4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
Denim Social is proud to be featured in the American Banker Association’s 2023 report on The State of Social Media in Banking.
In the report, the American Bankers Association asked over 330 banks what they are doing with social media, where they see challenges and opportunities and what the future is likely to bring.
The report incorporates the survey findings with insight and best practices from other banks from across the U.S. and provides a list of 10 top takeaways to consider.
“Social media is the heart of social selling,” said Doug Wilber, CEO of Denim Social, which offers the only ABA-endorsed social media management platform for financial institutions. Social selling is the process of building relationships and brand awareness through selected social media platforms, with the aim of boosting not just awareness, but the bank’s sales results. It’s a way of connecting directly with prospects, and can be a powerful complement to tried-and-true methods such as cold calling and email marketing.”
Learn more about social media opportunities for banks by downloading the report here.
When my father worked in insurance decades ago, he’d sit down with people at their kitchen tables and listen. He’d share. He’d build the relationship. And he’d sell.
Fast forward to the digital age, and authenticity still has just as much relevance, if not more. The only difference? Social media platforms replaced the kitchen table. Instead of coming to people’s front doors, agents are coming in through Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. These exchanges are no less real to potential clients — and no less critical to the relationship-building model that succeeds time and again in the insurance industry.
Most intermediaries and their carriers know the importance of social media by now, while others might need more guidance around strategy and how to implement it at the agent level. Even new agents from digitally native generations can find the “hows” of fully leveraging social media confusing and intimidating.
Whether an agent is new to social or has been running personal accounts for years, it’s essential to use social media as more than a digital billboard. Instead, agents must use social media as a vehicle to take their relationship-building and thought leadership into the digital world. And most importantly, they must be authentic when doing it.
The advantages of being authentic in social
You establish an invaluable foundation of trust when you are human on social media. It’s no secret that trust remains essential in insurance; people who don’t trust a brand, an agent, or a product will go elsewhere. Competition is fierce, and today’s consumers don’t care about brand loyalty; they care about whether or not you can meet their needs. Trust is the glue that keeps a client or prospect from saying goodbye.
Many opportunities open up when agents use social media to get closer to your clients. For instance, a lead might mention a significant life moment on their social channel, like the birth of a child. If savvy agents follow and listen to the lead, they can drive meaningful connections with a friendly response, continually building the relationship. It’s not about closing a sale on a social post; it’s creating conditions that may eventually lead to an opportunity to present new insurance options that make sense for their new bundle of joy.
When interactions like this are genuine and timely, they can lead to more business and even stronger ties between agents and clients.
A final benefit of deepening relationships on social media is that you humanize your brand. Every agent should focus on showcasing their authentic personality, whether underneath a carrier banner or not. Agents whose followers see them as “the local expert” or “a trusted friend” set themselves up to become go-to resources that prospects will consult when they have insurance-related concerns. Authenticity builds relationships, which will help you connect with more of your customer base.
Get started with social selling
Social selling is essentially what it sounds like: Using social media to build credibility, thought leadership and trust, which help to sell a product or service. This savvy marketing strategy enables intermediaries — such as agents and brokers — to bring more value to the customer journey.
Individual content posted to social media is said to have 10 times the reach and drive double the engagement compared to content shared by brands. Consumers want to work with trusted individuals when making big decisions related to finances and insurance. As an agent, you need to be empowered to use social media in your sales mix; otherwise, you’re leaving opportunities on the table.
So, how do you seize these opportunities? Start here…
No. 1: See yourself as an influencer.
In 2023, everyone’s heard of social-media influencers. These ambassadors use their personal talents and creativity to build loyal followings and offer sway and endorsement to brands. To get in the right mindset, you should try to see yourself as a micro-influencer for your community. This perspective can help you grow your following and prioritize your engagement strategy (think commenting, replying and liking posts).
Consumers are turning their backs on traditional advertising. They’re not turning their backs on influencers, however, especially when they’re local. In fact, micro-influencers have been found to have even higher follower engagement than their macro counterparts. Fewer followers mean more time to interact with each one, leading to stronger relationships. Some even see them as the voice of reason and truth. Agents who adopt practices that get creative, showcase their personalities, offer value and aim to solve followers’ problems will quickly find a loyal, influencer-like audience.
No. 2: Get personal.
Plenty of agents live and work in the neighborhoods they serve. This allows you to craft locally specific posts that are relevant to prospects and clients but not overtly promotional or self-serving. It’s OK to talk about statistics, sales or promotions occasionally, but you will find more success in the community by sharing content relevant to where you work and live.
This could mean anything from giving a quick shout-out to a favorite small-business coffee shop to discussing how a product helped a client. (Always following all regulations, of course.) Putting a regional flavor and human face on social media content reinforces that you’re an actual person, not just an automated bot posting pseudo-advertisements at pre-arranged intervals.
No. 3: Aim to educate.
As an insurance agent, you are selling a promise to consumers. A promise that many people can find confusing. Many consumers are also unaware of the life milestones that should trigger a new insurance decision.
Using social media to demystify insurance and educate on these milestones not only highlights your expertise but puts this valuable information in the path of the consumer, who is likely starting their buying journey with self-guided research online.
Social media can have the same intimate, relationship-boosting effect on agents and consumers as the kitchen table once did. Luckily, the secret to making social selling work isn’t all that different: Focus on authentic, genuine relationships, and you’ll find your following.
Want to understand how it works in real time? See how Shelter Insurance® found success with social selling in this case study.
This article was originally published in PropertyCasualty360.
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Our team just returned from the Insurance Marketing & Communication Association annual conference, IMCA Ignite. It was a great opportunity to connect with insurance marketing and communications professionals about networking, thought leadership, and education.
There are big changes happening in the industry, and technology is rapidly accelerating the way the insurance community must adapt to evolving customer expectations. A major change? Social media. Using social media to communicate authentically with customers will continue to play a huge role in the future of insurance marketing.
As insurance marketers look to stay ahead, they should consider these three main takeaways from IMCA Ignite and how social media can help:
- AI is here to stay. But not to fear. AI isn’t going to replace marketing & communications jobs, but professionals that use AI will. Tools like Denim Social’s Social Sidekick help marketers and agents to create more social content in less time. Those that use helpful resources like AI will reap major benefits like optimized social media posts, robust content libraries, and better engagement.
- The customer is key. Insurance leaders should prioritize listening to their customers to better understand their needs and preferences. This is key to the future success of insurance agents and marketers, as the market increases in diversity and available options. Social media can be a great channel to listen, connect, and personalize to customers.
- Marketing has real ROI. 9/10 respondents to the IMCA State of the Industry survey reported social media was the #1 communication channel for talking to primary audiences. Insurance professionals have an incredible opportunity to use social media as a way to generate business through their connections on platforms like LinkedIn. In fact, social media is one of the best ways to track ROI for marketers!
The insurance industry is bustling with exciting new trends, and social media can help pave the way for a new era of marketing and communication for marketers and their agents. The best way to make the most of these takeaways is to continue providing the right resources and education to teams.
When marketers empower their agents with tools to boost their social selling, everyone benefits through a well-connected network and strong social media presence. Though it takes time and effort, carriers can build and grow, even in a competitive environment. See how Shelter Insurance did just that in this case study.
Our team recently attended Adweek’s Social Media Week, one of the largest social media conferences of the year. Throughout the sessions, there was a major theme: creator-based content and marketing is dominating every network, and it’s not going anywhere. Customer expectations have evolved, forcing brands to provide a more personal, authentic experience on social media.
Creator-based content isn’t just influencing: it’s a completely new way to think about how brands should craft their social media strategy. The good news? This new approach to social media can work for any brand, including financial institutions. Coming out of the event, we saw three major trends that financial marketers should pay attention to as they look to grow and find success on social.
- Authenticity is everything. Long gone are the days of staid brand marketing. Consumers want to know and connect with their social media connections, rather than just interact with faceless brands. They expect to be met where they are, when they want it. By using an approach like social selling, consumers know that they are talking to and hearing from a real, human person. Financial institutions that adopt a more personalized strategy will build trust through authenticity and prevail over those that don’t.
- User-generated content is here to stay. With user-generated content, brands give their teams the freedom and ability to find their voice on social media and make a name for themselves. Put simply, UGC is any content created by an individual that is used to promote a larger brand or organization. It also shows customers the more human side of a brand, by allowing them a glimpse into the “real life” side of a product or service. For an industry like financial services that is built on relationships, social selling provides a perfect way for intermediaries to create and share user-generated content that is rooted in the interactions they have with customers every day.
