Some insurance professionals use LinkedIn periodically; others use it more often as a way to connect with prospects as well as others in their industry. As a wholesale insurance broker, LinkedIn can be a very useful tool in helping you expand your network of agents—and you don’t necessarily have to spend tons of time on the site in order to get more value out of it. Here are a few tips.
Complete your profile. LinkedIn gives search priority to profiles that are 100% complete—so the more complete your profile is, the more easily insurance agents can find you. Include a picture, your current position and at least two past positions, your education information, at least three skills, your location and industry, and at least 50 connections.
Include a professional picture. It’s smart to consider getting a professional picture done—make sure your pic is well lit and you look neat, approachable, and friendly. Avoid pictures that are edgy, “creative,” or too casual—stick to a professional setting and outfit.
Advertise skills and get endorsements. You can identify skills for your LinkedIn profile and your existing connections can endorse you with just one click. The more endorsements you have on a skill, the higher you’ll rank on LinkedIn search results for that skill. If you have enough skills with endorsements on your profile, insurance agents will come to you.
Optimize your headline. Your headline shows up at the top of your profile and appears in a variety of contexts on LinkedIn. Instead of just using your existing job title, use a title that includes keywords insurance agents would use when searching for a broker with your expertise. This will help make you searchable and stand out to insurance agents on a search.
Optimize your website links. Instead of using the generic “company website’ and “blog” anchor text, use anchor text that includes industry keywords as well. This will improve your website’s searchability even further.
Connect to media. If your company offers white papers, webinars, blog posts, or other content to educate insurance agents on your areas of expertise, be sure to link to those on your LinkedIn profile. This will get insurance agents clicking through to your website.
When you connect, make it personal. LinkedIn discourages people from trying to add others to their networks if there isn’t already a relationship of some kind. If the person you’re trying to add tells LinkedIn that they don’t know you, you could be temporarily blocked from adding others to your network unless you include their email address. Always add a note reminding a person you’re trying to add of how you know them
Join insurance groups. Join and participate in groups that cater to the insurance agents you’re looking to make contact with. Keep track of discussions, contribute your expertise when someone asks a question you can answer, and publish articles to answer industry questions in more depth. This is a great way to both make connections and to keep apprised of the issues and questions insurance agents face—so you can better reach out to them.
If you set it up right, you can make your LinkedIn profile a pipeline to attract the right insurance agents to you. Be sure to complete your profile and do everything you can to make it easily searchable. In addition, join groups that cater to the type of insurance agents you’re trying to attract, and participate in discussions when you have expertise to add. With this strategy, you’re likely to generate mo
Leave a Reply