How to Prospect for Life Insurance Clients on Social Media

Pew Research Center estimates approximately 70% of those in the United States use at least one social media platform for entertainment, information, and connecting with others. When examining social media use by age group, 88% of those from 18 to 29 use at least one social media site, and 78% of those 30 to 49. More than half of all users spend time on a social media platform at least once per day, with Facebook as an exception; three out of four Facebook users visit more than once daily. If you aren’t yet leveraging social media to attract life insurance clients, you are missing out.

Broadly, the financial services sector has jumped onto the social media bandwagon in the last five years, using social media to find new clients and as a powerful communication tool for existing clients. Below, we offer some tips for you to tap into the power of social media to prospect for life insurance clients.

Determine the Market You Want to Reach

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will typically give you the most results when prospecting for leads on social media but do not ignore other platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. Although differences in platform use don’t vary too much among gender, they do vary among age groups. Older age groups are more likely to be the most active on Facebook, but you won’t find nearly as many twenty-somethings. Instagram remains the most used social media outlet for those under 30.

Actionable Step: If you don’t already have social media accounts set up, take the time to create accounts for a few of the big platforms and then explore. You can also have a look at competitors, communities, pages, and profiles related to life insurance, or those which are life insurance adjacent, to give you a sense of what exists.

Show Your Authority in Your Bio

If you look around at other businesses on social media, insurance-related and others, you will find some cold profiles. They don’t provide much information, nor do they inspire a connection with visitors. Outside of going to a retail store to shop, consumers buy things from people they like and trust. Regardless of the platform, your social media bio section gives you the opportunity to establish authority and build trust with potential life insurance clients. This is the spot to establish what sets you apart from your competitors and why those who visit your page/profile should care what you say. Reinforce this with a blog to again demonstrate your difference and relatability.

Actionable Step: Craft a bio for your social media accounts which communicates value to potential clients. Share your accomplishments, but also forge a connection by sharing things with which readers can relate. This includes sharing hobbies and safe things about your family. Do you play on a softball league? Do you have kids? Are you a music buff? The ultimate goal of your bio should be to show how your personal background drives you to help people as a financial professional.

Focus on Content Quality Before Quantity

You must provide regular content on your social media pages for them to bring you clients or leads for future clients. Yet, your content should not be focused on getting clients; it should be focused on educating and attracting clients to you, so they want to buy life insurance from you. Take the time to provide quality content to educate readers. Of course, you want to provide information about life insurance, but also topic areas which are adjacent. For example, if you are targeting middle-aged and older clients, you can post content about estate planning; if you are targeting younger clients, you can post information about planning for retirement. Keep in mind that you don’t need to be the expert for every piece of content you post; you can share relevant content from news media and influencers. Also, don’t underestimate the power of testimonial. You should scatter some client success stories for readers to have visible evidence of your results.

Actionable Step: Make a list of potential life insurance topics and adjacent topics to share on your social media pages. Focus on things you think your clients need or want to know. For example, talk about the best time to buy life insurance or share some “insider secrets” about the benefits of a life insurance policy. Make another list of online sources for you to scan daily for content, to share with your readers. This can include large publications like the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, and other popular online outlets such as Forbes.com and the Huffington Post. Try to avoid opinion pieces unless they are by industry experts.

Engage with Your Followers

Engaging with your audience on social media is free and it inspires your readers to want to do business with you. When you engage with your followers you are taking steps to build relationships, not just connections. Take the time to respond to any questions or comments on your page; make each response personal. Using canned responses comes off cold and doesn’t help build relationships. Although responding to followers is necessary, you should also initiate contact. You can do a giveaway, urge followers to sign up for an email list or promote a referral program.

Actionable Step: Identify three to five ways you can initiate engagement with followers on your social media pages. Try to connect client success stories with posts. For example, if you have a client who was elated because they saved X amount of dollars, you could share the following social media post, “Mr. and Mrs. XXXXX saved $XXXX on their life insurance policies, so they bought plane tickets to take a trip to XXXXX. How would you spend $XXXX?” Be honest, sincere, and creative when you engage with your followers to create long-lasting relationships which will continue to yield new clients for you.