For the last 15 or so years, Facebook has been at the forefront of the social media landscape. Though it has continued to help users to connect with friends and colleagues all over the world, the platform has changed and adapted with the times. One of the major adaptations that Facebook has made is its integration of the ads platform, letting people and businesses market to one another. Now in 2023, Facebook has reported having 2.99 billion monthly active users! Having such an astronomically large user-base, composed mostly of adults, there’s no reason to not use the site’s advertising features to your advantage.
If you’re an insurance agent, you’ve probably already heard other people tell you how vital it is to have a strong presence on Facebook, and if no one has, we’re telling you now! In this article we will delve into the best tips and practices to follow when using Facebook as a marketing tool. If you take note of these suggestions, you will have no problem building brand recognition, meeting new clients, and generating interest in your services.
Facebook Marketing Tools
Before we get into the specifics of advertising on Facebook, we want to give you a background of the platform and the ways it can be used. First off, there are three main ways to utilize Facebook from a marketing standpoint: facebook ads, organic posts and groups.
Facebook Ads: Facebook ads platform stands as the most popular and effective way to advertise on the platform. With ads, you will have several ways to target your specific audience, ultimately making it the most effective way to reach people. With Facebook ads you will also have the ability to scale your campaign with complete control of your budget. Additionally, once set up properly, ads serve as the most self-driven marketing approach on Facebook.
Organic Posts: Free content such as posts, videos, pictures, memes, etc. that users and businesses can post and share with other individuals on their feeds. If done effectively, you can generate valuable business without spending money!
Groups: Facebook Groups are simply groups of people that you can join who have similar interests. Within these groups you can post, connect with others, share ideas, and collaborate. Facebook Groups are also free to join and can aid you in making long lasting connections to grow your professional network.
Though we will touch on all three methods, the majority of this article will be devoted to Facebook Ads, as it is the most effective and widely used.
Marketing Capabilities
Something that’s also important to understand are the benefits and abilities of using Facebook as a marketing tool. Some of the most important benefits are:
Being able to set and customize your budget. With all the flexibility in the world, you can choose a budget as small or as large as you want.
The ability to set precise ad scheduling. This will let you decide which days and times you want to advertise.
Being able to run targeted ads to certain groups of people, giving you the best chance to win over potential clients.
With the customization and flexibility that Facebook gives to you, you’ll no doubt have an advantage over other agents in the digital marketing space.
Different Facebook Ad Types
Within the Facebook Ads platform, there are several different ways that you can choose to display your advertisements. No matter how you choose to advertise, keep in mind that you must follow Facebook’s community standards (these are simply in place to ensure safety and integrity). Though there are several other ways to advertise, the 5 most common types of ads are: images, videos, carousels, instant experiences and collections.
Images: These advertisements are the most suggested and popular allowing agents to use custom or stock images.
Videos: With video advertisements you can upload an already existing video to the platform or use the Facebook video creation tools to give users a glance into your company.
Carousels: Carousel ads let users show as many as 10 images or videos within a single ad. Viewers will be able to swipe through the images and videos to find whichever one caters to them the most. Each image or video will contain its own link.
Instant Experience: This is a mobile ad feature that allows viewers to engage with an immersive ad experience. After clicking the ad on a mobile device, a full screen experience will open up.
Collection: Collections will let you display and feature multiple products such as insurance services and coverage options. The collection feature will then dynamically customize these ads for each viewer depending on their algorithm.
5 Agent Tips for Facebook Ads
Now that you’ve gotten a firm grasp of how Facebook works as a means of advertising, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. Setting up your ads campaign is simple, but making sure your ads gain traction takes some work. Luckily for you, we’ve summarized some of the tips to follow when using Facebook Ads to ensure that you are successful in growing your brand.
One of the first things you should do whenever using Facebook Ads, or anywhere else that you decide to advertise, is get a solid understanding of who your target audience is. It’s vital that you ask yourself questions such as:
Who are my ideal clients?
What product do I want to focus on?
What other details are important about my clients? (age, gender, family status, income etc.)
When creating advertisements, the more granular and specific you are with your targeting, the better. This type of thinking will only benefit you in the long run. It’s always a good idea to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. Think about someone who wants an insurance policy and genuinely try to put yourself through their decision-making journey. If you are targeting a group of people with specific needs or pain points, try addressing them in the call-to-action piece of your ads.
