State Auto Digital Agent

By Clinton Houck , Senior Agency Marketing Consultant, State Auto Insurance Positive Google reviews demonstrate that you are a true, local expert. Reviews show that real people have used your services, and your business met their needs. Getting regular positive reviews signals to Google that there is a higher probability that your business can help consumers get their needs met than other services. Studies have shown that 84% of consumers place as much value in a Google review as a traditional referral, and if a business has between 6 to 10 reviews, that the business is trustworthy.  In fact, an agency I worked with recently started a Google review process in their office and a couple of weeks in I received this email:  Strong Google reviews help make sure your business shows as one of the top three options on the map that appears above any other organic search results. An example is listed below:  What's the first thing you notice when you look at this ex

Why should your clients in the services industry partner with you and State Auto for insurance? Show your expertise by sharing this content in your emails, through social media, or use it as inspiration to write your own blog posts. Services Industry Page on StateAuto.com Direct clients to the Services Industry Page on StateAuto.com for an overview of our expertise in this segment and helpful resources for their business. Tip: Send a prospect the link to this web page and include it in your quote proposal. Infographic: Protecting customer data Data breaches in the services industry are increasingly becoming a problem. The “Protecting Customer Data” infographic shares important data and tips to prevent data theft. Tips: Share on your agency's website, blog and social media (see below for suggested tweets, or create your own). Email to contracting industry prospects along with your quote proposal.  Get a co-branded version with your agency logo on the State Auto M

If you could “divorce” one of your clients who would it be? ...people attach some strange value to what they own, simply because they own it, and are reluctant to let go even when trading makes economic sense. Every time I ask an agent that question, they immediately have an answer, and it’s usually more than one client. My next question is, “Why?” The answers include they have a ton of losses, they’re always rude to our team, they require constant service, they never pay their bills on time, etc. The list goes on. I then ask, “Why don’t you divorce them? Why not advise you can no longer be their agent?” Usually, the answer is in the form of body language. Looks of surprise, shock, or confusion. The concept of dropping a client is foreign to almost every agent I speak with. Richard Thaler’s “Endowment Effect” is the concept that people attach some strange value to what they own, simply because they own it, and are reluctant to let go even when trading makes economic sense. Agen

Imagine your prospects in the contracting industry searching online for insurance and other risk management information… what if they found something published or shared by your agency?  Let’s make it happen. Use the content we’ve created to share social posts, update your website and even find inspiration to write a blog post. Each resource below has tips for getting this content in front of your prospects. Contracting Industry Page on StateAuto.com Why should your clients in the contracting industry partner with you and State Auto for insurance? Direct clients to the Contracting Industry Page on StateAuto.com for an overview of our expertise in this segment and helpful resources for their business. Tip: Send a prospect the link to this web page and include it in your quote proposal. Infographic: Equipment Theft Data Tool theft from the job site is a major problem. The “Equipment Theft Data” infographic shares important data and tips to prevent theft. Tips: Shar

"Twenty percent of our insurance clients create eighty percent of our work." Have you heard this line before? I’ve spent a decade in the insurance industry in both the carrier and agency worlds. In my experience, the 80/20 rule seems to be almost universally accepted, and the majority of resources are spent on a small number of needy clients. What’s not universally accepted is this: How much of the resources should be spent on the 20 percent? How can an agency service these clients differently? And, how much stock should an agent put in what these clients say they need? When pressed, many agencies share that the accounts needing the most service are the type of business they don’t really want anyway. So why do they continue to serve those accounts? For some agencies, it simply comes down to pride in providing excellent service to all clients. For most, it’s a symptom of a larger operational problem - lack of data analytics. Spending precious time and resources

The Problem In today’s rapidly changing business environment independent agencies have to adapt if they want to remain relevant and successful. If independent agencies want to win, and win big, they need to strongly consider investing in a position that’s devoted entirely, 100 percent, to digital marketing. Independent agencies have always needed producers and customer service specialists. Modern agencies have a new but critical need: someone who understands digital marketing and can generate a steady supply of qualified leads. Essentially, someone who can manage an agency’s entire online presence, branding and lead generation strategy. And guess what? That’s a full-time job. You want to get that captive/direct agency up the street with the unlimited traditional marketing budget nervous? Find a digital marketing guru and give them the tools (and budget) to succeed. The Job Posting Independent agencies looking to grow, this is the job posting you need to b

In case you missed our recent posts, you can start to build a strong base with your social media by completing a social media check up , polishing up your LinkedIn profile and getting ideas for what to post on social media . But to truly get value from your efforts, you must realize the importance of the daily management of your social presence and proper tracking and reporting of your data. Imagine this: You log into Facebook to do a post on your Page, then log out and get back to work. As a result, three things take place: You get a message from someone interested in an insurance quote, a client posts a public complaint about your agency, and a community partner tags you in a post. If you don’t check your Facebook Page the rest of the week, you’ve just missed out on opportunities to nurture a lead, regain trust with a customer and connect with your community. These small social actions may not seem like much, but you might be surprised how much social media can be part of you

We’ve all been there. From independent insurance agents running their own social media to expert social media managers, we’ve all had that moment of panic - What should I post today? The first step is always the hardest, but we’ve provided some tools to get you going. Use these tips and tricks to build out your social media marketing. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Here’s a social media secret - you can schedule your social media posts in advance. Use a content calendar, whether it’s an actual calendar where you write in your daily post or our favorite, a spreadsheet. We have a sample content calendar here you can download to get yourself started. We’ve included national holidays, some fun awareness holidays and insurance related holidays in our content calendar. Include any important work anniversaries, company or community events, and anything else you can think of off the top of your head. 2. Get Visual Social media is more visual than ever. That means every post n