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How Brokers Can Optimize Their LinkedIn Presence To Increase Sales

By David Dyck, Editor-in-Chief, Apollo Exchange

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools in an insurance broker’s toolbox. Done right, it can be your most powerful asset when it comes to driving leads and making connections. You might be wondering why LinkedIn and not some other social media platform?

Consider the following stats:

  • Number of LinkedIn users: 500 million
  • Monthly active LinkedIn users: 250 million
  • Percentage of users who use LinkedIn every day: 40%
  • Percentage of Canadians aged 25-54 who use LinkedIn: 35%
  • Percentage of Canadian social network users who use LinkedIn every month: 79%

If you look at those numbers, you can see that the chances are pretty good that most of your prospects are on LinkedIn. The question is: are you making yourself visible to them?

There’s a strategy behind effective marketing on the professional network. Simply setting up a profile won’t be enough to put you in front of the people you’re selling to. Here are some tactics you can take to make sure that you’re getting the most out of LinkedIn. And because this is part of the One Small Step series, each item below will only take a few minutes, and doesn’t require any special expertise.

LinkedIn Marketing for Insurance Brokers

Optimize your profile

Hopefully you already have a LinkedIn profile (if not, please sign up immediately). But just because your profile exists, doesn’t mean you’re getting the most out of it. Here are the components of every good insurance broker profile:

  1. A professional headshot photo
  2. Link back to your company’s LinkedIn page
  3. Detailed descriptions in every section — don’t leave anything blank
  4. Highlight your personal brand – what do you want to be known for?
  5. Put keywords in your headline that highlight your expertise
  6. Showcase education, certifications, any awards you have won, and any professional memberships
  7. Choose a good background image
  8. Add link to your brokerage’s website

Join LinkedIn groups that match your target industries

LinkedIn groups are places where professionals go to share advice and thought leadership, discuss trends, and support others in their industry. That makes them great places to network with other business professionals, both in insurance as well as whatever industries you are targeting as a producer. They’re not only a great place to find clients, they’re a way to gain insights that could help grow your book.

You can also feature those groups on your profile to show that you’re an active member of those communities.

The biggest secret to groups is this: you can direct message any member of your group, even if you aren’t connected and only have a free LinkedIn account.

Post great content regularly

You can have a perfect profile and join all the groups, but if you aren’t posting regularly, nobody will see you.

One of the ways you can contribute to those groups you’ve just joined is by sharing content from your brokerage’s blog. Because there is a professional atmosphere on the social networking site, clients and prospects are more likely to respond to your blog content on LinkedIn than they are on other social platforms, like Facebook. We aren’t saying you should ignore the other platforms, but if you’re posting industry specific content in an industry specific LinkedIn group, you know it’s reaching the right people.

A great way to ensure you’re posting regularly is by using HubSpot’s social media marketing automation tool. Decide how much you want to post, and line up the week’s content ahead of time. That way you can schedule all of your posting in just a few minutes on Monday, and you’ll stay active on LinkedIn throughout the week, even if you’re too busy or away from the office.

Constantly connect

You’ve heard the sales mantra always be closing, but when it comes to LinkedIn the first step is to always be connecting. Make sure you’ve added everyone you work with, and make sure you continue to connect with clients, prospects, and colleagues that you meet in person on a regular basis.

Don’t be afraid to add someone you know through your connections, though it usually helps if you include a personal note along with the invitation as to why you connect. Don’t try to sell them something as soon as they accept your request. Instead, offer a piece of content to share your value and demonstrate your expertise.

Although this may sound like a lot, just start with one small step and take it from there. Once you’ve optimized your profile, you’ll start to see more people reach out to you. You’ll be that much closer to accelerating your digital transformation.

About the Author

David Dyck leverages his experience as a journalist in his role as Head of Content for ApolloXE. He believes in the power of content to help aid brokers in their digital transformation.

Get in touch today at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

About Apollo

The APOLLO Exchange (legal name “Apollo Insurance Solutions Ltd.”) is Canada’s largest online insurance marketplace. Apollo empowers brokers to instantly quote, bind, and issue policy documents for hundreds of classes of small business in real time, or white label the Exchange to sell directly from their website. Brokerages integrated with the Exchange are able to respond to the changing expectations of buyers and forward-thinking employees.

Co-founded by Jeff McCann, David Dyck, Justin Hamade, and Drew Green, Apollo was created to empower brokers to better serve their clients. Following the completion of Beta testing in April 2019, Apollo successfully closed its angel round of funding, raising $1 million CAD with the support of notable investors, including Drew Green, Matias Marquez, Kim Kaplan, and Caliber Ventures. Acting members of Apollo’s Board of Directors are leading industry and entrepreneurial figures Drew Green, Steve Albiani, Tim Gamble, and Jeff McCann. In June 2019, the company launched a first of its kind: digital, monthly subscription insurance.

Learn more about Apollo in the InsurTech Spotlight. For further information, visit apollocover.com.

SOURCE: Apollo Exchange