2.Hone in on Life Changing Events
On a similar note, a good marketing tactic when forming your ads is to target certain life events. Getting a new insurance policy often coincides with major life events, and by mentioning these events in your ad copy, you will increase your number of clicks. Some examples of these events include:
A family member turning 26 and leaving their parents’ policy
A married couple having a child
A family buying a new home
A couple who just married
A new driver
A new job in a different state
The targeting options offered by Facebook ads will give you the opportunity to really speak to consumers’ needs and current situations. Creating customized ads that reach users at-the most opportune time, will increase your chances of conversions.
3.Utilize Automated Responses
Another useful feature that Facebook offers are automated responses. Automated responses guarantee that you never miss an opportunity by replying to consumers who reach out to you when you’re away. By setting up automated responses you’ll have many options of how you want to communicate with users. For example, you could set up a message that replies to someone letting them know you’ll contact them immediately when you’re available. Another example is a reply that shares your contact information if someone wishes to speak with you. There are several other automated response options, including personalized messages, so be sure to explore this feature to get the most out of it. If a potential customer tries to get in touch with you and they receive no response for days, they will be sure to take their business elsewhere, so do yourself a favor and set up automated responses!
4.Automated Ads and Lookalike Audiences
Facebook has created a helpful way to boost your consumer interactions in addition to their targeting tools. The automated ads and lookalike audience features will help to hone on effective ad copy and introduce new users to your products.
Automated Ads – a feature that will automatically make suggestions and improvements to your advertisements based on data they’ve collected on insurance agencies and on current results of your campaigns.
Lookalike Audiences – a feature that lets Facebook target individuals who have similarities with your existing customer-base.
Making tweaks to improve your campaigns and reaching new audiences can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. By using automated ads and lookalike audiences to your advantage, you won’t need to hire a marketing expert, because Facebook will be doing the hard work for you.
5.A/B Testing
Just like other advertising platforms, it will benefit you to utilize A/B ad testing. If you don’t already know, A/B testing is simply creating two advertisements that are generally pretty similar to one another, but with one major difference between them. Some examples of differences in ads could be word choice, images, geo-targeting and more. A good rule of thumb when first starting the test is to run both ads at about only 20% of your max budget. Make sure that you also track the progress and metrics of your ads. Important metrics to keep an eye on are views, interactions and clicks. Once a period of time has passed, analyze the results to see which ad performed better, and then allocate the rest of your budget to the winning ad.
Facebook Groups and Organic Posts
While your Facebook Ad campaigns are up and running, you’ll now be able to focus some of your time on creating organic posts and interacting with groups.
When creating organic posts or posting in a group, you should be sure that your post is providing users with useful information. As an insurance agent you should have no problem doing this since there is tons of valuable information related to the industry that consumers generally aren’t aware of. Also make sure to respond to other people’s posts or comments. Some ideas for posting and group sharing include:
Community events
Client testimonials or reviews
Humorous insurance-related posts
Agent or consumer tips
Promotions of other local businesses
These are just a few suggestions, but don’t be afraid to think outside of the box and get creative! By creating insightful posts and connecting with like- minded people in groups, you will effectively establish yourself as a knowledgeable insurance expert online.
Wrapping Up
Growing your brand can seem daunting and time consuming, especially on a platform that you’re not super familiar with. But Facebook and its advertising features couldn’t be easier to use. With their giant base of users, you’ll be able to display your knowledge and insurance products to specific segments of people who you previously haven’t thought of including. By getting to know your audience, focusing on life-altering events, and by using automated ads, lookalike audiences, automated responses and A/B ad testing, you’ll have all the tools you need to expand your business and increase your return on investment. Also, by supplementing your paid advertising with organic and group posts, you will be checking off all the boxes! So, be attentive, be detailed and be creative, and you will surely be successful.
Facebook marketing tactics stand as a great way to widen your pool of prospects and clients. Another way to do that is to invest in high-quality leads! At Benepath, we provide insurance agents with exclusive insurance leads to help boost sales and profitability. We offer data leads and inbound phone calls, all of which are produced and sold in real-time. We generate leads for several products including individual and group health, life, Medicare, and commercial insurance. So, if you’re interested in getting a leg up on the competition with our leads, or simply want to learn more, fill out a form or give us a call at 888-684-3121.