- Social media is part of a bigger picture. With social media having become a natural and seamless part of everyday life for most consumers, brands have to adapt to meet their customers on various channels. It’s no longer a need-to, but a have-to for those looking to stay relevant with the modern customer. Today’s users look to social media as a search engine, a relationship-building tool, and a primary mode of communication. While this can seem overwhelming, the reality is that there are more opportunities than ever for institutions to reach their audiences with the right information at the right time.
While content and context might vary, these social media trends are universal. For financial marketers in particular, social selling can help foster success in a new era of digital marketing. Real relationships and trust will always be the most important things, and social media can strengthen and multiply them. By giving loan officers, advisors, and insurance agents the ability to find their voices on social media, they can reach many more audiences in more authentic and personalized ways. Start creating a more effective social media strategy today with our Social Selling Guidebook for Financial Institutions.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Connect & Convert on Social
4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to sales.
It enables intermediaries – like insurance agents – to add value to the customer journey where there wouldn’t otherwise be an opportunity.
This guide will help financial services marketers understand why social media should be a core component of their marketing strategy and showcase how the collective reach of their intermediaries’ social media presence can be harnessed to more deeply connect with prospective clients, position producers as thought leaders in their communities, and, ultimately, build trust with clients that translates to positive business results.
It’s called social selling and it works.
The spring 2023 buying season has arrived and with it – you guessed – uncertainty. Spring has long been make-it or break-it season for lenders and loan officers, and despite present conditions, the same holds true this year. But 2023 holds unique challenges and opportunities.
As the season opens, there are a few key considerations the Denim Social team sees as critical for mortgage marketers.
Paid social is one of the most effective ways to introduce people who aren’t yet following your producers, agents, loan officers, or advisors to your financial institution at the right place and the right time.
Paid social is complementary to organic. While organic social builds first-degree connections and facilitates awareness, engagement, and branding, paid social allows you to reach larger, more tailored audiences.
BOK Financial is a financial services partner for consumers, businesses and wealth clients with more than 150 users on the Denim Social platform.
In addition to building brand credibility and establishing loan officer expertise, Denim Social enables their mortgage loan officers to cultivate relationships in social media and organically source leads.
As financial marketers look to the coming year, most are wondering, “what’s next?” While no one can say for sure, our team of experts here at Denim Social are keeping a pulse on what’s new in digital marketing for financial institutions on social media. This guide will not only educate you on the latest trends, but help you make the case for increased investment in social selling and digital marketing strategies at your institution.
Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”) is an $700M+ asset institution with nearly 40 Home Loan Centers (HLC) and nearly 500 employees nationwide. See how Denim Social helped Evolve activate Home Loan Center Facebook pages over the course of just a few months.
Whether you’re in banking, wealth management, insurance or mortgage, relationships are the bedrock of your business.
Considering clients in these industries are handing over the keys to their personal kingdoms, it’s no surprise that trust and connection matter. That’s why successful sales strategies for these industries are focused on building long-term, trusted relationships.
To truly unleash the potential of social, financial institutions need to use social media as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
The power of social media is undeniable. The ability of banks to engage with and influence customers and prospects via interactive digital channels is an essential tool and a cornerstone of marketing. Gone are the days when it was “nice to have” a presence on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Today, these pathways are helping banks to build relationships that were historically cultivated by tirelessly walking up and down Main Street, shaking hands and leaving behind business cards.
In this case study by Denim Social and American Bankers Association, we take a look at how banks are using social media to ramp up digital engagement and build sales.
As any marketer worth their salt will tell you, analytics should drive your social strategy. The key to success is understanding how to link social media efforts to ROI metrics. Read this guide to learn how to gain insights that matter, optimize your strategy and prove your social success.
It’s no surprise that social media can help drive results for your mortgage business. In fact, the question for most marketers at mortgage lending institutions isn’t IF they should be doing more social media marketing - it’s HOW. Download to learn how to:
- Scale your social selling program
- Plan your content strategy
- Train your loan officers
AnnieMac is one of the fastest-growing mortgage loan providers in the U.S., serving clients in 42 states. Learn how Denim Social helped their team to streamline its brand’s social media strategy and activate social selling for hundreds of loan officers in just four months.
As mortgage demand surges to historic highs, home purchase and refinance markets remain hot. This is excellent news for loan officers, but it also means the environment is more competitive than ever.
So how can marketers ensure that their loan officers stand out? The answer is social media.
Read this guidebook from Denim Social to learn how you can help your loan officers build strong relationships, stand out from the crowd and win more business using social media.
Every Mortgage Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Read this guide if you’re asking yourself:
- Is my social media policy current and comprehensive?
- How do I ensure social media compliance during M&A?
- What do I need to consider for direct messaging compliance?
In this guide we will help you think about your all important social media policy and thoughtfully consider how changes in social media tech and even your bank’s structure may impact compliance.
Every Financial Services Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram
Financial Services companies should be marketing and advertising on Instagram. We break down why, and help you create a strategy to reach new customers- while continuing to build trust in your brand.
How 6 Financial Marketers Are Creating Value in Social Media
Ever wonder what everyone else is doing in social media? We talked to six leading financial marketers about how they’re succeeding today and planning for the next big thing.
Get their insights on strengthening your social strategies, unlocking the power of employee networks and creating next-level content that drives engagement.
Download this guidebook to learn how 3 mortgage lenders are using social media to:
- Position themselves in a place the community is already looking ... their social media
- Empower loan officers to engage in local conversations
- Turn their institution's loan officers into the voice of their brand
- Build trust within the community
Which roles do you fill when building your bank's marketing dream team? This guide will show you the following:
- Who does what
- The right structure to execute strategy
- How compliance software can help
Enjoy!
ABA Study: The Current State of Social Media
See what nearly 430 bank marketers had to say when asked questions such as:
COVID-19 & Bank Social Media
Times are different and how you connect with customers and potential customers has changed drastically. In a socially distant world, learn to still build lasting relationships.
Download and learn the guiding principles for using social media to serve both your customers and communities in the midst of a pandemic.
this is a test page
4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to sales.
It enables intermediaries – like insurance agents – to add value to the customer journey where there wouldn’t otherwise be an opportunity.
This guide will help financial services marketers understand why social media should be a core component of their marketing strategy and showcase how the collective reach of their intermediaries’ social media presence can be harnessed to more deeply connect with prospective clients, position producers as thought leaders in their communities, and, ultimately, build trust with clients that translates to positive business results.
It’s called social selling and it works.
The spring 2023 buying season has arrived and with it – you guessed – uncertainty. Spring has long been make-it or break-it season for lenders and loan officers, and despite present conditions, the same holds true this year. But 2023 holds unique challenges and opportunities.
As the season opens, there are a few key considerations the Denim Social team sees as critical for mortgage marketers.
Paid social is one of the most effective ways to introduce people who aren’t yet following your producers, agents, loan officers, or advisors to your financial institution at the right place and the right time.
Paid social is complementary to organic. While organic social builds first-degree connections and facilitates awareness, engagement, and branding, paid social allows you to reach larger, more tailored audiences.
BOK Financial is a financial services partner for consumers, businesses and wealth clients with more than 150 users on the Denim Social platform.
In addition to building brand credibility and establishing loan officer expertise, Denim Social enables their mortgage loan officers to cultivate relationships in social media and organically source leads.
As financial marketers look to the coming year, most are wondering, “what’s next?” While no one can say for sure, our team of experts here at Denim Social are keeping a pulse on what’s new in digital marketing for financial institutions on social media. This guide will not only educate you on the latest trends, but help you make the case for increased investment in social selling and digital marketing strategies at your institution.
Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”) is an $700M+ asset institution with nearly 40 Home Loan Centers (HLC) and nearly 500 employees nationwide. See how Denim Social helped Evolve activate Home Loan Center Facebook pages over the course of just a few months.
Whether you’re in banking, wealth management, insurance or mortgage, relationships are the bedrock of your business.
Considering clients in these industries are handing over the keys to their personal kingdoms, it’s no surprise that trust and connection matter. That’s why successful sales strategies for these industries are focused on building long-term, trusted relationships.
To truly unleash the potential of social, financial institutions need to use social media as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
The power of social media is undeniable. The ability of banks to engage with and influence customers and prospects via interactive digital channels is an essential tool and a cornerstone of marketing. Gone are the days when it was “nice to have” a presence on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Today, these pathways are helping banks to build relationships that were historically cultivated by tirelessly walking up and down Main Street, shaking hands and leaving behind business cards.
