Determining Which Social Media Platform is Most Effective for Your Business

Over the past decade, social media has dominated the digital marketing landscape. Once thought of as a quaint extension to online marketing efforts, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn have become essential channels for insurance social marketing. Selecting the right social media platform is the key to getting the most out of these channels; in this guide, we will help you choose the right one for your insurance marketing goals and needs.

Why Use Insurance Social Marketing?

If your clients’ agencies have not yet leveraged the power of social media in their digital marketing efforts, they are missing a prime opportunity to extend their reach. How big is social media, and what benefits does it have for insurance businesses? Statistics from 2020 serve to illustrate just how powerful insurance social marketing can be:

• Over 3.6 billion individuals use social media, with as many as 4.5 billion expected by 2025.
• On Facebook alone, over 2.7 billion people are monthly users.
• LinkedIn marketing for brands is proven to assist in customer acquisition; 96% of B2B marketers turn to the platform for content distribution each year.
• Click-through rate (CTR) increased to 1.3% in 2020, demonstrating how effective social media is in boosting organic web traffic.
• 57% of all consumers use social media to follow their favorite brands, including insurance businesses.
• After following a brand on social media, as many as 89% will make purchases from that brand. 85% of followers will recommend the brand to others.

An immense amount of potential awaits businesses who leverage social media in their marketing efforts. Insurance social media has the ability to attract new customers, improve customer engagement, and build brand awareness at a fraction of the cost of other advertising channels.

What is the Best Social Media Platform for Your Marketing Goals and Needs?

When evaluating platforms for insurance social media marketing, insurance businesses should identify the following factors:

• What type of business is it?
• Who is your intended audience?
• What is the demographic makeup of your audience?

Armed with this information, making the choice becomes easier. Insurance companies may operate as a consumer-oriented business (B2C) or a business-to-business (B2B) firm. Each type demands a different strategy for social media marketing. For B2C agencies, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are ideal. B2B companies typically get far better results when they use LinkedIn as their social media platform of choice.

The intended social media audience and its demographic composition play critical roles in social media platform selection. If your business wants to target homeowners or retirees, platforms like Twitter and Facebook will generally produce better results than youth-oriented platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat. The younger audiences – those just starting their careers or who may be recent college graduates – will respond better to these youth-oriented platforms. Your insurance customers will be at different stages of life and will have differing insurance needs. Understanding those needs based on demographic information will not only allow you to select the right social media platform to reach them, but to tailor your messages once active on the platform(s).

Leveraging Facebook for Insurance Social Marketing

Although Facebook has been a dominant platform among all age groups for years, certain demographic shifts have occurred. For teens, the platform has fallen out of favor, and Instagram, Snapchat, and others have taken Facebook’s place. For adults and the elderly, however, increased adoption of Facebook has opened new business opportunities for insurance agencies. Facebook remains as a critical “go-to” for insurance social marketing; establishing a profile and building a following on the platform unlocks pathways to new audiences. The platform continually rolls out new tools and features for advertising, allowing agencies to explore options for targeting specific audiences at any stage of the insurance purchasing funnel.

Many savvy insurance firms utilize more than one social media platform to connect with customers. Facebook should take priority in these efforts. Content posted on Facebook can be shared on other platforms, including text-based and video content. Whether your agency uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest – to name only a few of the many potential avenues for insurance social marketing – the return on investment remains positive. Social media will continue to provide insurance businesses with opportunities, helping your agency grow in both customer base and in revenue.

About Agency Tsunami

Agency Tsunami is the digital marketing division of Neilson Marketing Services, who has provided the insurance distribution sector with innovative marketing and communication solutions for over twenty-five years. With our Agency Tsunami program, we have implemented an integrated marketing strategy that includes optimized, professional websites supported by high-quality SEO and Social Media for hundreds of insurance retailers and wholesalers. Our goal is to help your insurance business perform and generate new opportunities. Give us a call at (800) 736-9741 to learn more about how we can do that for you.