How to Start an Insurance Blog in Minutes

You have probably heard this over and over again: content is king. Adding content, like blog posts, to your website and social media accounts, is an important marketing tool for bringing customers and prospects to your business. Starting a blog might sound like a lot of work, but it can actually be a relatively quick and easy way to get started with content creation. The most important thing to remember is that you have to create meaningful content that helps solve a problem, provides information, or is relatable to people so it will draw people to your business. If you are considering starting an insurance blog, we have some specific tips that can help the process go more smoothly. 

Why Start A Blog?

Even if you are not a writer, you can still create and share content that others will find value in. And why do this? Blogging is one of the quickest ways to help grow your business because it can help you to:

  • Pull in new prospects– With the right content, your blog can increase your agency’s visibility and help you grow with a minimal investment of money and time. One survey found that two-thirds of businesses with blogs generate more leads than those who do not, and a recent HubSpot survey found that businesses that blogged regularly attract 55% more customers than those that do not.person in a suit pressing the 5th start on a 5 start rating
  • Improve your business’ reputation– Blogging allows your business to look more professional, successful, and authoritative, which will help you to compete more effectively in the insurance industry. 
  • Build customer loyalty– Taking the time to connect with prospects and customers by providing them with useful information can help build trust. 

How To Start A Blog

If you are intimidated by the thought of starting a blog, have no fear, it’s a lot simpler than you might think. If you have a website, you can incorporate a blog into a separate section of your site, and then link it to your social media accounts. Here are the steps you need to follow to do this:

  • Choose a web host– If you don’t already have a website, you’ll need to go through these first three steps and set one up before you do anything, so you have a place to post your blog (other than your social media accounts). In order to create a website, you’ll first have to choose a web host for your new site, which is a platform that allows you to create, store, and view your website on the internet. Examples of web hosts are WordPress and Squarespace.

    laptop next to a journal with writing in it
    Organize what you are going to write, and consider a content calendar for when you will post it.
  • Purchase and connect a domain name– Some web hosts allow you to purchase a domain name through them, while others allow you to connect a domain name that you have purchased elsewhere. Either way, your company should have a domain name that represents your business, since you’ll have it for a long time.
  • Choose a theme and design– Once you have chosen a web host and domain name, the next thing to choose is a theme and design for your site, being sure to include your established logo. Try to make your site as easy to navigate as possible.
  • Organize what you are going to write– Once you’ve got your website up and running, you can begin to create your content. When deciding what to write about for your blog, keep your audience and your most frequently asked questions in mind. Jot down ideas when you come across them, and consider including some newsworthy topics that would be of interest to your customers.
  • Build a content calendarPosting content to your website and social media accounts doesn’t mean that you have to be in front of your computer constantly – you can use online tools to schedule your posts for you. Some popular calendar tools to consider include CoSchedule and Airtable, which allow you to take notes, sort through ideas, set deadlines, and save your work. 

Last but not least, it is officially time to start writing your content, proofread it, and add it to your blog! It will take some time for people to notice it and share it, though, so don’t be discouraged in the beginning. If you keep at it, you will eventually see an influx of prospects coming your way! 

In the meantime, if you are looking to grow your business quickly, Benepath can help. We offer exclusive leads who are ready to buy – all you have to do is tell us when you are available to work with them. Benepath will provide you with better tools, more guidance, unsurpassed sales training, and techniques from the most successful agents and trainers in the industry, not to mention the best leads available. To get more information, fill out the form above, or call 866-368-0377.

Preventing Your Clients From Leaving

Your customers are the foundation of your business, so your number one priority should be holding onto your existing customers. New business is important, but customer retention is more important, especially when it comes to your bottom line. In fact, did you know that it costs 6 times more to gain a new customer than it does to keep an existing one? That’s right, so approaching customer retention with the attitude of “I’ll just find more leads and more customers” is not a great idea. graph of bars going upward with money signs on the first and last bar

When it comes to growing your business, sometimes it’s about quality, not necessarily quantity. You need a solid base of loyal customers. Once a customer is gone, odds are they are gone for good- about 90% of customers who leave a business never return. You can prevent this from happening by building strong relationships with your customers and by resolving any problems that arise – doing so will increase a customer’s loyalty by 30%. To improve your customer retention rate and prevent your clients from leaving, you need to look at what customers want and how you can give it to them. 

Why They Are Leaving

caucasian woman with her hand on her chin looking down
If you don’t tend to your customers except when its renewal time, then you will most likely lose them as a customer.

First, you need to look at why customers might leave your business. Most of the time it’s not because of the price of your product, or because a competitor lures them away. The number one reason customers walk away is that they feel like their agent does not genuinely care about them. 

Are you making this common mistake? You sign up a customer for an insurance plan, and then you don’t make contact with them again until it’s time for renewal, or until they need to make a claim. If so, your customers will feel like there’s no personal touch in your relationship with them; your relationship will feel like a mere transaction. Similarly, if you are not returning your customers’ calls or answering their messages in a timely fashion, that lack of communication will take a toll on your retention rate.

What You Can Do

In short, you have to keep your customers happy, and that means going above and beyond with your customer service. You need to:

  • Build a customer database – Collect information about your customers and keep it in a database such as a CRM. This will keep track of the contact that you’ve had with them, what you’ve spoken about, what they’re interested in, and any problems or complaints that they have.
  • Keep in touch – One way that you can keep in touch with your customers is by sending out personalized emails to let them know about any updates, or any new plans that you think would benefit them. Make sure these emails feel tailored to your customers, otherwise they will just come off like sales pitches. 
  • different apps on a cellphone screen.Offer different channels of communication – This is the most important thing that you can do to retain your customers. You need to give them multiple ways to reach you in case one way doesn’t work. Ask your customers how they prefer to communicate with you, so that you are ready to communicate in that way, whether it is via email, phone calls, texts, or through social media.
  • Thank your customers – People like to feel appreciated and that they are more than just another sale. Go out of your way to thank your customers for their business.
  • Resolve any issues immediately – What many business owners and agents do not realize is that customers who are unhappy don’t usually complain – instead, they just end up leaving. So, if a customer does complain, take that opportunity to try and resolve any issues as quickly as you can. Your customer will  appreciate your attention, and will be more likely to talk about you to others.

Having a lot of customers is great! That means your business is booming. But sometimes it’s not all about getting more new customers – sometimes it’s about keeping your current ones happy. Having a loyal customer base is a more sustainable business model than that of constantly finding new customers to replace the ones you’ve lost. Do your best to keep your relationships with your customers strong, so that they never get to the point of wanting to leave. After all, it is not about competitors or price – it’s all about communication, which is completely in your control.

Your Primary Marketing Goal is Customer Loyalty

It is a fact that many businesses churn new customers and spend large dollars doing it, while not always taking care of the regular customers. However, remember to cater more to existing customers to retain them. Regulars are the lifeblood of marketing and can make or break you insurance agency business by staying, referring or leaving and telling all their friends they were ignored. We all know how powerful word-of-mouth advertising can be.

So once again, we are back at what you emphasize in marketing your insurance business – hands up for the value of building relationships by adding value with your customer relationship marketing strategy that does more than sell. It might take time to get into that mindset, but once you accomplish the brain switch, good things can happen. Remember, the loyal customers are your foundation.

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