In this case study by Denim Social and American Bankers Association, we take a look at how banks are using social media to ramp up digital engagement and build sales.
As any marketer worth their salt will tell you, analytics should drive your social strategy. The key to success is understanding how to link social media efforts to ROI metrics. Read this guide to learn how to gain insights that matter, optimize your strategy and prove your social success.
It’s no surprise that social media can help drive results for your mortgage business. In fact, the question for most marketers at mortgage lending institutions isn’t IF they should be doing more social media marketing - it’s HOW. Download to learn how to:
- Scale your social selling program
- Plan your content strategy
- Train your loan officers
AnnieMac is one of the fastest-growing mortgage loan providers in the U.S., serving clients in 42 states. Learn how Denim Social helped their team to streamline its brand’s social media strategy and activate social selling for hundreds of loan officers in just four months.
As mortgage demand surges to historic highs, home purchase and refinance markets remain hot. This is excellent news for loan officers, but it also means the environment is more competitive than ever.
So how can marketers ensure that their loan officers stand out? The answer is social media.
Read this guidebook from Denim Social to learn how you can help your loan officers build strong relationships, stand out from the crowd and win more business using social media.
Every Mortgage Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Read this guide if you’re asking yourself:
- Is my social media policy current and comprehensive?
- How do I ensure social media compliance during M&A?
- What do I need to consider for direct messaging compliance?
In this guide we will help you think about your all important social media policy and thoughtfully consider how changes in social media tech and even your bank’s structure may impact compliance.
Every Financial Services Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram
Financial Services companies should be marketing and advertising on Instagram. We break down why, and help you create a strategy to reach new customers- while continuing to build trust in your brand.
How 6 Financial Marketers Are Creating Value in Social Media
Ever wonder what everyone else is doing in social media? We talked to six leading financial marketers about how they’re succeeding today and planning for the next big thing.
Get their insights on strengthening your social strategies, unlocking the power of employee networks and creating next-level content that drives engagement.
Download this guidebook to learn how 3 mortgage lenders are using social media to:
- Position themselves in a place the community is already looking ... their social media
- Empower loan officers to engage in local conversations
- Turn their institution's loan officers into the voice of their brand
- Build trust within the community
Which roles do you fill when building your bank's marketing dream team? This guide will show you the following:
- Who does what
- The right structure to execute strategy
- How compliance software can help
Enjoy!
ABA Study: The Current State of Social Media
See what nearly 430 bank marketers had to say when asked questions such as:
COVID-19 & Bank Social Media
Times are different and how you connect with customers and potential customers has changed drastically. In a socially distant world, learn to still build lasting relationships.
Download and learn the guiding principles for using social media to serve both your customers and communities in the midst of a pandemic.
this is a test page
4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to sales.
It enables intermediaries – like insurance agents – to add value to the customer journey where there wouldn’t otherwise be an opportunity.
This guide will help financial services marketers understand why social media should be a core component of their marketing strategy and showcase how the collective reach of their intermediaries’ social media presence can be harnessed to more deeply connect with prospective clients, position producers as thought leaders in their communities, and, ultimately, build trust with clients that translates to positive business results.
It’s called social selling and it works.
The spring 2023 buying season has arrived and with it – you guessed – uncertainty. Spring has long been make-it or break-it season for lenders and loan officers, and despite present conditions, the same holds true this year. But 2023 holds unique challenges and opportunities.
As the season opens, there are a few key considerations the Denim Social team sees as critical for mortgage marketers.
Paid social is one of the most effective ways to introduce people who aren’t yet following your producers, agents, loan officers, or advisors to your financial institution at the right place and the right time.
Paid social is complementary to organic. While organic social builds first-degree connections and facilitates awareness, engagement, and branding, paid social allows you to reach larger, more tailored audiences.
BOK Financial is a financial services partner for consumers, businesses and wealth clients with more than 150 users on the Denim Social platform.
In addition to building brand credibility and establishing loan officer expertise, Denim Social enables their mortgage loan officers to cultivate relationships in social media and organically source leads.
As financial marketers look to the coming year, most are wondering, “what’s next?” While no one can say for sure, our team of experts here at Denim Social are keeping a pulse on what’s new in digital marketing for financial institutions on social media. This guide will not only educate you on the latest trends, but help you make the case for increased investment in social selling and digital marketing strategies at your institution.
Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”) is an $700M+ asset institution with nearly 40 Home Loan Centers (HLC) and nearly 500 employees nationwide. See how Denim Social helped Evolve activate Home Loan Center Facebook pages over the course of just a few months.
Whether you’re in banking, wealth management, insurance or mortgage, relationships are the bedrock of your business.
Considering clients in these industries are handing over the keys to their personal kingdoms, it’s no surprise that trust and connection matter. That’s why successful sales strategies for these industries are focused on building long-term, trusted relationships.
To truly unleash the potential of social, financial institutions need to use social media as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
The power of social media is undeniable. The ability of banks to engage with and influence customers and prospects via interactive digital channels is an essential tool and a cornerstone of marketing. Gone are the days when it was “nice to have” a presence on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Today, these pathways are helping banks to build relationships that were historically cultivated by tirelessly walking up and down Main Street, shaking hands and leaving behind business cards.
In this case study by Denim Social and American Bankers Association, we take a look at how banks are using social media to ramp up digital engagement and build sales.
As any marketer worth their salt will tell you, analytics should drive your social strategy. The key to success is understanding how to link social media efforts to ROI metrics. Read this guide to learn how to gain insights that matter, optimize your strategy and prove your social success.
It’s no surprise that social media can help drive results for your mortgage business. In fact, the question for most marketers at mortgage lending institutions isn’t IF they should be doing more social media marketing - it’s HOW. Download to learn how to:
- Scale your social selling program
- Plan your content strategy
- Train your loan officers
AnnieMac is one of the fastest-growing mortgage loan providers in the U.S., serving clients in 42 states. Learn how Denim Social helped their team to streamline its brand’s social media strategy and activate social selling for hundreds of loan officers in just four months.
As mortgage demand surges to historic highs, home purchase and refinance markets remain hot. This is excellent news for loan officers, but it also means the environment is more competitive than ever.
So how can marketers ensure that their loan officers stand out? The answer is social media.
Read this guidebook from Denim Social to learn how you can help your loan officers build strong relationships, stand out from the crowd and win more business using social media.
Every Mortgage Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Read this guide if you’re asking yourself:
- Is my social media policy current and comprehensive?
- How do I ensure social media compliance during M&A?
- What do I need to consider for direct messaging compliance?
In this guide we will help you think about your all important social media policy and thoughtfully consider how changes in social media tech and even your bank’s structure may impact compliance.
Every Financial Services Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram
Financial Services companies should be marketing and advertising on Instagram. We break down why, and help you create a strategy to reach new customers- while continuing to build trust in your brand.
How 6 Financial Marketers Are Creating Value in Social Media
Ever wonder what everyone else is doing in social media? We talked to six leading financial marketers about how they’re succeeding today and planning for the next big thing.
Get their insights on strengthening your social strategies, unlocking the power of employee networks and creating next-level content that drives engagement.
Download this guidebook to learn how 3 mortgage lenders are using social media to:
- Position themselves in a place the community is already looking ... their social media
- Empower loan officers to engage in local conversations
- Turn their institution's loan officers into the voice of their brand
- Build trust within the community
Which roles do you fill when building your bank's marketing dream team? This guide will show you the following:
- Who does what
- The right structure to execute strategy
- How compliance software can help
Enjoy!
ABA Study: The Current State of Social Media
See what nearly 430 bank marketers had to say when asked questions such as:
COVID-19 & Bank Social Media
Times are different and how you connect with customers and potential customers has changed drastically. In a socially distant world, learn to still build lasting relationships.
Download and learn the guiding principles for using social media to serve both your customers and communities in the midst of a pandemic.
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4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
In a time where it's important than ever to maintain and build existing customer relationships, financial professionals like loan officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors should look to LinkedIn as a primary means of communication and an essential part of everyday communication.
Today, meeting customers where they are means being active on social media. Aptly named "the professional network", LinkedIn is prime territory for boosting thought leadership, crafting an online presence, and creating authentic, lasting relationships that will stand the test of time (and economic ups and downs).
Whether you're just getting started on social media for financial professionals, or you're a seasoned LinkedIn veteran looking to make the most of the network, it's time for financial institutions to take LinkedIn seriously in 2024.
