Have you ever taken some clients out for golf? Do you periodically send your customers and prospects newsletters that offer tips on safety, ways to save on premiums or information on new products? Well, that's all social networking. You may think, "That can't be; it's too easy and I've been doing it for years. Where are all the gadgets and gizmos?"
The truth is, it's not about the tools–it's about building relationships and demonstrating unique value. I recently attended a conference in Chicago on social networking–Brand Camp 2009–during which a panelist equated social networking with those lazy summer afternoons where your grandmother might have been sitting on the porch watching the day go by along with her neighbors–choosing to talk, or not, about the weather or the latest canned peaches she finished making.
Back then, communication was all about person-to-person relationships; networking happened down at the barbershop or local five-and-dime store. Then technology came along and conversations began to spread, with news and information traveling farther and faster. With the advent of radio and television, broadcast became a "one-to-many" stream–announcer to audience. Then the computer and Internet came along, and all of a sudden communications became a dialogue again and e-mail brought back networking. But it was still missing something.
It was missing the intimacy, the personal touch.
As the usage of the Internet grew and the power and speed took off, the tools and programs built to leverage it took off, too, and true social media was born.
For many people, social media means things like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. There are hundreds more, and all of them have related applications that help ease the pain of each of us dipping our collective toes into the waters of social networking in the 21st century.
Social networking is a natural step for independent agents, so I won't use the rest of this article to try and convince you of the value of doing it–again, because you're already social networking. I will try to show you how to move your game into the 21st century with little or no pain.
Many of you will "get" this, but just in case you don't, think about your future customers, your younger staff and your competitors; they are definitely using it. At a minimum you have to be aware of what is out there and what the consequences might be if you ignore it. Think about what might have happened if you had ignored the computer or e-mail; where would your agency be today?
The two biggest barriers I hear from agents about using social media is, "It's too complicated. I have a Web site; what more do I need to do?" and "I just don't have the time." On the surface, they seem like legitimate concerns, but once you put them into a familiar context, they disappear.
Let's start with the complexity issue. Like any business project you've been engaged in, you may have built a plan–or not. Depending on the size of your agency, you may find setting down the different tasks, delivery dates and persons responsible is the best way to proceed. Smaller agencies tend to be more nimble and may want to carve it into smaller pieces, tackling one at a time. Either way, you need to view adding social media into your marketing and relationship building process in a manner that best fits your corporate culture.
Start with a strategy
Regardless of how you choose to move forward, one common element to both approaches should be the shared understanding of why you are doing this. On one hand, it can be a formal mission and vision statement that fits within your agency's business philosophy and vision of who you are. Or it can be as simple as just clearly communicating to all your staff what your reasons are.
Whether it's the agency principal, a producer or a CSR with a natural affinity for using social media, someone needs to be designated as the driver/owner of this project. That person must have the support coming from top management; without that it's likely to be a non-starter.
This is a project that requires buy-in from all areas of the agency, so start by building a cross-functional team. First work out your goals for using social media, then build your strategy. Are you going to fully integrate this with your marketing strategy? Are you going to add these elements to your Web site? Or maybe instead of adding that complexity you'll start a Facebook page and follow some relevant discussions on Twitter.
What's your agency's focus? What markets are you trying to build? Where is your specialty? Answering all of these questions and more will give you insight on how to ease your "voice" into the social media environment. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all have thousands of subject-specific groups and millions of people discussing an enormous range of issues at any given time. To paraphrase Goldilocks, find the one's that are "just right" for you and weigh in.
This is a very viral form of marketing and communications. The more you post comments and/or follow people's posts, the more they will follow what you have to say. All of this type of activity goes a long way to helping you and your agency stand out from the crowd, and you can target your local market just by being sure to include that information in the profile you set up on the different sites. This helps improve your search engine optimization (SEO) or how easily people are able to find you when they look on the Internet.
24/7/365: What more can I do?
The question of not having enough time in the day to add another piece like social media is a real concern. We already are overtaxed; but if you haven't first answered the question of how is this going to fit into your marketing strategy, you'll never move past it. If you already produce a lot of marketing materials–newsletters, target mailings, flyers and brochures–then you should ask yourself, "How much is that costing me, and are they still effective?"
Social media is very cost effective and can easily fit within anyone's budget. What else can it do? It can level the playing field. There's an old New Yorker cartoon that shows a dog sitting on a chair in front of a computer looking down at his dog friend sitting on the floor. The caption reads, "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog."
It's a classic and funny cartoon, but the point is very true. You can't really tell the large companies from the small ones. So if you can't afford high gloss, four-color, professionally designed brochures, people will know that. But on Facebook or Twitter, all that matters is the quality of your information. How valuable is your message? What does it show your customers and prospects? And how well is it adding that "human" element to your company?
We all know that building relationships is more than just good pricing and great service; it's building that strong network that says, "We are your partners; we are reliable and you can count on us whenever the need arises. But we also care about you; we're part of your community and can help you reduce the risks in your life and business."
One caveat
As you would with all new business tools, you need to create an internal policy for your staff. I mention this not to suggest that there should be unreasonable restrictions placed on using these tools, but to ensure that everyone understands the purpose and goals for incorporating social media applications to your marketing. Some staff might have Facebook posting and Twitter as part of their responsibilities now; others (generally younger employees) will just expect that, like everyone else using e-mail to communicate, it's normal for them to use social media to communicate.
As I've said before, you'll get out of social networking what you put in. The decision to use these new tools can only be yours, but the consequences of your choice will come from your customers, prospects, future employees and competitors.
Don't let the fear of technology get in your way. Start to learn by doing. Stick that toe in the water and, from someone who hates the cold waters of the ocean but loves to swim, see how fast you'll get used to it and find you never want to leave.
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