How To Be Master Of Your Social Media Domain

Most veteran insurance agents are familiar with direct mail advertising to get in front of prospective clients. Some might still be using this time-tested lead generator.

Those same agents might never consider a digital advertising campaign, said Suzanne Carawan, vice president of marketing and communications for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

"The vast majority of people have no idea how to actually do it," she said of digital advertising. "And they actually don't understand how easy it is, and what the benefits are, especially for an advisor who is, nine times out of ten, is independent and is spending their own money."

Carawan delivered a digital advertising primer Wednesday at NAIFA’s 2020 Performance + Purpose virtual conference. Her session was titled, "Social Media Advertising: How to Spend, Stream & Seem Like a Master."

Carawan's session served as a follow-up to Brian Haney's Tuesday session, titled "The Law of Attraction – Unlocking Your Virtual Marketing Keys to Success."

The idea is to get agents and advisors becoming more comfortable with social media advertising, she said. To that end, Carawan included a hands-on participation exercise in her session.

"What I'm trying to let people know is that the magic is not in pushing the button," she explained. "Because there are YouTube videos out there and everything else. The magic is the understanding how to employ this tool to tell your brand's story to differentiate yourself."

Record Of Success

Carawan speaks with a record of success utilizing digital advertising. A digital ad she put together for NAIFA Nation Impact Week in May drew responses from more than 1,700 non-NAIFA members.

"People were amazed at that -- it was like, how did they hear about it?" Carawan said. "It was because we employed digital advertising. They just had no idea. So it was a great way to raise awareness."

A recent survey by Fidelity found advisors working and prospecting from home were finding some success. Of advisors using a multichannel approach -- email, phone and video -- 74% reported average or above average results.

Out of the advisors using only email as their prospecting channel, three-quarters of them reported below average results, according to the COVID-19 Financial Advisor Community survey.

The survey highlights the importance of knowing the channels and what they can do, Carawan said, adding that this is one of the biggest mistakes agents and advisors are making.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram might seem all branches off the same tree, but each one can be very segmented in terms of user demographics, she noted. Likewise, just turning over office social media to an intern is a big no-no.

"The fallacy with that move is that you're outsourcing your actual narrative, your brand, to someone who has zero experience," Carawan said. "And it's a bad move. It usually
doesn't turn out too well."

Another common mistake is advisors not putting the same time and effort into their social media profile as they would a resume, Carawan said.

"If advisors saw their social media profile and understood that in today's world, consumers make more than 70% of their decisions without you, based on what they can find online, I think that the adoption would go a lot faster," she added.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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