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e-Article: Get The F.A.C.T.S For Selling Automotive Insurance Online

Get the F.A.C.T.S. for Selling Automotive Insurance Online

Find prospects

Attract them to your products

Convert them into leads

Talk to them to answer their needs

Sell them your auto insurance

Introduction

The average human being is inundated with over 2,000 marketing interruptions a day. But the more he or

she is bombarded, the better able he or she can find ways to block these disruptions out.

That’s why more and more people turn to the Internet to find what they want, rather than being told. This

is the fundamental difference between inbound and outbound marketing.

Outbound (interruption) marketing techniques include traditional print and multi-media advertising,

email blasts to purchased lists, telemarketing – basically pushing the message out far and wide hoping to

capture whoever might want to listen or respond.

Inbound marketing is all about getting found by people who are interested in learning about and shopping

in your industry. Think of a magnet. As people get close to the magnetic forces, you want to bring them

closer until they attach.

There are many critical elements to a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy that include website

optimization, SEO, social marketing, lead nurturing. What we want to talk about is how PPC (Pay Per

Click) can be used to sell automotive insurance online.

Pay Per Click – PPC as a Key Marketing Tool

PPC Paid Search Engine Marketing is a quick and effective way to generate website traffic and increase

sales. It has the ability to precisely target individuals and generate high response and conversion rates,

but at a fraction of the cost (and waste) or the intrusion of outbound tactics like direct mail, telemarketing

or traditional advertising.

The key to every PPC campaign is to maximize the ROI (Return on Investment) through careful

management of the keywords, costs per click, costs per conversion etc. This is especially important for

highly competitive products and services such as automotive insurance. There is a proven way to use PPC

so that auto insurance companies can increase their online sales while reducing their ad costs. Here are

the F.A.C.T.S.

FIND Prospects

The first question to answer is who are your prospects? If you know who they are, you have a better

chance of finding them, and even more importantly, of them finding you.

Most automotive insurance companies have demographic profiles of their customers. They know where

they are from, their income level, their education, and their age. They probably also know what interests

them and where they work. And they know what kinds of cars they drive.

With this information, auto insurance companies can begin to create ‘personas’- fictional prospect

profiles based on real facts.

This is important because in the online world, you are not dealing with impersonal prospects, but with

real people who have personalities. Each person reacts differently to similar messages. Each person puts

in their own keywords when searching for information. But because you can’t possibly cater to every

single individual, the next best thing is to create personas that fit 90% of an individual’s type.

With personas, you personalize the entire experience for your prospect and this enhances the emotional

attachment to your company and brand – and that will help differentiate your auto insurance from the

others.

Here are examples of three different personas:

Independent Consultant – Mr. Nathan Smith

Military Personnel – Colonel Mustard

Corporate CEO – Dr. Jonathan Corporate

With this information, start a dialogue with your personas. Ask them questions as though they are sitting

in your office. Determine how you think they would like to be communicated with: casually, formally,

attention to detail. Try to find out what is it about their lives that you can help them with. For Nathan, the

independent, it could be a good driver discount. For the Colonel in the military, it could be full coverage to

protect his family and for Dr. Jonathan, the corporate man, it would be cost savings.

If you appeal to their personal needs, they will be more likely to find you, and when they do, they will be

more likely to respond to what you are selling.

ATTRACT Prospects to Your Insurance

Let’s say your personas are looking for automotive insurance. How can you attract them to your offerings?

The fact of the matter is that 62% of people searching on the web never go past the first page of the search,

unless they are looking for something very specific and ranking above the fold (the top 5 positions of

search results) can make or break a business as far as conversion and click through rates. Ideally, you

want to be at the top of the organic search listings for as many pertinent keywords as possible. But so does

everyone else.

It takes time and careful execution to reach the top organically, and most auto insurance companies can’t

wait. With targeted paid advertising such as PPC, you can be on the first page for as many keywords and

keyword phrases as needed AND attract your personas.

Platforms such as Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, Facebook ads and LinkedIn DirectAds allow you

to target your marketing messages towards customer personas by being able to segment them according

to keywords, industry, job title, geographical area, interests, and more.

There are four critical ingredients to a successful PPC campaign:

Keywords

Messaging

Monitoring

Testing

It is not uncommon for auto insurance companies to have over 20,000 keywords and keyword phrases,

some short tail (few number of words but greater competition) and some long tail phrase (more words,

less competition, but greater conversion rates). Remember, you many personas type in different phrases

when searching, and they respond differently to similar messages.

