The Learning Center

The online insurance sales industry has grown an average of 4.9 percent per year from 2007-2012, according to IBISWorld. While many insurance professionals still use time-tested methods to connect with new clients and pursue leads, you are missing out on business if you’re not online. Try these five tips to boost your online presence and success rate:

1. Craft your landing page — A thoughtful website landing page does a lot of the hard work for you, informing users who you are and what services you offer. If you have a special deal for new clients (such as 20 percent off when they sign up for insurance), you will want to display the offer prominently on your landing page to drive users through the conversion funnel. Describe the benefits of your offer in clean and compelling language. A smart landing page tactic is to keep the signup form visible at all times while continuing to provide the user with information that can influence conversion rates.

2. Integrate your leads with a Facebook Like — Automate lead-generation when new people like your Facebook page, a tactic that works for risk management company ClearRisk. When new visitors like the brand’s Facebook page, they receive a Facebook message that offers a free e-book download in exchange for supplying their email address. When the user provides an email address, they move down the lead conversion funnel and receive direct marketing from the brand. Meanwhile, the Facebook page shares useful content that entices and engages, helping the brand to maintain top of mind awareness.

3. Use analytics to refine your reach — Analytics can provide valuable, actionable insight into what content is and is not working for you. If few users are clicking on your call to action and converting, make changes to your content and see whether more people connect. If your analytics skills are lacking, beef them up: According to Search Engine Watch, analytics skills are increasingly in demand in marketing and social media through 2014.

4. Send a seasonal newsletter — Send a regular, seasonal newsletter to your subscriber list to connect with users year round and check in with leads who have not yet converted. Periodically, send updates or special offers to your most promising leads to entice them to convert. This will be easier if you keep your qualified insurance leads organized through an account management system, notes QuoteWizard. Use software that shows the percentage of opens your newsletter receives to track and refine the content you send out and determine what types of special offers work best.

5. Make it easy for users to socially share content you create — Making it easy for others to share your work passively attracts leads. Integrate social sharing buttons on your website and in e-newsletters you send out. This way, users can share your content instantly, and you will receive increased exposure, more traffic and ultimately better leads. Diverse social marketing is a trend for 2014, notes Forbes. Maximize your reach by catering to a wide range of channels by both sharing your content across the board and enabling your customers to do so, too.