Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life. – Mary Kay Ash
You can chase car insurance leads, or you can encourage them to come to you. Both choices can take you to success. But only one of them works efficiently.
It was back in the 1930s when Allen F. Morgensen, creator of Work Simplification, said the now-famous phrase: work smarter, not harder. That’s not a tribute to slacking off. It’s a theory that for every job, there’s a straighter road to the goal. And now more than ever, the road must be paved with value.
Value is the key in a world filled with choices. It’s what drives in high-quality leads. There might millions of prospects. But to bring the highest volume of the best leads into your sales funnel, people need a reason to care.
Inbound Marketing Keeps Lead Generation Steady
No one else is in charge of your car insurance lead generation strategy. And while that might be an empowering concept, it’s also a sobering one. You’re in control. So what can you offer that nobody else will?
The answer is valuable content. It’s what keeps leads flowing. Marketing strategist, Neil Patel, says:
“Content marketing works because you’re not just attracting visitors to your site and leaving them alone to hopefully buy something. Instead, you’re sending a clear message that you are attuned to their needs and ready to help solve their problems.”
Inbound marketing leaves cold calling in the dust where efficient lead generation is concerned. But prospects aren’t likely to pick up the phone or fill out an online contact form out of the goodness of their hearts. They need a reason to follow through. That is the crux. Words easily fall on deaf ears. But well-crafted content engages the audience.
Content is the root of successful inbound marketing. Everywhere prospects see your name, you have an opportunity to engage them with value. Your landing pages aren’t full-page ads, nor are they instruction manuals. They’re content marketing opportunities.
Patel says that with valuable content, “the prospect or customer thinks, “this company really gets me.'”
Content Marketing Isn’t Just for Websites and Blogs
When you think of content, you probably think about blog posts. But content is in everything digital that you do. And that includes social media, email marketing and video.
According to Marketo, “Social Media is here to stay. Gone are the days of relying on your website and SEO alone to drive traffic to your site.” When you think about offering value, the social media reach comes into sharper focus.
- Twitter: 140 characters, images, links back to your website, plus paid ads
- Facebook: Voluminous engagement opportunities through posts, video, links to related content, and paid ads.
- LinkedIn: More for B2B marketing, but still a good B2C platform for linkable content.
Best of all, most social media is free to a certain extent and business accounts come with analytics tools to see what’s working and what isn’t. You can pay for broader social exposure. But you don’t have to.
Social media doesn’t stop with the Big Three, either. Every channel from Snapchat to Instagram has a specific audience that relates to a certain kind of content. Get to know the audience of each platform and you’ll have the direction for unique social marketing campaigns.
As for email, it’s still a great content marketing tool. But your audience probably responds better to visuals than text. Offer plenty of imagery and links to content, and keep the text portion of the message to a minimum.
Think of Buying Leads as Supplementary
The Beatles already said, “Can’t buy me love.” And lead-buying can be just as fruitless unless you have a great strategy for that, as well. If you supplement inbound content marketing with purchased leads, choose your vendor carefully.
As content marketing proves itself more and more valuable, purchased leads fall under a stronger microscope. Lead quality matters more when you’re paying top dollar for them. So tune into the vendor’s proven results before making a buy.
Marketing Sherpa reminds:
- * Leads aren’t always exclusive. You might be in competition with other agents for the same prospects.
- * Speed matters. A hot B2C lead today might be cold as ice tomorrow.
Where content marketing lets you guide the best-qualified prospects into your sales funnel of their own accord, lead-buying only gives you a pre-screened name. What makes a solidly qualified prospect in your eyes might differ from the vendor’s. So before making the investment, scrutinize vendor policies and their history of success.
Remember Your Local Networking Opportunities
Look around the community for more brand exposure and more opportunities to drive in car insurance leads. Community ties and stewardship go a long way toward brand reputation and perceived value.
YouLead recommends several “out-of-the-box” ideas:
- * Partner with local auto dealers to gain referrals
- * Join local car clubs to meet and engage with car enthusiasts
- * Place ads in gas stations
- * Join or help sponsor local activities such as auto shows or vehicle safety events
- * Have a presence at tailgating events
With a content marketing strategy in effect, every community effort can lead prospects back to your content and into the sales funnel.
That brings us to mobile. The mobile experience makes or breaks content marketing. And that’s because hardly anyone doesn’t use a mobile device all day, every day.
According to SmartInsights, desktop users are trailing mobile users for Internet access.
It’s one thing to have a website and blog to tell people about. It’s another to have a QR code on an event flyer that links prospects directly back to your mobile-optimized website. The mobile experience can’t be overestimated in today’s market. If you want to drive in more car insurance leads, mobile must be part of the strategy.
Insurance isn’t for the few, it’s for the masses. There are millions of people in the U.S. who own at least one vehicle. And every vehicle needs insurance. When you take that perspective, there’s nothing but opportunity for car insurance leads.
Content marketing has changed the way efficient lead generation works. It gives you more control than ever before and more platforms on which to cultivate brand recognition, trust and value. These days, value is the key driver.
Your target audience has nothing but choices and myriad ways to make them. But you have the power to get in front of competitors and offer something different and better. Request a free trial.
