Marketing your Insurance Agency Online Requires Patience

by Taber T. Streur           Insurace Agency Marketing Takes Time

Now that you’ve made the decision to market your agency online, you want results! For many insurance agents, the decision to market their business through the use of the internet is a new and exciting venture. For others, the process is overwhelming. There are many things to take into consideration when you decide to market your agency online whether you’re using a professional insurance agency marketing company like Tosten Marketing, or whether you’re deciding to try it on your own.

1. Results will take time. Many don’t understand that the internet is actually stored on servers. When you make a change online, it can sometimes take up to a month for those changes to be reflected on Google or another search engine even though they may be active and live on your website. This process is called indexing. Indexing occurs when a search engine visits your website to see if there are any changes. If you’ve made changes to your website, the search engine will note those changes and store them on the computer.

2. Directories can take months to update. Local directory listings are a necessary evil. First off, there are literally hundreds of them you could fill out if you had enough time. Then, when you do take the time to fill them out, the directories will take up to 9 months to update your information! If you’ve recently moved, the process can be an unpleasant one. Start with the ones people use most, then move on to the local directory ecosystem and figure out what few sites can update many!  Remember to keep your name, address and phone number (NAP) consistent across all directories! Here are a few good ones that we start with that will get you almost immediate results if done correctly:

  • Google+ Local (and update with posts just like you do with Facebook!)
  • Bing Local Business Portal
  • Yahoo Local
  • Calculateme.com
  • BBB.org
  • MapQuest
  • Yelp
  • Angie’s List
  • Super Pages
  • Local.botw.org

Matt Marko, a Marketing Manager for Progressive Insurance, recently did a podcast where he explains much about local search, specifically Google+. It’s worth a listen as he explains why it is so much more than just a social media platform.

So, What Can I do While I’m Waiting for my Online Insurance Agency Marketing to Kick in?

Well, you should take a look at our previous blog post about what every insurance agency must do in 2013.  Here we discuss the importance of each aspect of marketing your business online. Furthermore, there are many things agency owners or managers can do themselves such as social media posts, blogging, and newsletters.

A successful marketing campaign can take over a year to build and it should be expected to see little if no results immediately, especially if you’re starting from scratch.  A recent customer of ours wanted to rank immediately for the keywords auto insurance Las Vegas. We explained this is a competitive market and results will take time! Don’t get discouraged, it will be worth your effort! If you can set aside an hour or two a week toward your online marketing efforts you can completely transform your marketing footprint. If you’re looking to get into a new website and build it out, consider platforms like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. They’re free content management system that easily allows you to update your website and blog until your heart is content. Best of all, they doesn’t require any complicated coding (for simple design)!

If the thought of marketing your insurance agency online is daunting, we’d be happy to lend a hand. We have affordable insurance agency marketing programs that can be up and running in as little as a week! Our customer’s time commitment is typically less than 15 minutes! Because our only customers are insurance agents, we understand what you do each day. Check out what others have to say about their experience with us by visiting our testimonials page.  Still have questions? Fill out the form on the right -> and we’ll get in touch with you to discuss how you can make change the direction of your insurance agency with a comprehensive marketing plan designed around your business. Happy marketing!

Tosten Marketing is dedicated to independent insurance agencies. Our programs are designed to be affordable for small to medium sized agencies. Currently Tosten Marketing markets for agents in 8 states across the U.S. If you’d like a free, no obligation consultation, please feel free to contact us.