State Auto Digital Agent

Does your agency have a blog? We want to help you promote it. If you're publishing blog posts or other content, we'll share it. We just need to know about it. (Tell us at  social@stateauto.com ) State Auto already follows over 100 blogs by our agency partners. We tweet about agency blog posts every day, from risk management tips to advice about what to do after a car accident.  If your agency is on Twitter, we'll also mention you. (If your'e not on Twitter, we'll still mention you, just not with your Twitter handle.) Here’s a recent tweet to a post by Penny Insurance :  Make sure to follow @StateAuto and @StateAutoAgents on Twitter to see all of the agency content we’re sharing. Keep in mind that if the agency we're tweeting about is not a direct competitor of yours, you might want to share their content, too. Many agents retweet posts about other agents' content. To your clients, you'll still be the one who made sure they saw the informati...

Recent surveys of B2B and B2C marketers show content marketing is at the top of the list of the most effective tactics. And, social advertising – like Facebook ads and sponsored posts – may be more effective than you might think.  You can get a great overview of takeaways in this blog post from Social Media Examiner .  Here’s what we think is the most important for State Auto agents to know: For B2C marketers – 61% of those using things like Facebook ads or promoted tweets found them to be effective.    Marketers are finding social ads to be more effective than ever – 20-30% more respondents find them to be effective than a year ago.  Facebook is found to be the most effective, followed by YouTube and Twitter.  Fewer B2B marketers found social ads to be effective – but it was still in the 43-48% range. Not insignificant.  LinkedIn ads were most effective for B2B, followed by Twitter ads.  Marketers also rank content marketing as the mo...

You post something on your agency’s Facebook page. Does it show up in your followers’ news feed? It’s hard to say, thanks to Facebook’s complicated and ever-changing method for determining who sees what and when.  For an insurance agency running a Facebook page, this means you need to be very clear about what your followers (people who liked your page) want to see, and provide that content in the right ways. Marketing Land published a review of Facebook’s news feed changes over the past few years, and we’ve summed it up for you. Tips for Facebook News Feed Visibility  Make it meaningful. The more someone is interested in your content and interacts with it with a click, like, share or comment, the more they will see your future content. Things you’ve posted in the past could impact how visible your content is in the future.  Don’t post overly promotional content. If you’re directly selling something, your post will be less likely to show up. Facebook wants you to ...

State Auto provides materials to help our agent partners provide thought leadership to current and prospective clients in the light metal manufacturing industry. Our Metal Industry Practice Group provides a specialized insurance solution, giving State Auto and you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. With U.S. steel shipments valued at $75 billion and more than 672,000 U.S jobs created by the production, processing and use of aluminum, there is abundant opportunity to grow your book of business in this booming industry. Metal Industry Blog Posts Six blog posts are available to publish as a series on your blog. We recommend you make some edits and customize the posts to your agency. Post one each day for six days or one each week for six weeks.  Post #1: Major Risks in the Metal Industry Post #2: Protecting Your Metal Business Post #3: The Dangers of Dust in the Metal Industry Post #4: Equipment Breakdown and Your Metal Business Post #5: The Risk of Importing Fo...

Re-posted with permission from State Auto's PaceSetter blog. The PaceSetter producer development program is available to State Auto agents.  Your Personal Brand Designing your personal brand is one of the most important things you can do as an insurance agent. People buy from people that they know, like and trust. The only way for people to know you, I mean  really  know you, is by getting your message out to others regularly and consistently. The easiest way to do this is by using social media. Think of some people we feel as though we “know” personally because of the strength of their personal brand. How about Donald Trump? Kim Kardashian? Oprah Winfrey? Athletes, politicians, musicians and prominent business people all use social media channels to influence what we think and, most importantly, what we buy. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and blogging are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You have to demonstrate your value to people th...

It’s a beautiful thing, data.  There’s data that tells us when people are most likely to read content on each social network. You don’t have to wonder when the best time is to post something – you can use the information below to get it right.  Why Does It Matter When I Post Content? People who actively check social media tend to make it part of their daily routine. They might check Twitter first thing in the morning over coffee, or scroll through Facebook at lunch or on the treadmill.   Your insurance agency can plan to share content when your target audience will be more likely to interact with it. Depending on which social media channel you’re using, the days and times when users are most active will vary.  We pulled data shared by a number of sources to come up with the general guidelines below. See what works for you.  Facebook: Thursday-Sunday The best days to post Facebook content are Thursdays, Fridays and weekends.  The ideal time of d...

Looking for some guidance on digital marketing? Trusted Choice is offering member agents a free one-on-one consultation for your website and social media.  This “digital review” includes a 15-30 minute phone call or Skype conversation, content services referrals and a follow-up conversation. It’s all complimentary.  For a free social media checkup, send your social media links to Patrice Nickols at patrice.nickols@iiaba.net .  For a website review, send your website address to Kiescha Cherry at kiescha.cherry@iiaba.net .  And, you can always contact the State Auto team at social@stateauto.com with questions and ideas.  Best wishes for a successful year in digital marketing!