LinkedIn Can Help Build Trust & Credibility
It seems simple to say, but trust hinges on authentic relationships. Today’s customers want to work with real people who connect with them on a human level. That’s why it’s so important to be yourself when using social networks like LinkedIn. Put some of your personality into their social posts, talk about things that are important to you, or ask your networks questions. (If this keeps you up at night from a risk perspective, know that approval tools like Denim Social can help ensure compliance.)
When people interact with you through LinkedIn, they’ll see how much reliable value you provide to their lives and will be more likely to trust your brand with their livelihoods. Authenticity is even more crucial when it comes to attracting prospects at the top of the funnel who haven’t gotten the chance to meet (and befriend) you yet.
While the current economic climate poses many potential challenges, remember that gaining and keeping customers’ trust is the key to acquiring and retaining clients (even in tough times). Lean on social media networks like LinkedIn to tell the your brand’s story, build thought leadership online, and gain more followers who convert into new clients. Let them get to know your institution and you, and they’ll want to work (and stay) with you for years to come.
LinkedIn Is A Winning Choice
It's hard to hear, but if you aren't on LinkedIn already, you're already behind. In fact, 9 out of 10 financial advisors are using LinkedIn for their business, and other industries see similar usage numbers. The same way that email and text messaging have become routine modes of communication, so will social media like LinkedIn.
You can bet that your audience will be there, too. Over 16% of LinkedIn users log on every single day, and this number continues to grow as the networks becomes more and more popular among the groups that financial professionals target most frequently, like young professionals and business leaders.
Being active and sustaining a regular presence can have some serious payoffs. For example, pages that post weekly instead of just monthly have almost 6 times as many followers.
The future is bright for those that use LinkedIn to their advantage. It's clear that there's no slowing down its momentum as a primary social network!
LinkedIn Can Help You Educate
Are there certain points you are always trying to get across with your customers, or questions you are routinely asked? Look no further than LinkedIn. Use this powerful network to create and share posts that will position you as one of the top expert in your field and in your community.
There are currently over 27 million people that look to LinkedIn as an educational tool. When someone comes looking for an answer to their question, you want to be the go-to source of truth for them.
With LinkedIn, you can share graphics, videos, documents, photos, and more. It's easy to diversify your content to make your profile a wealth of knowledge for your customers and prospects. If you are looking for more ideas on how to make the most of LinkedIn, check out Denim's Social's Best Practices For LinkedIn.
In sum, LinkedIn is basically your new business card. Use it well! Don't let your opportunities on LinkedIn pass you by. Start prepping now to get your strategy in order so you find success on LinkedIn in 2024. Interested in other social networks, too? Try downloading our Social Selling Playbook for Financial Institutions. Happy posting!
When trusted relationships are the bedrock of the industry, most smart financial services marketers see the opportunity in social media. A corporate social media presence is the norm, and many brands are investing in paid social media campaigns — but that’s only scratching the social media surface. For teams looking to transform social media into a sales tool, it’s time to start social selling.
Social selling is so much more than encouraging your sellers to have a social presence. Having a company page on Facebook and a LinkedIn profile are table stakes. If Instagram, Twitter, or even TikTok make sense for your business, it’s important to be there, too. But social selling is so much more than just “being there.” Financial services marketers who embrace social selling empower their teams of intermediaries, such as agents and loan officers, to create lead-generating content that builds trust. Brands that get social selling right can expect to see a 45% increase in sales opportunities and a 51% higher chance of hitting sales goals, according to LinkedIn.
So, why haven’t all financial services marketers launched social selling for their institutions yet? For one, many marketers are hesitant to jump into a process that involves monitoring and amplifying social media content for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of intermediaries. Even for seasoned marketers, it can seem intimidating. (Spoiler alert: With a platform like Denim Social, it’s much easier than it sounds!)
Social selling also takes time. Organic social media growth ramps up over time, no matter how many social sellers a brand activates at once. But just because you might not see an immediate jump in KPIs doesn’t mean you’re not moving the needle. With patience and investment in the right social selling tools, social selling can transform your institution’s marketing strategy and results.
You’re ready to launch social selling for your brand, but where do you get started? Check out these helpful tips from our team of experts at Denim Social:
1. Identify internal social selling champions.
Social selling needs widespread buy-in between marketing, sales, and other key departments. The most effective way to encourage buy-in is to get influential players in these groups on board with social selling. Explain to them how social selling works and its social media reach potential — and how to use the right social selling tools to protect compliance.
By cultivating cheerleaders within your financial institution, these motivated individuals can be an example for their peers and showcase the value of social selling. The more buy-in you can get to your overall social selling program, the faster you’ll be able to demonstrate how valuable social selling is as a marketing strategy. Have patience and stay the course; your determination will pay off as you earn the support of more internal champions.
2. Pick a solid social selling platform.
Managing a social selling strategy could be your full-time job as a marketer, but it doesn’t have to be. The right social selling tech solution will help optimize your efforts without tossing another burden onto your team. We designed our platform to meet these needs with extensive compliance features, a library of preapproved content, and streamlined workflows that make publishing as easy as clicking a button. A social selling platform should make life easier for all its users; if it doesn’t, it’s not the right platform for you.
When evaluating social selling tools, keep a few critical questions in mind: Does the vendor understand the nuances of the financial services industry? What kind of compliance coverage does the platform offer? How will you create content, and how will the platform help you do that? Asking these questions will point you in the right direction so that you can find a social selling platform that works best for your institution’s needs.
3. Spend time training your social sellers and their support teams.
The loan officers, agents, advisors, and other producers who will become your social selling team might or might not be familiar with how to be present on social to grow their business. Even if they’re active on social media personally, they might not understand the concept of social selling or how to make it work for them. It’s your job to teach them (you’re the expert, after all!).
Keep in mind that social selling isn’t only the responsibility of your localized producers. It’s important to loop in anyone in your organization who supports your sales efforts. This means sales executives, regional sales leaders, and even marketing leadership. As part of your social selling launch, take the time to train your broader social selling support group, regardless of their department.
Broadened education and buy-in mean stickiness and support for the folks your organization is relying on to drive business at the local level: your true social sellers. Start with social channel basics and regular organic posting. Then, you can teach them how to feel comfortable generating their own content and engaging with their social networks. Does this mean all your employees need to become social media experts? Not even close. But a deeper understanding of social media in general lays the foundation for successful social selling as your teams get comfortable using it every day.
At Denim Social, we’re passionate about helping your financial institution drive business results with social selling. Not only have we designed our platform to make administering a social selling program easy, but we also provide strategic support from day one, helping you educate and support your sales teams.
Our platform offers several essential features that will help drive your ROI: (Hint: They can also help you implement the above three steps.)
- Customized Onboarding and Team Training. Onboarding onto a new platform shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter process; every team and marketer is different. Tailoring our onboarding and training means that your team (and execs) know they’re getting a bespoke experience for the institution’s specific needs. When you’re getting started, Denim Social can help craft vital internal communication to encourage adoption, leaving no questions unanswered. Once you’ve got the basics down and your first champions are ready to dive in, you can check out our train-the-trainer sessions or our online academy to further grow your team’s expertise. From start to finish, you’ll have an invested partner.
- Content-Rich, Customized Libraries. How will you keep up with content just for your social sellers? Denim Social works with you and UpContent to develop an extensive library of ready-to-use content for your social sellers’ unique needs and interests. Your teams will always have something to say on social, keeping them top of mind with their networks — with the peace of mind of staying compliant.
- Scalable Paid Advertising. Though the foundation of your social selling strategy starts with empowering your intermediaries with organic social content, the most robust social selling programs also integrate localized paid advertising. Although the organic content you cultivate through your individual champions will work to add nuance and humanity to your brand, putting your ad dollars behind your producers will reach consumers looking to connect with real, local humans who can guide them through their next financial decisions. We recommend that marketers drive this side of the social selling strategy, and our platform makes it easy. With Denim Social, one marketer can launch and scale tailor-made paid social campaigns delivered on behalf of your local producers to their local communities.
- Compliance-Focused Features. When you work in financial services marketing, you’re guided by numerous rules, regulations, and laws. Denim Social is engineered to find and flag compliance-related issues before any content goes live. This robust filtering proactively recognizes potential problems so you can sleep better at night.
