Do you ever fancy a world where you could focus on being the best insurance agent whilst a steady flow of clients rolled in perpetually? It’s good to entertain such idealistic thoughts once in a while.
After all, one glance at reality is enough to flip the too-good-to-be-true paradigm on its head. Just like any other industry vertical, the insurance sector also needs to participate in smart marketing. That is the only way to attract leads, nurture them, create customers, and earn revenue.
Though a combination of marketing strategies is needed, Search Engine Optimization or SEO often takes precedence. The truth is that SEO only works as well as an agency’s content marketing tactics. In this article, we will discuss three content marketing strategies that will help maximize insurance SEO efforts.
Why Tie Content Marketing with Insurance SEO
Before we talk about integrating the two strategies, let’s focus on the value of each. As per Neilson Marketing Services, a solid on-page and off-page SEO strategy builds up search engine ranking and increases the influx of website visitors.
You can target specific geographic locations and demographics to narrow down your marketing field. As good SEO builds trust and credibility, it is crucial to an insurance agency’s longevity. You can click here to learn more about it.
Just like SEO, content marketing in insurance is primarily used to establish oneself as a thought leader. That means both strategies help drive visibility and brand awareness to some extent. However, there is a limit to both.
SEO drives organic traffic and content keeps it on your website. Here’s where the value of integrating the two steps is. As you rank on Google and more people know about your brand, they’ll want to know more. When they visit your website and find relevant blogs or other content catering to their needs, leads will hang around longer and more often.
In a nutshell, SEO works towards bringing the desired traffic to your website. Smart content marketing keeps visitors there, nurtures them, and eventually converts them into customers.
3 Strategies for Success
Now that we’ve seen how content marketing can work closely with SEO for insurance agencies and brokers, let’s look at three strategies for success.
Focus on Being Unique and Original
There is one thing that content marketing, as well as SEO, have in common: focusing on something that is unique or has not been done before. Are you tempted to say that there is nothing new under the sun? Well, that sun is certainly not shining overhead in the world of business!
Just put yourself in your customers or leads’ shoes and think. If you get to read about something that you already know, would you be interested? Similarly, if you come across content that every other brand is publishing, that would fail to spark enthusiasm.
We understand that insurance can be a straightforward and monotonous subject at times. However, you can concur that many advancements are taking place within this industry. Technologies like blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, etc., are rigorously transforming this space.
Deloitte’s 2024 Global Insurance Outlook report states that the insurance sector is increasingly becoming customer-centric. So, leverage that and let your customer feel like a king through original content. Let’s take an example – simply preparing a guide for different insurance products is not enough.
The same may be comprehensive but it may not hold attention. What customers want to know is whether their current pain points are being considered. What can you do about it? Perhaps create an eBook that discusses all solutions focused on climate change concerns. You can even repurpose it into blogs, infographics, videos, and more.
This will also allow you to use long-tail keywords that your competitors might be missing. Think outside the box, understand where you can emerge as a thought leader, and target content in those areas. Your customers are not expecting you to be a Jack of all trades, but they do want you to be the master of a few.
Create Comprehensive Long-Form Content
Did we just dismiss comprehensive content in our previous point? Not exactly! As you embark on a journey of encouraging your team to create unique content, try to keep it long-form. There is no singular definition for this type of content, but it usually includes 4000 words or more.
Sometimes, even 1200 words would be considered long-form. In any case, keep your posts at least 1000 words for them to be riveting and useful. Additionally, you need not concentrate all your attention on blog posts. Play around with different content formats to understand what your readers like best.
This is crucial because not all leads enjoy reading detailed articles, especially when it comes to insurance. Some want their information in a digestible format. Now, how can you squeeze through substantial details and still keep it attention-grabbing? Here are a few long-form content ideas –
- Evergreen web pages like testimonials, FAQs, or even industry jargon/glossary
- Detailed how-to guides in video format
- Even webinars can become educational resources
- Case studies and whitepapers that arrest attention through problem and outcome formats
- Data roundups
As a further encouragement, we would like to share a shocking statistic released after surveying 11.8 million Google search results. Studies have found that the average number of words on Google’s first page is 1447. A long-form article can help you deliver more knowledge and meet keyword targets -a win-win.
Ensure the Content is Attractive
Suppose you wish to distribute your monthly content in a way that 60% to 70% are blog posts. It is good news if your audience enjoys reading long-form blogs. However, keep in mind that nobody enjoys hunting for relevant information.
In other words, be it amateur or seasoned policyholders, all like to get what they need fast. This means your content needs to be as attractive as it is high-quality. Are we talking about including some pictures? Yes, that could make the article more engaging.
However, that alone will not be enough. You must divide your content into easily noticeable sections using headers, bullet points, italics, emphasis, etc. Studies conducted on marketers have found that many agree with having a visual content strategy in place for all their written content as well.
You can think about stock photos but don’t forget to make your content streamlined and organized. Millions of blogs circulate across the internet. At least a thousand would more or less be similar to yours. A reader spends an average of 52 seconds reading a post before they hit the back button or type in a new keyword.
Since search engines consider longer visitor time as the content being valuable, you have to keep your reader longer. So, give them all that they need in a single place but do so in a manner that they want to know more.
As your industry speedily evolves due to embedded insurance, automated underwriting, and whatnot, stepping up marketing strategies is a must. If your SEO is in jeopardy, perhaps it’s missing some solid content fuel. Turbocharge the same using strategies mentioned in this article and you’d have a lead-generating machine at your disposal in no time.
