Written by Zachary Emly, orginially published by Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc.
"You need to be on social media. You should have Facebook and a blog. Make sure you’re also creating videos and checking out the latest trends like Snapchat and Instagram.” Sound familiar?
Do these people understand the life of an insurance agent? No agent has a few hours of spare time that they’re waiting to fill with Facebook and uncomfortable video creation.
But the experts are still right—digital marketing is a necessity for the future of your agency.
Here are a few easy ways you can free up more time for digital marketing while still getting through your workload.
Get rid of non-money making activities
Things like taking out the trash, getting the mail, shredding documents and other seemingly arbitrary tasks. We’re all busy, but I think we can all agree that not everything on our desk is necessarily pressing. By removing the junk or moving it down the pay scale, agency owners can begin to invest in their future marketing means.
Schedule time for it
Whatever is on your calendar will get done. If your calendar is filled with important tasks, you will succeed. If not, you’re more likely to fail. And if someone opens your calendar and sees you’re available, they’ll fill it with their needs. It’s easy to get caught up in pursuits that don’t matter, like lengthy, unnecessary work calls. If you build work time into your calendar, you’re less likely to procrastinate or be interrupted.
Hire someone
When all else fails, hire someone. You don’t necessarily have to outsource your marketing to the cheapest bidder just to get it done. Consider bringing someone in house who is capable of properly marketing your agency. Although it requires time, money and capacity to hire someone, it’s worth it. Your marketing team should make more money than you have to pay them. Your agency may save a few pennies if you choose not to hire someone, but you’ll end up losing dollars in the long run.
Just make sure that the person you hire understands the job and has some experience with digital marketing—and make sure you’re willing to invest in their training. Also consider distributing marketing tasks to more than one person at your agency. They can work part time on different marketing initiatives but come together once a week to stay aligned.
Know what you need to do
With so many different tools at your fingertips, effectively marketing your agency can be a bit intimidating. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds when you’re working, and you may come out without achieving anything tangible.
To avoid this, take a couple of weeks to set goals that align with your agency goals as a whole. Prioritizing will help ensure a sharp focus on only the most important marketing activities—the ones that will help you hit your business goals.
Zachary Emly is an instructor and consultant at inBuzz Group, a firm that educates insurance agents and small business owners on how to take control of their digital marketing.