As part of our compliance-driven culture, our platform provides continuous compliance training through constant feedback. As your team notices which posts are approved or unapproved, they’ll gain valuable insights into the nuances of social media compliance for the industry. Plus, your team can rely on the curated, preapproved content within your Denim Social library, so you can be sure everything posted is compliant (and compelling). An added upside to our compliance feature is that our social selling platform tracks and records all published content, so it can be used for audits whenever you need it.
Are you curious and looking to level up your digital marketing strategy? Or maybe you’re ready to dive in head-first and experience the benefits of social selling firsthand? Either way, social selling is a great way to get started empowering your team and increasing your reach.
Check out Denim Social’s comprehensive social selling guide to learn more!
As a financial marketer, you know that the past 12 months have been a prime time for social selling. Social media usage has been on trajectory to rise 7.8% in 2022, with steady growth expected to continue over the next five years. This growth is fueled by consumers increasingly consulting social media for help making decisions — a habit that offers big opportunities for financial institutions.
As the new year rapidly approaches, it’s a great time to plan your future social selling strategies with the latest social media trends in mind. Wondering what’s popular on social networks? How should trends inform your social selling strategy in the coming year? Here’s what you need to know as you plan for 2023 and beyond:
1. Video content is taking over.
Videos, particularly shorter clips, are having a major moment on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. Social users are increasingly consuming short-form (call it “snackable”) content, even on legacy social networks. For example, bite-sized videos earned 57% of YouTube views in the second quarter of 2022, versus just 21% the year before.
Many of these videos attract viewers by seamlessly blending education and entertainment. Financial concepts are perfect for the “edutainment” treatment, too. Think about it: With more than 89% of TikTok users actively trying to learn more about finance, it only makes sense to add financial video “edutainment” into your social selling strategy.
That said, not every social selling post needs to contain a video, and not every video needs to be a highly produced affair. Easy-to-consume content is the name of the game, so think short and concise. Quick, pithy videos such as selfie commentaries or quick tips from your social sellers can make your content feel more authentic. No matter what video style you pursue, short clips will stop scrollers and make them more likely to engage with your intermediaries’ posts.
2. Financial advice influencer culture opens up social selling opportunities.
Social media probably seems like the last place most people would turn to for advice about money, yet finance-focused influencers are attracting lots of interest, particularly from younger social media consumers. Gen Zers are five times likelier than older Millennials and Generation Xers to get their money management suggestions on social media. With consumers seeking answers to their business and personal questions via online influencer personalities, you can’t afford not to put your intermediaries on social media to engage these audiences thirsty for (and often unable to find) credible information.
If you haven’t already, plan to empower your producers (agents, loan officers, financial advisors, and other rock stars at your organization) to share their expert advice on social media. When they do, your social sellers’ audiences can build up their financial literacy with insights from qualified professionals. Those prospects’ and customers’ lives will improve, and their loyalty will grow.
Note that your social selling team members don’t have to become superstar influencers for this strategy to work, either. Micro-influencers in their communities also gain plenty of loyalty — and sales as a result. Because social algorithms favor individuals over brands, it’s time to get more of your brand representatives to highlight their expertise on social channels.
3. Social networks as search engines enhances discoverability.
Social is the new search engine. Almost 40% of Generation Z searchers go to apps such as Instagram and TikTok first for search capabilities. In other words, they bypass Google in favor of social networks. That’s huge. And we at Denim Social think this online behavior is sure to catch on across generations. We also think the best way to make use of this trend is to have social sellers active on social media. When more of your employees are on social networks, you’re more discoverable.
Another surefire way to take advantage of the social search trend is to make sure your social selling strategies include both organic and paid tactics. When organic and paid elements work together, you can be where consumers need you at the time they need you.
Otherwise, optimizing for search on social isn’t much different from any other SEO work you’ve encountered. A fast way to enhance the discoverability of social selling copy is to ensure that it incorporates strategic hashtags, including nods to trending topics. Remember, it’s fine for social posts to include numerous hashtags, as long as they all make sense. SEO keywords can also fit nicely into social selling content and ad copy, just as they do in website copy and blog posts. All that optimization drives the social media search engine, ensuring users find your content when they’re seeking information that could lead them to decisions.
Social media has changed the game for marketing and has made person-to-person communication (and selling!) an essential strategy. As with any social media strategy, being up to date on trends is critical for social selling success. Guiding your intermediaries to add short videos, credible advice, and search-boosting features to content will strengthen your social selling strategy for 2023.
A financial conversation is already happening online, and your institution needs to be part of it. It’s time to launch a social selling program if you haven’t already. And if you have, let these trends be a clear sign that it’s time to expand your efforts. People are choosing to work with financial professionals they find on social media, and your intermediaries can meet them there. Want more insider knowledge about applying social selling techniques? Download our exclusive 2023 Denim Social Trend Report today.
Smart financial marketers know social media and social selling are essential to effectively reach and build trust with today’s consumers. But how does your digital marketing strategy measure up against competitors?
Denim Social is here to help. We collected social media data from 177 institutions across banking, mortgage, wealth management and insurance to help you get the pulse on the social media performance. Take a look and see how your institution stacks up.
Ready to learn how you can adopt these trends? Book a demo to learn more.
People buy from people. That fundamental truth is the cornerstone of the insurance industry and is holding true even as the insurance value chain becomes more and more digital. But in a world where customers increasingly avoid in-person interactions — McKinsey’s 2020 U.S. Insurance Agent Survey saw a 65% drop in face-to-face conversations in 2020, with a slow recovery — how do agents adjust? The answer is to meet customers where they are - online.
Insurance professionals likely view social media as a necessary evil, but social media can be a powerful sales tool, putting agents right in the path of their clients and prospects. It’s more than just posting content into a digital void; it’s taking what agents have done for decades to build their business and bringing it to life within the social media landscape. Consider this: GWI research suggests online consumers around the globe spend almost 2.5 hours scrolling through social sites daily.
Putting energy into social media as a sales tool means attracting those eyes and winning more chances to interact with prospects and customers. But where do you start? Here are a few things to consider before leaning into social selling.
- Learn exactly what social selling is (and isn’t)
Social selling is using social media to showcase thought leadership and industry expertise, build relationships and, ultimately, connect with new prospects while maintaining trust with existing ones. But a social selling strategy requires much more than having a Twitter account; it requires the same attention as any sales methods do. It’s taking social beyond simply posting regularly. It’s using social as a connection point to identify life events and points of connection with your community. And the good news is, you should see the returns. LinkedIn’s Social Selling data notes that 78% of social sellers outshine their peers who aren’t using social media as a sales tool.
- Take stock of your social media accounts
If you hope to capitalize on social selling, you must first take stock of your existing social media accounts and look for opportunities to strengthen your overall social presence.
Whichever social channel mix you’ve decided is right for your business (it’s OK not to be on every social platform!), you always want to make sure your brand is consistent and robust across each channel. That sounds easy, but there are a few things to consider to ensure that your identity is clear and consistent:
- Profile images: Whether it’s a professionally taken photo, a well-lit high-resolution image taken on a smartphone or your company logo, make sure your profile images reflect how you and your company look today. (For example: Don’t use your headshot from 15 years ago.)
- Cover images: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all have a space for a cover or background image. Be sure you have a cover image that is consistent with your brand and that you have the rights to use that image.
- “About” sections: Today’s consumers use social media for information searches like they use Google, so your bios and “about” sections pages are more important than ever. Sections can vary across social channels, but your information should be accurate and reflect your business on each channel. Pay special attention to your business description, location information and hours of operation.
Rather than jump right into the heavy stuff, it’s important to get these social media ducks in a row first.
- Make a plan for posting, engaging and amplifying.
After your social accounts are up to speed, it’s important to have a plan. Regularly posting content is only the foundation of social selling, but it will help keep you top of mind with your followers and give you a place to interact with them. It also sets you up well when you’re ready to start putting money behind your posts with paid social advertising.
Beyond posting, it’s important to keep an eye on those who interact with your posts. Comment back, connect with them or, better yet, give them a call. Social selling really comes to life when you can weave social into your everyday sales practices. Either way, prioritize social just as you would other crucial facets of your business. Post regularly and have a plan for responding and engaging with your existing and potential clients. Then turn those engagements into sales opportunities.
- Leverage your resources.
You’re not the only one flexing your social selling muscles, so look to others – even insights from competitors - for help. A good way to begin is to look at the social accounts of others in and out of your sector. What are they writing about? What posts seem to engage followers? How are they branding themselves to be trustworthy experts? Use the information you gather to help you plan your own social selling and content strategy.