Because the permutations are large, you need to monitor and test frequently. Which keyword phrases and

their ads generate the best ROI, and which ones the worst? Do you get the same results if you are listed 4th

instead of first? Does a simple word change in the messaging increase or decrease click through rates?

Think again like a magnet. You are trying to bring someone who is within range closer to your force field.

A click through from an ad to a landing page means a connection has been made.

CONVERT Prospects into Leads

All too often companies spend time, effort and dollars on their keyword ad campaigns, only to have them

all land on the same landing or website page.

How you start your conversation (AdWords), should determine how you continue it (landing page). There

must be a direct connection from what your prospect searched for and where they ended up. If you are

looking for auto insurance in Fresno, you want to land on a page that offers auto insurance in Fresno, not

in another state or in no state at all.

But that is just the beginning. Once your prospect recognizes they are on a page that relates to what they

are trying to find, the next step is to get have them make a desired action. That could be as simple as

signing up for a free brochure on “How to choose the Right Auto Insurance for You” or getting a quote.

Basically, with a landing page, you want to find a way to continue the conversation.

Effective landing pages have the following characteristics, the 5 Cs:

1. Connection to keywords

2. Call to action that resonates

3. Compelling image that relates to the persona

4. Clear offer

5. Conversion forms that can capture enough data (but not too much that they abandon your page)

Once your prospect gives you their information, they become a lead that you can nurture or talk to until

they either buy your insurance or end the conversation.

TALK to Leads and Answer Their Needs

If a prospect has gone to the effort to give you their information, and you have spent time and money to

get them to do so, don’t assume they will continue the conversation.

It’s up to you to keep them interested.

Depending on what kind of data you received from them, and the route that took them to that landing

page, you can craft nurturing campaigns that speak to their needs.

There are a number of ways you can do this:

Email drip campaigns. This is where you send out a series of carefully thought out emails over

a period of time, each one offering a solution and a way to contact your auto insurance directly.

30 Minute Consultation. This is where you offer them a chance to speak to a representative,

either by phone or through an online chat.

Webinars. A webinar is usually a tactic for B2B prospects, but in a competitive and high cost

sale like auto insurance, you can offer objective information to more than one person at a time.

Webinars can be live or on-demand.

Social Media. You may have gotten your lead through an ad on Facebook. That means this

prospect likes to interact through social media. Make sure your company page addresses issues

beyond selling car insurance. Make sure there is a way through social media that your prospect

can converse with you. Help create a bond by having your emotionally driven ads on YouTube.

All of these efforts should be directed to lead your prospect closer to a purchase.

SELL Your Auto Insurance

Consider your prospect’s journey. They have gone from looking for auto insurance to finding you, to

giving you permission to engage them in a conversation to coming to a decision.

Some of them make decisions earlier than others. The key is for you to be there when they do.

Throughout this process it’s important that you give them the opportunity to make the purchase. This

means:

Application forms should always be available.

Representatives can easily be reached on the phone.

Tools, such as online calculators, that can help them make decisions should be accessible.

When you have made the sale, be sure to have in place a confirmation and retention program. You want

your new customer to feel they made the right decision.

Send information congratulating them.

Give them the option to sign up for a monthly newsletter that’s informational, not sales driven.

Offer them helpful tools related to travel and safety.

The more you make them feel good about your insurance company, the better the chances they will

recommend you to their friends. And this will have a powerful effect, because when their friends go online

searching for auto insurance, they may put your name right in the search. If they do, you now have the

F.A.C.T.S. on what to do next.

About ymarketing

We are a digital search marketing agency headquartered in Orange County California with resources in

Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Orlando.

Founded in 2002, ymarketing implements integrated online marketing programs including affiliate,

display, email, natural search, paid search, blog and social media by utilizing best-of-breed analytical

applications - We call all of this Online Marketing Optimization

ymarketing is HubSpot Certified Partner & Partner of The Year 2010, Google AdWords Certified Partner

and Company, Microsoft adExcellence Company, Member of the SEO Consultants Directory, SEMPO,

Search Industry Peer Review, and a Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador.

Specialties

Lead generation, customer acquisition, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (PPC),

online marketing optimization, social media.

Contact Information

150 Paularino Avenue

Suite D285, Costa Mesa,

California, 92626

info@ymarketing.com

1.877.736.4321

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