At last week's AartrijkBrand Camp, attendees (mostly independent agents) were asked toname their biggest issues relating to social media, branding andmarketing. The “rants” flew fast and furious, with gripes rangingfrom the lack of time to do social media correctly, to counteringthe pernicious image of insurance being a “boring” business.

The second half of the exercise challenged attendees to breakinto groups and brainstorm solutions to the problems they'didentified. Because “what happens at Brand Camp stays at BrandCamp” (notreally!), we've summarized the solutions each group presented,without including their names.

Read the following pages to learn what they recommend.

Problem: Achieving balance/priorities/time management ofsocial platforms/content.

Solution: Turn the perceived problem into the solutionby using technology to manage your time.

• Set aside 15 to 20 minutes twice a day to plan out futurecontent. Use an Excel spreadsheet of each social mediaplatform you use to plan and schedule entries for a week ormore in advance.
• Plan ahead, but build in “wiggle room” to address developingissues.
• Share information by retweeting relevant posts andnon-insurance-related items of interest. Use mobile apps likeFeedly (a news feedapp), Buffer (a management toolfor creating content, finding articles and scheduling where andwhen to send), Pocket (a “readit later” app), Zite (forcreating personalized magazine feeds) to aggregate info.
• If you want to delegate the job, consider hiring someonefrom outside the firm. Even paying someone $30/K salarywill pay for itself in new business.
• Social networking is a two-way street; not only are you toutingyour expertise, but you're also learning about your clients andprospects.
• Get your staff involved. For example, develop Twitterteams within the agency by lines of business.
• Clearly define where social media fits into youragency's overall marketing strategy to get managementbuy-in.
• Find your target audiences, pick a social mediaplatform to best reach them, and preplan to execute.
• Generate original content. This takes more time, but thecontent can be repurposed, curated and deployed over allsocial media channels.
• Get help if you need it. If there's only one social media guruin your company, you're dead.
• Focus on what works and don't get distracted with otherstuff.

Problem: Becoming and remaining customer-focused insocial media and service.

Solution: Find out what they want while educatingthem on what they need.

• Go to the source: Conduct a simple survey and askcustomers what type of insurance information they want and howthey want it delivered.
• Be realistic: Balance these findings with your agency's ownprocedures and workflows. A prospect who expects aface-to-face meeting for a simple homeowners' policy renewalmay not be the type of customer you should target. Find customerswho want to do business as you do.
• Define your agency and your target audience to attract yourideal customers; like attracts like. For example, understandyour target audience's collective needs and gear your blog posts tothose interests.
• Create lists of clients in each social media platform you useto see what they're doing and share–not just insurance information,but everything from communication tips to holiday-relatedcontent.
• Never make service reactive. Social media lets you beproactive with prospects and clients by providing you with a way toreach them with noninsurance helpful information.
• Culture is critical; if your culture is social, these aren'tadd-on “projects” but core to your organization.

Problem: Being honest/authentic/transparent as abrand.

Solution: Communicate the fact that you're an insuranceconsumer, too.

• Your business isn't the only branded product; you and youremployees each have a personal brand, too. Mesh private individualbrands with your business brand by empowering employees to engagein social media.
• Dealing with events like natural disasters are an opportunityfor you to shine, especially if your office was struck by the samedisaster your customers are struggling through. Share steps tofiling a claim, FEMA information and more on social media.
• Talk about the good and the bad, including employees' personalstories, staffers with claims and rate increases, etc.
• Let your true personality show. Share personal interests andpassions on social media where appropriate and allow your staff todo the same. It creates empathy with customers and prospects.
• If a mistake is made, own up to it publicly as soon as possibleand take immediate steps to make it right. Don't hide behindcompany policy or stance. If you get slammed on a customer reviewsite like Yelp, don't ignore or deny the criticism. Apologize onthe forum and offer to fix the situation.
• Stick to what you stand for. If your agency is committed tohiring veterans, take every opportunity and use every platform toconvey that commitment.
• Being authentic doesn't mean being silly orunprofessional. Company culture is relevant. Customers who likedoing business with you will do more business with you if they seeyou as honest and transparent.

Problem: Making insurance lessscary/boring/complicated/impersonal.