The question shouldn’t be if you should start social selling, it’s when. Your existing and potential clients are there, waiting for you. You only must give social selling the time and energy it deserves. As someone in a profession built around risk, you’ll find that social selling is a safe bet.
This article was originally published in Insurance Newsnet.
In today’s origination and refi environment, most mortgage loan officers are finding it’s no longer fish in a barrel. That means every loan officer needs to consider their competitive edge. And when bargain-basement rates are no longer the decision driver for prospects, relationships matter more than ever.
Everyone knows a successful sales strategy is focused on building long-term, trusted relationships, but today, that means building relationships online. Social media has long been regarded as a brand builder, but the real power of social is using it as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to deals.
An active social selling strategy can not only help build ongoing relationships, but keep you top of mind with contacts when opportunities open up – and in this rate environment, that can be short-lived.
Social selling requires continual care and management, but it’s worth the investment of time, and effort when you’re using social to drive business results. A daily social selling routine helps loan officers in so many ways and managing a program doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here’s where to start:
Optimize Your Profile
Before you even get to posting, it’s important to take a look at your profiles to ensure your brand is consistent across channels. Ensure you have a current and easily recognizable profile picture. If you haven’t already, upload a cover image and update the about section to be your descriptions, location and hours are current.
Post Meaningful and Relevant Content
It’s not only important for you to be posting regularly, you need to be posting with purpose. Your social profiles should be an extension of who you are in real life. Authenticity always wins in social media.
There is no magic formula for how often you should post, but consistency is key. Successful social selling programs offer a variety of organic content. The mix looks different for every loan officer, but commonly a healthy and informed mix includes brand, industry and most importantly, personal/community content.
Interact with the Community
Social media is a two-way conversation and that means you need to be interacting with followers. In other words, don’t post and ghost. Social selling is about listening, responding and engaging. It’s a conversation, so you should be promptly responding to comments and direct messages, showing connections that their inquiries and concerns matter.
When every deal matters, so does every relationship. If you’re looking to build trust and connection with customers and prospects alike, make sure your profiles are up to date, post regularly and interact with your followers. A social selling strategy can help you make the most of social media opportunities in a competitive environment.
This article was originally published in MBA Newslink.
Connect & Convert on Social
4 Ways to Modernize Insurance Sales by Adopting Social Selling
The insurance industry is built on — and amazing at! — assessing risk. But the industry’s risk aversion has put insurance marketers between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, modern customer expectations mean agents need to leverage their relationship-building skills to gain ground online. On the other, unfamiliarity and fears about compliance are driving slow social selling adoption across the industry. While the concept may seem novel to some insurance leaders, that doesn't mean their competition is standing on the sidelines. After all, rival carriers aren’t twiddling their thumbs; many are jumping headfirst into social selling strategies and generating the new business to show for it.
The good news is that adopting social selling doesn’t mean the industry has to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it should feel natural because this kind of digital communication is simply an extension of what agents are already doing. Instead of viewing digital marketing and social selling as an entirely new strategy, remember that it’s built on the same bread-and-butter relationship skills that trusted insurance advisors have always used with their customers. Insurance leaders must acknowledge social media as a sales channel, just like cold calling and in-person meetings, and must integrate social selling into the fabric of their organizations.
How to Advocate for Social Selling
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s where consumers are interacting with each other, looking for advice, and learning new things. This means intermediaries have to be there, too. Insurance agents need to reach their clients and prospects alike on social media, and the carriers and agencies they’re part of can help.
With this in mind, insurance marketers and leaders must advocate for social selling throughout the organization. And everyone has a role to play. While marketers will stay busy coordinating paid ad campaigns to reach new target audiences and managing the branded social media, agents and other representatives of the brand must be on board as well: They need to be posting, liking, and replying to build relationships and bring a human touch to the broader social media strategy. Getting this buy-in means bridging the gap between sales and marketing — and educating them on why social selling works. If you're ready to sell-in social selling, here are four ways to get started:
1. Get Everybody on the Same Page
While some marketers may already be comfortable with the concept, social selling is still a recent marketing innovation for the insurance industry. Marketers need to get up to speed on strategy and execution, while also educating the organization (especially intermediaries — have we mentioned how important they are?).
Start by defining social selling. This is our shorthand definition:
Social selling is using social media to sell a product or service. It’s using social to:
· Showcase thought leadership
· Engage with potential customers
· Interact with existing customers
· Build trust and relationships
Sounds pretty straightforward, right? While the execution can be trickier — think balancing paid and organic advertising, tracking analytics to calculate ROI, and overseeing the social media accounts of all the intermediaries — starting simple helps ease everyone into the process. This is especially important for advisors with limited social media experience. Lead with empathy to help them adjust to the new face of insurance marketing.
2. Speak Their Language — With Stats to Back You Up
Intermediaries want to build relationships and drive results — and social selling can help them do it — but only if they understand its potential. Highlight the value social selling has for both the company and individual intermediaries. Thankfully, this is one of the easier parts of selling social selling: The stats can do all the heavy lifting.
Gather good information from trustworthy sources. If you’re going to be persuasive, you have to paint the picture of what social selling can do. Some of our favorite data comes from LinkedIn. Sales reps scoring higher on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index experience:
· 45% more sales opportunities
· 51% higher likelihood to hit quotas
· 78% outselling peers who don’t use social media
And don’t be afraid to share the success you’ve had with brand social media, too. Brand social media and intermediary social selling, paid social ads, and organic social media content: All of these are chapters in the greater narrative of successful digital marketing strategies.
3. Seriously, Bring Up the Data
Raw numbers are well and good, but case studies marry data and narrative in a uniquely compelling way. Countless other industries have had success with social selling, and insurance needs to pay attention. Share these stories about what social selling has accomplished for so many other businesses. The housing industry, for one, has been particularly astute with social selling in recent years, especially when it comes to mortgage lending.
In addition to formal case studies, bring the concept to life with experiences anyone can understand or has likely seen in their personal social media feeds. Local real estate agents are great examples of an industry that’s exemplary at utilizing social selling tools. Instead of starting from scratch, look to adjacent regulated industries to guide the way.
4. Create a Culture of Q&As
Don’t assume leaders know that social media is a sales channel — but also, don’t talk down to them when explaining the state of digital marketing. This means creating safe spaces where pros can ask questions (and not feel silly). Have a coffee; grab lunch. Give someone permission to be vulnerable and learn. Their aversion is likely rooted in misunderstanding. And remember, more experienced professionals may never have used social media for anything other than personal sharing. Empathy is your best friend. Walking alongside leaders and agents as they dip their feet into social selling will be so much more effective than talking down to them from the podium of knowledge. Building a strong foundation of understanding and a desire to learn will go a long way toward activating a social selling strategy.
Social media marketing for insurance intermediaries may seem like a radical concept, but it’s more radical to not be using social as a sales tool. Sure, it may be new and feel risky, but educating the team and arming them with resources will make social selling feel not only prudent but necessary. To learn more about how social selling can help you reach your audience, request a demo today.
Make the most of your social media pages and posts by optimizing your images and including essential information about your business on each platform. By giving customers an optimal digital experience, you can broaden reach and provide better customer service through your digital platforms.
IMAGE SIZING:
Profile picture: 176 x 176px (desktop), 196x 196px (smartphones)
Cover photo: 820 x 312px (desktop), 640 x 360px (smartphones)
Keep the main content of your image centered. On a desktop the photo will display as 840x312px, but on mobile will size down to 640x360px.
Facebook post image: 1200 x 630px
The ideal width for a Facebook post image is 1200px, but height can vary based on what type of device the image display is optimized for. We recommend keeping it at the recommended size to keep consistency on all devices.
When creating a Facebook Ad graphic, any text should not take up more than 20% of the photo. You can find a cheat sheet here: https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay.
Facebook Video: 1280 x 720px
The optimal length for a short-form video on Facebook is 15 seconds to 1 minute; for a long-form video, it is 3 minutes. The maximum file size is 10GB.
Facebook Link Image: 1200 x 630px
Make sure to claim ownership of your links for the ability to change the link preview photo. You can find more info on that here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/528858287471922?id=708699556338610.
Carousel Post: 1080 x 1080px
Carousel posts are a great way to display multiple services or features that you offer to your customers. When placing a Facebook ad you can link each carousel photo to a different link, making it easy for people to navigate to your specific products.
Facebook Story: 1080 x 1920px
Make the most of your stories by using all of your space and creating a fullscreen experience.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION:
Page name:
This is where you can name your Facebook Page, but be sure to keep it shorter than 75 characters.
