber: We also track new business sources, and our new agency management system has a focus on tracking new business from online. We’re making it a priority to include social media information when entering a new client.
Blair: It can be tricky to track social media because it’s really a referral. A prospect may see something their friend liked on Facebook, and when they come into the agency, they report it as a referral from that friend.
What advice would you give to other agencies?
Huber: If you’re going to do it, make sure you have someone on staff that’s capable of doing it. If this had been on my plate, it would have been so sporadic it would be almost better not to have it.
Blair: I don’t look at it as a sales pitch. Our social presence is more there to educate, if I had to sum it up in one word.
You can check out TCI Insurance on Twitter @TCIWF and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TCI.Insurance.
TCI Insurance is an example of an agency doing the right things to build an online presence that is simply an extension of who they are as a team. TCI’s approach is to focus on quality— of the content, people, and interactions— rather than checking social media off a list.
Founded in 1985, TCI Insurance is headquartered in West Fargo, N.D., with two branch locations and nearly 20 staff members. The agency has been working for over a year to activate an online presence, including an email newsletter, blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
What were your goals for social media?
Blair: We saw that other agents were doing it, and it was getting popular. We started by building a small social media presence, and our goal is to increase the engagement and interaction. When we were first out there, it was very one-sided. We weren't having a lot of discussions with clients or prospects, so our goal was to increase engagement.
Huber: We knew we should be doing social media, but it was also kind of overwhelming. We were talking about newsletters, our website, Facebook, Twitter. It was “analysis paralysis.” We knew there was value, but we weren't 100 percent sure how to go about it and didn't want to do it incorrectly. I have seen friends and others in this line of business that have used social media, and it hasn't come across the right way. So we were always concerned that whatever we did, it was doing something that was providing a service or knowledge to clients or prospects, and not having it come across like, “Hey look at us, we’re trying to sell you something.”
What have you tried to increase discussion online?
Blair: Part of the challenge is finding the balance to give your agency the human touch but remain professional and not too “sales-y.” Asking a question has been successful, and people really seem to enjoy seeing what our people are doing, from accomplishments to community involvement. Those posts usually get the best responses. Also, being active on other people’s pages has helped. A lot of agencies go wrong by focusing only on their own pages. We connect with carriers, local nonprofit organizations and businesses, and even competitors. It’s a friendly space.
You've had a newsletter since 2009, and now you also have a blog. How are you connecting the two?
Blair: The email newsletter is sent to clients and has a pretty good open rate. For prospects, we print out hard copy newsletters monthly and hand out a bulk of them to producers, who insert them into proposals or give out when visiting prospect locations. Our blog posts feature content from the newsletter, and the newsletter promotes our social presence. We see people connect with us on social media after receiving the email.
How are you measuring your efforts online?
Blair: We use Facebook Insights to measure engagement, including comments and likes. The more people are interacting with your Facebook posts, the more reach your post will have. On Twitter, we look at retweets and clicks.
Huber: Sometimes it can be frustrating when you put something out—anything we put out we think is the greatest thing in the world—and you only get a handful of likes or retweets. Just like the sales process, you can’t take it personally. You have to remember that you’re trying to be a resource whether people are clients or prospects, and hopefully if something comes up in someone’s mind that they remember where they saw it and think of TCI again.
Blair: We've talked about doing contests to increase page likes, but we don’t want to rely too much on the number of likes on the page. I’d rather have quality people that are interacting with our posts versus a higher number of people who don’t care about what we’re sharing.
Huber: We also track new business sources, and our new agency management system has a focus on tracking new business from online. We’re making it a priority to include social media information when entering a new client.
Blair: It can be tricky to track social media because it’s really a referral. A prospect may see something their friend liked on Facebook, and when they come into the agency, they report it as a referral from that friend.
What advice would you give to other agencies?
Huber: If you’re going to do it, make sure you have someone on staff that’s capable of doing it. If this had been on my plate, it would have been so sporadic it would be almost better not to have it.
Blair: I don’t look at it as a sales pitch. Our social presence is more there to educate, if I had to sum it up in one word.
You can check out TCI Insurance on Twitter @TCIWF and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TCI.Insurance.
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