It hadn't occurred to me untilrecently how much agents' experiences in social mediaparallels Dorothy's experience in the land of Oz.

In the Wizard of Oz, an innocent young person is living anordinary life when an unprecedented tornado swoops down and turnsher world literally upside down. Dorothy awakens to find her worldswitched with an unfamiliar place, strange people and newpowers.

It's only through the help of the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and theLion that she is able to reach the Wizard, save Oz and find her wayback home, all by following the Yellow Brick Road.

For many insurance agents, our new digital and social mediaworld is a very strange place where traditional business marketingand communication methods no longer apply. The social media andmobile marketing worlds are changing not just how we do business,but how our customers expect us to do business.

Consumers spend on average, 2 hours and 38 minutes on theirmobile devices every day, and that number continues to climb. Infact, the flipside is equally true: The amount of time we spend ondesktop computers or laptops is dropping. It dropped 12 percentbetween 2011 and 2012.

Related: Read “Networking IRL.”

What are we doing on our mobile devices during that time? Well,82 percent of the time is on apps and the vast majority (78percent) are researching products or services before making apurchase. Industry studies have shown that people like to doresearch online first and then find an agent to buy.

But if you aren't effectively out on social media, if you don'thave a mobile-friendly website, at least, or if the informationthat's out there is focused on selling, then you will either not befound or you'll turn off the consumers that are just looking forhelp with no strings attached.

Outbound & Inbound

Traditional marketing is outbound in nature. You start withleads, either by purchasing a list or having identified yourmarket, and have access to vehicles to promote your agency andbuild your message around your products and services and whatdistinguishes you from the competition.

Inbound marketing, especially as it relates to social media, isa whole other animal. It's more along the lines of positioning youragency to provide value to your market before they even becomecustomers. You want to build an environment, a business personathat attracts people and brings them into your sphere ofinfluence.

Two parallel paths accomplish an effective inbound marketingstrategy, both of which can reduce your new business acquisitioncosts by, some studies show, up to 50 percent. One is anemail-based autoresponder campaign and the other a planned out,pre-set social media campaign.

Social Media

Social media is not the place to sell; it should be the place toeducate. It's also the place to present your brand—and not justyour name and logo. This is the environment in which you prove yourvalue and commitment. Provide information and knowledge that willhelp consumers, not just your clients, make buying decisionseasier.

It may not even be about buying insurance; the subject you postabout may be about buying cars but from an insurance perspective.What should someone buying a car for himself or his 17-year-old sonconsider when choosing between different makes and models? Whatimpact will it have on premiums? Are there any steps they can taketo reduce the increase?

Related: Read “Is Content Really King.”

A great source of this kind of content is the InsuranceInformation Institute (III), the nonprofit communicationsorganization supported by the insurance industry. You will find allsorts of consumer content, disaster and safety information as wellas press releases on seasonal topics and other relevant,consumer-targeted information. III allows the use of the content aslong as you don't change it and you provide the appropriateattribution.

By consistently providing valuable, reliable information, youhelp position yourself and your agency as a “go to” resource. Whensomeone familiar with the valuable information you provide onFacebook or in your blog, for example, is looking for insurance,you can bet they will more likely come to you first.

This also is a great vehicle for moving them to your website.Your blog can be a great way to funnel people to your website withposts linking to more information that can only be found on yoursite. Maybe you have some video or slideshow or a PDF document thatdrills down on a particular topic or includes statistics. All ofyour social media activities should act as spokes redirectingpeople inbound to your website, the hub of your overall onlinemarketing strategy.

Autoresponders

Autoresponders are a scheduled series of emails with a singlecall to action (CTA) within the message. The CTA can be to visityour website, complete a form, watch a video or just click on alink for something. Whatever it might be, don't ask for more thanone action and the number of emails can be as few or as many asmakes sense.

Maybe it begins with information about your agency and includeslinks to specific information on your personal lines products andanother to your commercial lines. Every week, let's say, a newemail goes out highlighting a different aspect of your agency, yourstaff, work in the community, etc. But it always includes those twolinks with a CTA to click on the link for more information.

Once consumers click on a link, say for personal lines, yoursystem should automatically stop the autoresponder and send outanother email that gets into more detail on personal lines. Thenwithin that email you might include a short form to complete toindicate they'd like someone to call because you're offeringsomething like a complete coverage review.

The idea is to work the leads you have generated from youractivity on social media to become prospects and then customers andthen, in the best of all worlds, sources of referrals.

But this isn't the yellow brick road of which I speak. Thatpathway is the one you need to take to overcome whatever fear youmight have over using social media. Many people either avoid socialmedia like the plague, or merely dip a toe in, then wonder whythey're not getting any results.

Related: Read ROI-al Waste

High Anxiety

Just like Dorothy when she first steps out onto that very narrowbut ever-widening yellow path, many agents take their first stepsinto the social media with great trepidation and high anxiety.

Recognizing this is a reality and knowing that there arediffering degrees of stress, the Personal Lines Growth Alliance(PLGA) is asking its members and agents throughout the industry toparticipate in ashort online survey to gauge their level of experience with,use of and plans for social media within their agency.

Your input to this survey will help PLGA craft a social mediaprogram for its members and the industry.

In a future column I will share the results of the survey andinformation on what comes out of it. If you participate in thesurvey you'll receive a personal invitation to a webinar on theresults and how to take the anxiety out of walking down thatpath.

Remember, in the Wizard of Oz Dorothy finally does get back homeonly to realize that the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion werereally the farm hands she'd known all her life and the Wizard wasthe kindly old gentleman who helped her during the storm. Socialmedia is just new tools to accomplish the same objectives of beingsomeone that prospects know, like and trust, only done moreeffectively in a virtual world. So don't fear the costume, applaudthe results.