As insurance agents venture into the realm of marketingthemselves online, there is often a question of what image theyshould portray. Some are tempted to present what they feel is thebest persona they can create without regard to the reality of theirsituation.

Authenticity is one of those concepts that are easy to talkabout but incredibly difficult to achieve in practice. Findingauthenticity in your marketing is a prolonged and concerted effortto first say who you intend to be as a company and then to followthrough on that plan. Provided you're an expert in your field andan honest operator, there is no reason your marketing should notcome across as authentic.

Announce the values you espouse

It's crucial for you to understand which values are mostimportant to your brand. One way to establish your values is toidentify experiences where you felt your company really succeeded.What were the values that made that success possible?

The inverse can also work. What were some times you feel yourcompany did not live up to its own expectations? What were thevalues that were violated in that case?

Finally, what are the values you rely on day to day to make surethat things run smoothly in your business and your life?Identifying these values can take time and is an ever-evolvingprocess. It is, however, the first and most significant step inachieving authenticity.

Demonstrate your expertise

One of the most important side effects of authentic marketing isthe establishment of a relationship of trust. When you use youronline engagement to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, youraudience will come to see you as a thought leader in your field andyou'll become an influencer to those most interested in what youhave to offer.

The secret to becoming an authentic thought leader in yourmarketing is consistently delivering valuable insights. Giving awayvaluable advice can sometimes be a difficult exercise for an agent.It feels a little bit like giving away the milk for free. Indeciding what level of insight to use in your marketing, it can betempting to hold back the good stuff. This is generally a mistake.There will always be proprietary information you only share withclients but as a rule, it's good to provide more valuable insightthan you might feel comfortable with.

On top of the reputation-enhancing benefits of such content,valuable insights in your marketing material can also have anincredible effect on your SEO. Google has worked hard over the lastdecade to hone their algorithms to reward not just keyword-richcopy, but copy that authentically provides a strong userexperience.

Use authentic language

Insurance agents are just like any other business when it comesto defining a brand. They need to express it well to communicatethe right message to prospects and clients. It's one of the mostcrucial things agents can do to grow their business. The way thatyour brand is expressed through your marketing and advertising isyour “brand voice.”

A big part of brand voice is the language that it uses toexpress itself. It defines your purpose, illustrates your characterand makes up your tone. There are a lot of questions to answer whenconsidering the language to use in your marketing. How thesequestions are answered is the process in which the rest of thebrand voice elements are defined.

By establishing the type of language the brand will and won't beassociated with, an agency can put finite edges on its brand voice,often an elusive concept. A cohesive voice will not only attract anagent's ideal clients but will also be a catalyst for continuedengagement with existing clients.

The danger of inauthenticity

Once you've established yourself as an expert who sharesimportant values with your audience, you must then live up to thosestandards. If the behavior of your agency is inconsistent with yourmarketing, you'll feel a backlash.

Ironically enough, marketing as a concept has an image problem.What should be an honest effort to convey a brand's benefits andvalues too often comes off as a snow job, some attempt tomisrepresent the reality of a company. Modern consumers areincredibly savvy and have become adept at identifying incongruousmarketing messages.

If there's even a suspicion of dishonesty in your marketingmessage, the result will be a complete loss of trust and mostlikely a cessation of any engagement with your brand. In extremecases, dishonesty will be rewarded with negative online reviewsthat can haunt your agency for years to come.

Authenticity is not a static concept. It can take years toestablish and can be destroyed with a single action. By focusing onyour brand values and demonstrating your expertise you can continueto establish your authenticity for as long as it remains congruentwith your actions.

Rick Fox is the president of Agency Revolution, a softwarecompany that provides an AMS-compatible automated communicationplatform for insurance agents. He can be reachedat [email protected].

The opinions expressed here are the writer's own.