You’ve probably heard it before—content is king. In the digital world, this is absolutely true! Creating valuable, engaging content is a must in order to stay relevant and keep visitors coming back. But how do you leverage all that content and drive business from it? Enter: content marketing.
Content marketing refers to the creation of content that is useful or valuable to both prospects and existing clients. It could take the form of:
- A blog post that is intended to provide helpful information (e.g., what content marketing is and how it can help your agency)
- A case study that tells the story of how you were able to solve a particular client’s problem (e.g., how you made sure a client who owned a small business had their car insured in the correct entity’s name and what that meant when they had an accident)
- A series of emails that provide instruction on a particular topic (e.g., four steps to winterizing a vacation home in a cold climate)
- An ebook that goes into more depth about a particular topic (e.g., a fillable PDF form that explains how and offers a place to properly document a home’s belongings so there’s a good online record in the event of a homeowners claim)
- Website pages, white papers, social media posts and more
Whatever form it takes, content marketing is a way to reach customers that can feel more sincere and less “sales-y” than a traditional marketing pitch or paid advertising. The idea is to share information in a way that is both easy to understand and actionable. And it’s more about trying to meet your customer’s needs than touting yourself, with the byproduct being that you create positive impressions for your agency and build loyalty that leads to stronger client relationships and more sales.
In the insurance business, you can use content marketing to accomplish multiple goals:
- Establish your credibility
- Define and refine your agency image
- Start a conversation and engage with customers
- Introduce a particular insurance service or product
- Keep your agency’s name top-of-mind for your customers
Many insurance agents engage a pro to do part (or all) of the work for them. A good freelance content writer or a content marketing agency can do everything from creating an editorial calendar and writing your copy to posting it and engaging on social media. Some will charge hourly rates, some charge per project (e.g., a series of 10 blog posts costs $X,XXX) and others offer retainer packages (you pay $XXX to $X,XXX per month for them to produce a specified set of deliverables). If you’re looking for an agency or writer, think of a blog whose content you really like, reach out and ask them who their producer is!
As is the case with most things, beware of the cheaper options. Content mills, or content farms, offer incredibly low pricing, but the articles may be written by bots or non-native-English speakers, creating word salads that can be nearly indigestible. Correcting bad copy is a frustrating job and can eat up more time than the equivalent of any dollars you were trying to save upfront.
If you’re ready to give content marketing a go, you can set yourself up for a better experience by doing a few things before you start:
- Think of a few keywords that describe the tone you want to establish for your agency
- Decide on a monthly budget range
- Think about some topics you’d like to cover
Do you have any topics you’d like Hometown Quotes to cover on this blog? We’re always open to your questions, feedback, and ideas. Shoot us an email at bailey@hometownquotes.com to let us know how we can make our content more useful to you.
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