State Auto Digital Agent

Pinterest is a social media site for sharing images you find around the web. It describes itself as “a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.” People (80% are women) spend an average of 16 minutes each time they visit Pinterest, posting pictures they’ve found of things they like, from classroom, home décor and wedding ideas, to recipes, work out routines and inspirational quotes. What does Pinterest mean for businesses? Retail is finding a sweet spot on the site, which now accounts for more than 25% of social shopping sessions ( source ). Web referrals to a retailer from an image “pinned” on the site spend 70% more money than visitors referred from other, non-social websites ( source ). Pinterest for Insurance Agents Pictures of insurance policies are not likely to show up in the list of most popular Pins at http://pinterest.com/popular/ . But – insurance agencies are made up of people, with unique talents, interests and community activities. Pinterest could b...

At a meeting of independent insurance agents, a group of about 100 agents was asked if their agency has a social media policy. Only two hands were raised. Given the concerns agents often voice about social media – from reputation to employee behavior – an internal policy is a great place to begin your planning for social media. A social media policy helps you take a responsible, thoughtful look at the areas you can address to prepare your agency team for work and life in today’s digital world. 4 Reasons to Create a Social Media Policy 1. Put the moose on the table. Address the elephant in the room. However you want to phrase it, your agency leaders need to openly discuss their fears about social media. Your concerns are valid. Social media does come with risks, but you can’t stop it from impacting your agency by ignoring it. Get it all out on the table in a meeting where concerns are listed and grouped into categories. 2. Decide up front how you’ll handle risks. Th...

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network, meaning it is focused on professionals. To some, this means it is only for job-seekers – that having an active profile on LinkedIn means you are looking for a new job. In reality, LinkedIn has grown to be an active social network for people to make connections, discuss business problems, share knowledge and stay in touch. It’s classic networking, happening every day, accessible at any time. 6 reasons to get active on LinkedIn: You need a professional and credible online profile. If someone Googles your name, what shows up? Hopefully a professional profile that looks polished, modern and familiar to people looking for information about you. LinkedIn provides this with the public profile option. It is very likely to appear high in search results for your name, if not at the very top. Your business cards don’t update themselves. LinkedIn is the modern day Rolodex, with some improvements on the old system. If you man...

The Watkins Insurance Group team has always held a high regard for being involved in the community. The team has embraced the agency’s tagline, “We’re here to help,” both when providing service to insurance customers and in the local areas surrounding their seven branch locations. This service-oriented culture naturally led Watkins to use social media to expand its engagement in the community, beginning with a Facebook page in 2011.  “We use social for promoting our agency’s volunteer efforts, but we also promote other organizations in our community helping people,” according to Hanna Ogle, personal lines manager and director of agency automation. “Even if we’re not involved in it, we’re sharing it to help. We’re living up to our tagline.” An IIABA Best Practices Agency in 2013, the Watkins team is a leading example of putting social media to use in an agency. Their success is partly due to their unique approach that they call “ShareWatkins” - a modern take on a long trad...

New materials are available to help you communicate the importance of fleet safety and risk management to your clients. While we all have to look out for unsafe driving behavior on the roadways, those managing a fleet program for an organization have a much more expansive responsibility – and potential exposure. Organizations and employees often aren't aware that they become part of the company fleet even if they choose to drive their own cars (instead of a company car) to just simply pick up office supplies or travel to a mandatory work event. New marketing materials available to you! Example of content provided about fleet safety. State Auto has created a package of content, including an infographic and small graphics, as well as a written interview and podcast (audio series) with George Nicholson, loss control technical consultant, for you to use for your customers and on social media sites, website or email marketing. Content to Hel...

A previous blog post challenged our readers to make a better video on Vine than the examples provided. Read the post for details on the Vine Challenge. Sharon Robles of Sharon Robles Agency, Inc. in Chicago, IL took our Vine Challenge and shared her experience using this social video tool.  Q. How fast/easy is it to create a Vine?  A. Vine is so fast and easy! Simple to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Q. Will you use Vine again, and how?  A. ABSOLUTELY!  I’m thinking about putting quick insurance tips on VINE, such as my What to do in case of an auto accident. How about Preventing Ice Dams, Why Buy Life Insurance? The list is endless! Q. What would you say to other insurance agents thinking of trying Vine?  A. If you want to stay in front of the younger crowd, get on board with technology. I’m seeing lots of opportunities with the younger generation who have previously gotten car insurance online.  Now they are buying homes, having child...