Organic Outreach—Easier Than You Think!
The time’s are always a-changin’, and in this modern age? See if you can blink before another algorithm out of your control has shifted, leaving you feeling defeated that you FINALLY just mastered the previous version.
Fear not.
Most of my success in outreach has been first: free, and secondly, based on the most common of sense.
There are plenty of advanced and tried and true strategies. For me, less is almost always more, and common sense trumps all in being one of the most timeless and effective methods.
Essential. Easy. Absolutely mindless.
I'll be honest, after years of staring at screens, I can say I am happy to give this aspect up for the many businesses I reach out for.
I have blown through numerous series of cheesy/epic shows this year while "liking" and commenting away on Instagram.
See: Golden Girls, Friends, Frasier, The Goldberg's, Trailer Park Boys, The Office, etc.
Consistency is Key
If you're in a small town, you have an advantage sometimes. Closer knit communities and less things going on to compete with. Easily recognized and acknowledged.
Similar businesses. Who is following them?
Followers/ Following Ratio: I get it, seriously: this is the most shallow and stupid part of social media, and I too play these childish games.
You want to appear popular and prosperous, no? So you find people that are not ultra-concerned about promoting their accounts who could care less about that type of superficial clap trap.
Those will be your "followers."
You're trying to make great first impressions in the marketplace.
They're just scrolling and supporting accounts they dig. These are your people.
By GeoTag, by far the creepiest (and most successful) ways of going about outreach.
Hashtags, of course. But understand who you are looking for and why.
For instance, we can only sell insurance in the state of Ohio.
So sorry, rest of the country, but on this account, I don't really need to reach you at all.
I'm no good to you and you're no good to me (in this particular circumstance!)
So I'm not going to go after too much #insurance…
Two goals though:
Growing the account (who cares where these people are from, I'll take all the random followers I can get to beef up my account!)
vs. Getting Real Life Clients and communicating with my real life customer base…
So most about social media must first start in the hemming and hawing phase of figuring out who exactly you are trying to reach and what your outcomes and goals are.
In our case, we are only wanting to reach adults 18 and over in the state of Ohio. (Tweens and teens aren't going to be passionately repping our insurance policies.)
What you seek is seeking you.
Why would people call our family agency over a large chain?
First off, we're real people. You know when you call in you will be talking to a real agent (who I personally know has heart, integrity, and actually cares.)
That is beneficial in the confusing world of insurance jargon, to have a down-to-earth agent with 35+ years of experience and can help you navigate the often very tedious (and VERY boring) details.
People would call us because people from Ohio tend to have a lot of heart, and in general, seem to support local business when they can.
We offer free quotes and we represent multiple insurance companies as Independent Agents.
We will do our best to get you a great deal.
We also aren't going to leave you in a VERY risky position by giving you an ultra-low rate with LITTLE protection.
We've had fifty five years of been there done that experience.
We've seen a lot.
So we'll be honest with you.
Ohioans tend to care about trust, honesty, and integrity, and I can vouch that my parents are absolutely incredible and ethical people.
In general, people would come to Pavilion because they trust, like, or personally know us.
So my niche is really most any adult in the state of Ohio, especially those close to our headquarters, and also close to Columbus, where I reside and do business.
Ideally, we are drawing in people around a wider circle of people who actually know and trust us.
You always want a reciprocal relationship. You don't want mean, nasty, pain in the butt customers any more than they want mean and nasty service from their insurance providers.
So in growing this account, I am going to actually attempt to walk the walk and see if I can't make a difference in our family's sales.
For instance, I live in Columbus, Ohio and I have for almost eight years now.
Columbus is home to me and I am fortunate to know a LOT of people in this city.
But aside from my fiancé, we have few clients from my capital city.
As a fresh insurance agent on the scene, I am sticking to what I know best: promoting good people, products, and businesses.
I'm not a super experience insurance agent yet.
But my dad sure as hell is. And so is my mom!
So I'll gladly and with confidence connect you with them.
Why would people switch?
Because they personally know me and trust me and most people, I might add, think insurance can be very slimy.
It definitely can. Which is why having excellent and personal agents is essential in this day and age.
Do you want to sludge through automated calls to the soonest available nineteen year old agent on the other end of the corporate line?
Or do you want to instantly speak with a no nonsense but helpful and friendly agent with over thirty five years of experience in the industry?
All of this soul searching is helping me narrow my niche, and narrow my efforts to something that actually makes sense.
Our client base is made up of mostly middle aged and older clients. We probably can't count on a lot of them to be active on social media.
So, while we do want to grow our following and develop a reputable presence with our social media, our real goal is to convert our real connections, family, and friends into customers.
Insurance isn't optional… so you have it with someone.
Why not call us for a free quote and easily switch over if we can get you a great rate?
Who are you supporting with your current insurance?
Support local and call us today.
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