Exclusivefocus Spring 2013 - National Association of Professional ...

sales and marketing
Should Your Agency Have
its Own Website
By Robyn Sharp
for your agency and for your internet
marketing. If there is a chance that you
might decide one day to go independent
or to change companies, then you need
to start now by creating your own website
with a strong local online presence.
As thousands of former Allstate agents
have discovered, it’s never too early to establish
your own brand identity. Think of
it as a form of career insurance.
Let’s make it simple. Your website is
your home base. It’s a place where you
make the rules and control all of the content.
It’s the online face of your business
to the world.
If you don’t own it, such as the case
with your Allstate website, then you
don’t control it. You may have a nice
company website, but you’re at the mercy
of their marketing, their brand, and their
decisions – not yours.
Internet marketing can be overwhelming
for a beginner. Websites, blogs,
social media, search engine optimization,
and pay per click advertising are
completely different from the traditional
marketing techniques to which you are
probably accustomed. It’s a whole new
world to learn about, and it’s filled with
lots of new technology, skills, software,
and buzzwords.
As an Allstate agent, you already have a
host of internet marketing tools provided
to you by the company. To their credit,
they’ve done an excellent job of helping
you get prepared. But is it enough The
answer is complicated but, for the most
part, it depends on what your long-term
agency goals are.
Allstate provides you with a basic
agency website and the tools to create
your own social media profiles pursuant
to their guidelines and rules. They also
provide social media content to use in
your status updates and to promote your
agency. But who is it intended to promote
Your agency or the Allstate brand
While it is customized to your individual
agency, Allstate’s marketing materials
primarily promote the company brand.
Of course, it’s a great brand, and is probably
a large reason why you became an
Allstate agent!
But there comes a point where you
must decide what your future plans are
What Do I Need To Get Started
For most agencies, a great starting
point is a simple blog-style website.
Blogs are not much different than regular
websites. A blog is like an online journal.
You write articles, called blog posts, and
they are shown on your website in reverse
chronological order with the most recent
being first.
A blog allows you to continually share
information and ideas with your readers.
And most importantly, it allows you to
showcase yourself as an insurance expert
in the industry. Basically, you are creating
a platform to educate your clients and
establish your brand online. Blogs are
also recommended because they are extremely
helpful in building traffic to your
website. Google consistently ranks blogs
higher in search engine results because
the content is always changing.
Spring 2013 Exclusivefocus — 39