Page username:
Customize your page URL by adding a username, making it easier for people to locate and navigate people from other digital platforms. Your Facebook URL can include up to 50 characters.
Page call to action:
Facebook gives you a variety of choices on calls to action. For example, if you’d like customers to contact you by email, you can set up a “Send Email” button with your email address connected and ready to go.
IMAGE SIZING:
Profile picture: 400 x 400px
Upload your business logo here to personalize your profile. If this page is for an individual, this is where you will upload their headshot.
Cover Photo: 1584 x 396px
Having a personalized business cover photo will make your profile look more professional and give you the opportunity to provide page visitors with more of the look and feel of your business. This can include an image related to your business or a graphic with information on services you provide or your business slogan.
LinkedIn post photo: 1200 x 628px (mobile), 1200 x 1200px (desktop)
When targeting an audience on both desktop and mobile, make sure that you optimize for mobile to give people the best experience.
LinkedIn Link Photo: 1200 x 628px (mobile), 1200 x 1200px (desktop)
Providing an image with your link preview can help give viewers a better idea of article content and improve your click thru rates.
LinkedIn Link Video: 4096 x 2304px maximum, 256 x 144 pixels minimum
The optimal video length for LinkedIn is 30-90 seconds and the maximum file size is 5GB.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION
Page name:
This is where your business name is located, as well as your company industry, location, and number of followers.
Page description:
Add your business slogan, mission, or a short description that tells people what your company, products, and services can do for them.
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
IMAGE SIZING
Profile picture: 400 x 400px
Upload your business logo or headshot to personalize your profile.
Cover photo: 1500 x 500px
Be sure to center your content to give your followers an optimized experience on mobile.
Twitter post photo: 1600 x 900px
Allow your followers to see the entirety of the photo in their feed by adhering to this sizing guideline. The maximum file size is 5MB.
X video: 1280 x 720px (desktop, recommended), 720 x 720px (mobile)
The optimal video length for Twitter is 20-45 seconds and the maximum file size is 512MB.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION
Underneath your profile photo, your company name and username will be displayed.
Write a short bio to tell people more about your business.
IMAGE SIZING
Profile photo: 110 x 110px
Your profile picture will be small, so be sure your image is sized correctly and centered. This is a great place for your company logo.
Profile thumbnail: Displays as 161 x 161px
This is a preview of your large image post, but looks best when the photo posted is square.
Highlight Cover: 1080 x 1920px
Your cover photos should have centered images to give your highlight reel a balanced look. You can also name your highlights, but be concise as they can only be 15 characters long.
Instagram Feed Photo: 1080 x 1080px (square), 1080 x 1350 (portrait), 1080 x 566 (landscape)
The recommended width for all Instagram feed photos is 1080px, but the height can vary. To optimize for your feed display within your profile, we recommend using the sizing listed above to keep your image square.
Instagram Feed Video: 1080 x 1080px (square), 1080 x 1350 (portrait), 1080 x 566 (landscape)
The optimal length for an Instagram video is 30-60 seconds and the max file size is 650MB.
Instagram Feed Ad Photo: 1080 x 1080px
Your ad photo will display the same as a normal feed photo, but with a link attached. When creating an ad in Ads Manager, you’ll be able to upload a separate photo for Instagram to keep your photos optimized for the user experience.
Instagram Story: 1080 x 1920px (portrait), 1080 x 601 (landscape)
Make the most of your stories by using all of your space and creating a fullscreen experience. The maximum length of the story is 60 seconds.
Instagram Reels & Live: 1080 x 1920px
Reels can be used to offer tutorials, demos, or service features. These will be saved under your profile page for viewers to go back and watch at their leisure. The maximum length for Reels is 90 seconds. For Live, this can be used for announcements, events, or other Q&A sessions. These can also be saved for later viewing, and can last up to 4 hours.
As the end of the year looms, budget is on every leader’s and marketer’s mind. Now is the time for financial institutions to step back and assess performance and determine how to spend wisely next year. In the face of climbing interest rates, uncertain economic conditions and hesitant customers, financial marketers will need to be effective and efficient in 2024.
Luckily, there’s a way loan officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors can cost-effectively build new (and strengthen existing) relationships: social media. A strong social media strategy helps intermediaries meet customers where they are in a personalized way. This is important, as 72% of consumers rate personalization as highly important in finance.
In today’s digital world, being on social media is a non-negotiable for financial professionals looking to stay top of mind with customers. Consider this: employees have 10x the amount of reach as brand pages alone, and social media users that regularly share content are 57% likely to generate leads. For institutions on a budget , social media makes the most of resources and lays the foundation for long-term success.
Sound familiar? Many financial marketers deal with reduced budgets and fewer resources. The good news is that social media can be one of the best (and most cost-effective ways) to get the most out of overall marketing and generate real business ROI. No matter how large or small a budget, with the right approach, marketers and financial professionals can use social media to make new connections and drive results.
The question is, how exactly do you get buy-in from leadership to start personalizing and investing more money for social media marketing? The following strategies can help you get started:
- Target your audience: Identify the advocates for your mission and the people who you need to get buy-in from. Social media marketing is about identifying target audiences and catering strategies accordingly. The same applies when securing your social media marketing budget. When looking for buy-in, target those on the leadership team who are likely to understand what excellence in personalization looks like. Great personalization is omnichannel; it engages consumers on the channels of their choice and it’s deeply human. To humanize marketing beyond the brand level, financial institutions need to reach out to leaders who will be open to highly personalized tactics such as social selling, which puts employees and producers on the frontlines to build relationships for the brand.
- Craft the right message: Messaging is critical in marketing — and that goes double for selling the idea of a more personalized social strategy. Your message needs to resonate with your audience, even if your audience is one decision-maker. Link everything back to ROI by explaining that customers weigh reputation and online presence when choosing financial institutions. Be prepared to explain how you’ll track and increase customer conversion metrics through your campaigns. When arguing for more money toward paid social media advertising, for example, you’ll want to explain how it can boost conversion rates, meaning more customers (and revenue) coming in from your ads. Framing your message in business terms will help you advocate for funds to support personalization at scale.
- Present the right data: Use compelling data to bring your message home. With 75% of B2B buyers using social media to make buying decisions, social selling is a powerful way to attract new customers. In addition to all the facts and figures about why brand is important, you should also be ready to support the idea that people buy from people. At the end of the day, it’s about relationships. That’s why so many financial institutions find it valuable to launch social selling programs that position agents, advisors and loan officers to build customer relationships. 54% of prospects today use social networks to conduct product research. Your team can capture prospects where they are with the right strategies, processes and technology.
- Decide the right timing: The time to start advocating for personalization is now. Approach leadership about earmarking money for personalization in the budget for social media marketing. Remember that most financial institutions establish their fiscal budgets for the year and often don’t revisit those budgets for another year. 41% of marketing budgets are based on the previous year, with only 10% revisited quarterly— so plan ahead for social initiatives that might take more money down the line. You likely won’t get another chance to advocate for that money once the budget is set.
No matter the size or scope of a bank, insurance agency, mortgage lender, or financial firm marketing budget, the end of the year is the best time to assess what’s going well and what needs to change in the coming year. There’s no doubt that social media has a place in every marketer’s budget, and knowing where and how to spend can support business goals and keep financial brands relevant and accessible.
Social media supercharges marketing budgets to reach more customers and prospects.. Marketers that build a smart strategy through personalized social selling will be well positioned to get the most out of any budget. See how Denim Social can help you do more with less by scheduling a demo here.
In today's digital age, social media platforms have become essential tools for professionals in various industries to connect with clients, share valuable insights, and build their brand. Instagram, with its visual appeal and highly-engaged user base, is no exception. For financial professionals, leveraging Instagram can be a powerful way to showcase expertise, establish credibility, and build stronger relationships. In this blog post, we will discuss the best practices for building your Instagram business profile as a financial professional that will give your social selling a boost.
Choose a Professional Username and Profile Picture
Start by selecting a username that reflects your name or your financial business's name. Keep it simple and easy to remember. Use a high-quality profile picture, such as a professional headshot or your company logo. This picture will be the first impression potential followers have of you.
Optimize Your Bio
Craft a concise and informative bio that clearly defines your role and expertise. Use relevant keywords, such as "Financial Advisor," "Mortgage Loan Officer,” or "Insurance Agent." Include a brief but captivating description of the value you provide to your customers. Highlight any unique selling points or specializations.
