Insurance is a competitive industry, especially if you are trying to get people to find and buy your products online. There are many companies all fighting to get noticed, and it can be difficult to stand out.

Marketing is therefore considered essential for many insurance companies, and there are many marketing techniques available that you can use to improve your visibility and get more sales.

Here are just a few of the most effective options.

Before you start any form of marketing, you need to understand how effective it will be. Unlike other forms of marketing, online give s you the ability track the real return on Investments of all of your activity.

So you will need to implement a tracking system….

Use Google Analytics

One of the problems with any marketing activity is when you do not know how successful your activity is. You may want to know whether various marketing channels for insurance are working, and Google Analytics is an excellent way to keep track of everything so that you can alter your strategy and make improvements where necessary.

It provides you with a powerful set of tools that enable you to find out a huge range of data, including:

• who is visiting your site;
• what times they visit most;
• how long they spend there;
• where they are located;
• which devices they use.

This is just the start, however, and there are many more metrics you can get access to. If you have not started to use it yet, make this the first thing you do.

Write a regular blog

A blog remains one of the simplest and most effective ways to market insurance online. A blog is a way to provide your audience with information, news, tips, advice and more. You can use it to:

• reveal the personality behind your business;
• create a sense of community through the comments;
• increase trust in your brand;
• boost engagement;
• encourage visitors to stay for longer, which can also increase conversions.

A blog can become the centre of your online marketing activity. If you get involved in any other type of marketing, such as social media, the content that you publish to your blog can be used to generate more visitors to your site. It is also the most effective way to publish content regularly for SEO purposes to boost your presence in the search engines.

So if you have not launched a blog yet, or you have not managed to publish a post regularly, now is the time to start.

Boost your social presence

Many insurance companies are unsure how they can take advantage of social media without it becoming a waste of time. But the truth is that it does not have to be complicated.

Launch a presence on Twitter and Facebook – and LinkedIn if you are targeting other businesses with your insurance products – and you can get started immediately.

Start by posting links to your recent blog posts. This can show that you have authority in your industry, and it can help to direct traffic to your website. You can also link to other content that you think will be helpful for your audience. In addition:

• seek out your competitors and get ideas about what they are posting;
• follow conversations related to your niche and get involved;
• answer questions;
• provide expert tips.

It may take a little while to get going, but if you consistently engage with your followers via social media, you can soon develop a strong presence.

Encourage more phone calls

Do you want targets to contact you via phone so you can sell them your policies? If so, you may want to encourage more phone calls using online methods, and the advances in technology can help you here.

Many people now browse the web and use the search engines from their mobile devices, and you can now create PPC ads with your phone numbers included that show up in mobile searches.

This way, targets can simply click on the number from their phone and call you directly, and you are then charged in the same way as you are for a click on your ad.

You can track all your calls and find out which ads generate more conversions, then use this information to fine-tune your strategy over time.

Start an email newsletter

Email newsletters have been around for a long time, but they are still going strong – and that’s because they work.

You can easily set up an email strategy by building a list through encouraging people to provide you with their email addresses in return for downloading a free report. You can then send out regular emails, perhaps once a week, packed full of information, tips, advice and more.

The secret with emails is to make sure that every email you send provides value so that your subscribers will be more likely to open the next email that lands in their inbox.

Stand out more online

Developing an Internet marketing strategy is the best way to help your website stand out and get found. These are just five of the most effective ways to market your business, but there are many more available. So experiment with different techniques, find out what works for you, and then start enjoying all the benefits.

About the Author

Jason Hulott is Director of SpeedieConsulting, the internet marketing specialists for insurance and finance companies. We help Insurance and Finance businesses who wish to use the Internet to take control of their revenue and traffic generation online.