In previous articles, we’ve talked about the power of social media to generate leads and stay in touch with clients and prospects. Specifically, we’ve explained that content marketing, in which you share some valuable information in a way that doesn’t sound too salesy, can be especially effective at maintaining interest and creating likes and shares.
In addition to providing helpful information to your clients, there’s another reason to share current news stories: it can help you sell more insurance. This works best when you find a news story that directly relates to a solution you have available. Here are a few examples.
For the past few weeks, people have been glued to their television sets as unprecedented disasters unfold across the southern United States.
Property and casualty agents might use the heightened awareness created by Hurricane Harvey and this recent Quartz article about the lack of flood insurance in the Houston area to convince their clients that they should look into buying flood insurance so they aren’t caught unprepared.
Similarly, there have been a number of recent news stories about Mexican hospitals essentially holding people hostage until they pay for the medical services they’ve received. In a report by ABC News entitled “Family claims hospital tried to extort $30K from them after birth of premature baby,” a couple claims that the Mexican hospital where their baby was delivered asked them to pay thousands of dollars before they would treat or even allow the parents to see their newborn son.
While the hospital disputes the family’s claims, it’s important to point out that this isn’t an isolated story. If these types of headlines cause your clients to think twice before booking a trip, then they’d almost certainly be interested in travel insurance that can protect them if they find themselves in a similar situation.
One final example comes from a January CBS Money Watch article in which a Bankrate survey found that 57 percent of Americans did not have the funds to cover an unexpected expense of just $500.
In the same survey, “more than one out of five cited having a major unexpected medical expense” in the previous year. Given that 1) more and more plans these days have high deductibles and no upfront copayments and 2) a lot of medical expenses are unanticipated, there’s a strong argument for putting some money aside in a “rainy day fund.” Perhaps this article could help you encourage your clients to set up and contribute to a Health Savings Account if they have a qualified plan. Too many people purchase an HSA-compatible policy but don’t take the extra step of establishing their account.
We started this article by explaining that social media marketing requires agents to share valuable information in a way that doesn’t sound too salesy. This should become a habit. As you read stories that you believe would interest or benefit your clients, pass them on. This will keep your network of followers up-to-speed and will help establish you as a credible source of valuable information.
Then, when you find an article that highlights a problem for which you have a solution, pass on the article with a note about how you can help reduce people’s risk of loss. After all, this is your job as an insurance advisor, and these articles can help you to make a point that until now may not have resonated with your clients. People tune out a lot of information, even information that can help them. If a news story gets their attention where a previous sales pitch may have failed, by all means use it.
One last thing – AHCP does offer access to travel insurance and HSA-compatible health insurance solutions if you want to go ahead and pass on the above articles to your clients. Contact us for more information.