Content Strategy
Determine your content niche. Share content that aligns with your expertise, such as investment tips, financial planning advice, or market insights. Develop a content calendar to ensure consistency. Aim for a mix of educational, inspirational, and personal posts. Use high-quality images and graphics to enhance your posts. Visual appeal is essential on Instagram!
Engage Your Audience
Respond promptly to comments and direct messages. Engaging with your followers builds a sense of trust and connection. You want your followers to engage with your posts, so do the same for them! Like, comment, and share to help increase visibility.
Use Hashtags Wisely
Research and use relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your posts. Utilize both industry-specific and popular hashtags. Best practice is to use 5-10 hashtags per post as they relate to the content.
Collaborate and Network
Collaborate with influencers or other professionals in your industry. Guest posts or shoutouts can expand your reach. Attend industry events and share your experiences on Instagram. It’s all about taking those in-person relationships online, too.
Educate and Inform
Share informative and educational content that empowers your audience. Explainer videos, infographics, and step-by-step guides can be especially valuable. Stay up-to-date with the latest financial news and trends, and share your unique insights with your followers. Always provide value!
Analytics and Optimization
Regularly analyze your Instagram Insights to understand which content performs best and when your audience is most active. Use this data to refine your content strategy and posting schedule for optimal engagement.
Promote Your Services
While Instagram is a platform for sharing valuable content, don't forget to promote your services subtly. Share client success stories or case studies to showcase your expertise in action.
Stay Compliant
Ensure that your posts comply with industry regulations and guidelines. Be transparent about any potential conflicts of interest. Luckily, platforms like Denim Social that are built for the financial services industry can help with that!
In conclusion, Instagram can be a valuable tool for financial professionals to connect with clients and prospects. By following these best practices, you can build a strong and trustworthy online presence that sets you apart in the competitive world of finance. Remember that consistency and authenticity are key to establishing a successful Instagram business profile for financial professionals. See our Denim Social guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram here!
Denim Social is proud to be featured in the American Banker Association’s 2023 report on The State of Social Media in Banking.
In the report, the American Bankers Association asked over 330 banks what they are doing with social media, where they see challenges and opportunities and what the future is likely to bring.
The report incorporates the survey findings with insight and best practices from other banks from across the U.S. and provides a list of 10 top takeaways to consider.
“Social media is the heart of social selling,” said Doug Wilber, CEO of Denim Social, which offers the only ABA-endorsed social media management platform for financial institutions. Social selling is the process of building relationships and brand awareness through selected social media platforms, with the aim of boosting not just awareness, but the bank’s sales results. It’s a way of connecting directly with prospects, and can be a powerful complement to tried-and-true methods such as cold calling and email marketing.”
Learn more about social media opportunities for banks by downloading the report here.
In a time where it's important than ever to maintain and build existing customer relationships, financial professionals like loan officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors should look to LinkedIn as a primary means of communication and an essential part of everyday communication.
Today, meeting customers where they are means being active on social media. Aptly named "the professional network", LinkedIn is prime territory for boosting thought leadership, crafting an online presence, and creating authentic, lasting relationships that will stand the test of time (and economic ups and downs).
Whether you're just getting started on social media for financial professionals, or you're a seasoned LinkedIn veteran looking to make the most of the network, it's time for financial institutions to take LinkedIn seriously in 2024.
LinkedIn Can Help Build Trust & Credibility
It seems simple to say, but trust hinges on authentic relationships. Today’s customers want to work with real people who connect with them on a human level. That’s why it’s so important to be yourself when using social networks like LinkedIn. Put some of your personality into their social posts, talk about things that are important to you, or ask your networks questions. (If this keeps you up at night from a risk perspective, know that approval tools like Denim Social can help ensure compliance.)
When people interact with you through LinkedIn, they’ll see how much reliable value you provide to their lives and will be more likely to trust your brand with their livelihoods. Authenticity is even more crucial when it comes to attracting prospects at the top of the funnel who haven’t gotten the chance to meet (and befriend) you yet.
While the current economic climate poses many potential challenges, remember that gaining and keeping customers’ trust is the key to acquiring and retaining clients (even in tough times). Lean on social media networks like LinkedIn to tell the your brand’s story, build thought leadership online, and gain more followers who convert into new clients. Let them get to know your institution and you, and they’ll want to work (and stay) with you for years to come.
LinkedIn Is A Winning Choice
It's hard to hear, but if you aren't on LinkedIn already, you're already behind. In fact, 9 out of 10 financial advisors are using LinkedIn for their business, and other industries see similar usage numbers. The same way that email and text messaging have become routine modes of communication, so will social media like LinkedIn.
You can bet that your audience will be there, too. Over 16% of LinkedIn users log on every single day, and this number continues to grow as the networks becomes more and more popular among the groups that financial professionals target most frequently, like young professionals and business leaders.
Being active and sustaining a regular presence can have some serious payoffs. For example, pages that post weekly instead of just monthly have almost 6 times as many followers.
The future is bright for those that use LinkedIn to their advantage. It's clear that there's no slowing down its momentum as a primary social network!
LinkedIn Can Help You Educate
Are there certain points you are always trying to get across with your customers, or questions you are routinely asked? Look no further than LinkedIn. Use this powerful network to create and share posts that will position you as one of the top expert in your field and in your community.
There are currently over 27 million people that look to LinkedIn as an educational tool. When someone comes looking for an answer to their question, you want to be the go-to source of truth for them.
With LinkedIn, you can share graphics, videos, documents, photos, and more. It's easy to diversify your content to make your profile a wealth of knowledge for your customers and prospects. If you are looking for more ideas on how to make the most of LinkedIn, check out Denim's Social's Best Practices For LinkedIn.
In sum, LinkedIn is basically your new business card. Use it well! Don't let your opportunities on LinkedIn pass you by. Start prepping now to get your strategy in order so you find success on LinkedIn in 2024. Interested in other social networks, too? Try downloading our Social Selling Playbook for Financial Institutions. Happy posting!
Being responsible for your team’s social selling strategy can be daunting, especially if you don’t have a plan or support. We see it firsthand at Denim Social – without a meaningful strategy, users may not be eager (or downright resistant) to jump on a new platform. So, how are others getting their teams onboard? We learn a lot from our Denim Social customers to learn how they’re making it happen. Overall, we have observed four keys to adoption success.
Activate a hybrid distribution approach.
We find that teams that utilize a hybrid approach to posting have the most empowered associates. What does it look like in practice? This usually includes the marketing team posting brand content on behalf of associates, and associates scheduling out pre-approved industry content from a content library, plus sprinkling in their own personal content. And rest assured, that personal content still goes through approval workflows.
Build a robust content library.
If you’re going to ask associates to post content, you’ve got to make it easy and compliant. Our platform offers content libraries filled with pre-approved posts. We see that when associates have lots of content to choose from, they post more frequently.
It's a win-win for all: Compliance teams can be confident that they are managing any content that's being posted, marketing teams can provide support more readily and get more messaging across, and users can quickly build up a content calendar with engaging, customizable posts.
Communicate the value of social media consistently.
Your teams need to be able to answer the age old question, “what’s in it for me?” Your teams are busy and that means you need to help them see why spending their valuable time on social media is worth it.
In a time when meeting customers where they are means being on social media, it's essential that intermediaries look to their networks to take advantage of existing connections and forming new ones. Social media is a highly visible and time-efficient way to strengthen important relationships. It's all about doing more with less!
Train and Train Again
Baking social media and Denim Social training into the onboarding process is a great way to introduce new and motivated associates to a fresh way to drive their business. It is also important to keep social media top of mind for ALL associates. An ongoing training program outlining compliance/social policy, the value of social media and Denim Social is a must, whether it be monthly or quarterly. Marketing is not often top of mind for salespeople, so it is important to continuously educate them on how to get involved and optimize their strategies.
Many of our Denim Social customers set up trainings that include: monthly new hire social media and compliance training courses, Denim Social overviews, a monthly Denim Social refresher training, a Quarterly Strategy training, and ongoing 1:1 assistance for users. It's all about keeping social media top of mind and having easy access to resources.
For many, these training programs are a well oiled machine, and keeps their social program growing by educating and informing users consistently.
If you’re struggling with adoption, these strategies can help. And of course, persistence pays off.
Social media is only as valuable as its users and that makes adoption key. If you’re struggling to motivate your team to hop on the social media bandwagon the right tools and support can make all the difference. If you want to learn more about how the Denim Social platform works, schedule a demo with us today.