Solution: Tell real-life stories of how insurancehelps people every day.

• There are hundreds of stories within your agency thatcustomers and prospects would love to know about. Write about anunusual auto accident and how your business handled it; film ashort video on unusual claims or lines of coverage.
• Tap into your customer base for content. Do you place personallines coverage for an unusual collection (animal skulls, hatpins,Lincoln memorabilia)? Get your customer's permission and post theircollection on Pinterest. Collectors love to share theirpassions, and the unusual is custom-made for sharing on socialmedia.
• Find local news stories to tie into an insurance coveragediscussion. Example: a recent Patch news item about a home thatsustained $30,000 in damage from a skunk infestation lends itselfto a great homeowners' coverage analysis.
• Encourage your staff to share their own stories, hobbies,passions and interests to show that insurance is far from abutton-down world.

Problem: Being interactive and following through insocial networking.

Solution: Don't stop atcommunication.

• Strike a balance between sales/advertising social media(highlighting specific products and services) and purecommunication (sharing information unrelated to insurance to engagefollowers).
• Create a culture of interacting with your customers andintegrate that culture into your social media interactions.Successful social media requires a loop of communication, where youshare information and respond to followers.
• Be proactive, not defensive in your communication methods.
• Use tech tools to promote and build relationships with localbusinesses. For example, Cash Mob is a mobile tech toolthat encourages people to show up en masse at a local business tobuy something and give their business a boost. It's a great way tobuild community engagement, help a local business (and potentialclient) and generate interest in your own agency.

Problem: Creating and leveraging original content insocial networking.

Solution: Do it yourself–or not.

• In social media, content is still king, and original content issolid gold–the most effective way to differentiate you and youragency from the crowd. It is also the most expensive and difficultcontent to produce.
• Tout your expertise and position yourself as a thoughtleader by blogging (or developing videos or podcasts) on whatyou know best.
• Stumped on what to write about? Ask your staffers to list allthe client questions they've fielded this week. It willprovide you with a stream of content ideas, and ties in with theneed to be relevant to your customers.
• Go back to your agency strategy to tie into your originalcontent to build it from the ground up.
• Original content doesn't have to be complicated to be originalor effective. For a Fourth of July tie-in, don't just post astock photo of fireworks or a flag; take a picture of the flagflying in front of your own building to share on social media.
• If you don't have the time or the literary talent to write yourown original content, hire a professional. Elance is a resource where you can find a pool of editorialprofessionals who will bid on the job.

Problem: Going from status quo toinnovative.

Solution: Dont be afraid to take arisk.

• Insurance is a risk-averse industry. And although that'sgreat for building profits and reducing claims, it can sometimesstand in the way of innovation.
• Focus on your agency's unique selling proposition to find whatyou do differently, and build innovation from that base. Stay trueto your business's core competencies.
• Recognize the strengths of your organization and use them tobuild a foundation to use to grow business.
• The bad news is, our industry lags others on technology andsocial media. That's also the good news: the innovation bar is setlow. Understand the issues and how to use technology andyou'll stand out from the crowd.

Problem: Getting the right message to attractMillennials as employees and customers.

Solution: Understand what makes themunique.

• Millennials don't communicate, learn or work like previousgenerations. They're the first generation to have grown up usingsocial media. They expect the businesses they deal with to have astrong, sophisticated web presence, ease of doing business, acommitment to community service and a more laid-back approach.
• Build the kind of business where millennials want to work for(and buy from) by providing a healthy, fun, flexible workenvironment, excellent training programs and strong communityinvolvement.
• Attract millennial customers by meeting them where they're aton social media and elsewhere. Educate them about what insurance isand why they need it.

Problem: Differentiating brand rather than competing onprice/service.

Solution: Turn price into a non-issue.

• Don't brag about your business's “superior service”; goodservice is a given for any business.
• Have a clear, concise written strategy to meet the human needsof your customers. This will help move the discussion away fromprice and focus on each buyer's unique needs.
• Engage prospects and customers by connecting with them on apersonal level even before the price conversation takes place. Oneagency features a website where each producer has a microsite,describing his or her personal interests, making them relatable tocustomers with things in common.
• Leave price off your business's mission statement (thedescription of what you do) and your vision statement (what youaspire to).