"The Three Pillars of Social Media Sales for Agents" Must read article by Sean A. Ruggiero - Please leave comments for Sean!

According to the Social Media & Sales Quota Survey [2014 A Sales Guy Consulting] 72.6% of sales people using Social Media Marketing outperformed their colleagues who were not using Social Media Marketing. Why is this?

• Because people spend more time on their cell phones and mobile devices than TV!
• Because people check their cell phones over 150 times a day!
• Because 81% of Generation Xers and 70% of Baby Boomers have an active Facebook® account!

Social Media is where your clients, prospects and new generation of producers are looking, so what are you doing to be seen? That is why Social Media Marketing (when executed correctly!) increases your production!

In order to execute any proper Social Media Marketing plan, you must understand the Three Pillars of Social Media Marketing.

Pillar One – Attraction: Ultimately, all marketing is created to attract buyers, but with Social Media its critical to understand what types of attraction exist in order to execute all of them simultaneously. The advantage that Social Media Marketing has that other forms (print/website/radio) don’t have is that it can be flexible in the message it sends and be a sort of “chameleon” with its content; changing daily or even hourly. So the important aspect of that is to touch on all forms of attraction and to repeat that process consistently. These are the basics of attraction on Social Media:

1. Awareness = simply put, letting the audience know what you sell and that you sell it. Example – An agent has been licensed for a year, but out of his 300 Facebook® friends and 600 Gmail® contacts, only a handful know that he sells life insurance, and even less know what specific products he sells. A simple repetitive posting with useful, helpful and even entertaining content, over time, will make these 1100 +/- people aware of what the agent sells.
2. Education = providing knowledge and/or stories about how your product has helped other people and can help them is a powerful way to attract a prospect. Example – Posting useful, reputable and easy to read information on QLACs can educate a reader and attract them through the association of this desirable product and tax law benefit and associate it with you.
3. Call to Action = sparking a desire in the audience to learn more about your product with the only logical way of obtaining that answer is to contact you. Example – If an agent sells health insurance and they post content about “Navigating State Health Exchanges for Lowest Rates” then the viewer who is concerned about paying too much for their health insurance would be motivated to contact the agent.

Pillar Two – Retention: Agents tend to be “hand to mouth” when it comes to obtaining a prospect, working a sale and closing the deal. I’ve met numerous agents who are quite talented when it comes to this short conveyor belt of income. When I ask them what they are doing to retain their current clients and keep them loyal (and foster second sale opportunities and referrals) they usually say “nothing” or “my clients love me.” Well, with all due respect, relying on love when you never write, call or contact them is a bet I’m not willing to take! So here are the important ingredients to retaining your clients:

1. Credibility = when an agent uses Social Media and posts relative and intelligent content, they build credibility. When an agent is credible, their client is more likely to be influenced, impressed and perhaps even proud of having them as their agent (we’ll cover Affinity in a second). Creditability is the key to both retention and (as we will cover in pillar three) Second Sales! Example – An agent who posts a weekly blog, or puts informative articles on Facebook® or Tweets® helpful facts to their clients will build her Credibility.
2. Remembrance = if they don’t remember your name or contact information, then you are as good as dead. This simple concept is the easiest to avoid and the most neglected in the industry. Similar to the Awareness portion of Pillar One, you simply have to remind them who you are, what you do, and that your available. Example – A monthly email newsletter is the perfect solution for this task. It works even better by letting the client know you are going to add them to the subscription. Tell them things like “you want to save paper, right? Well I’m going to go ahead and include you in my monthly newsletter so we can stay in touch…”
3. Affinity = this is Credibility to the umpteenth level! I always think of USAA® who sells property and casualty insurance. They are, in most aspects, a traditional insurance provider. They never claim, nor do they have the lowest rates or exclusive deals that would make consumers flock to them. They have created an Affinity through quality messaging and imagery marketing that, over time, creates a following of clients that are loyal to them. Example – Give your clients some recognition from time to time. Perhaps a “client of the month” blog, or a simple “thank you” to new clients that sign up, or clients that give you a referral. A little inclusion goes a long way in creating an Affinity with you and your agency.

Pillar Three – Second Sales: If you want your sales to multiply and your agency to grow exponentially (not to mention your income) then you need to create a “one-to-many” sales structure. The way to do this is to create Second Sale opportunities. This can come in the form of additional sales, referral sales, or both. Second Sales opportunities can be enhanced by the first two pillars, but they are a stand-alone pillar because they must be created. Here is how:

1. Continuing Education = when you land a client and tell them you are going to keep in touch via email, or ask them “are you on Facebook®?” then you are setting the stage for the most captive follower of all. Now you need to continue their education and pursue the next sale. The vast majority of agents have more than one trick. Meaning, they often sell multiple services, like Medigap, Long Term Care, Annuity and Life. That being said, the last time they sat down and sold all four products to one client at one time was never! This is why a rotation of educational information is the best way to generate Second Sales. Example – a client that purchased a Long Term Care policy from you last year, might be in the market for Medigap next year. By having dynamic content that is specific to your sales specialties, you will be sure to inform them on all the products you sell and how they benefit the client.
2. Loyalty = very similar to creating Affinity and establishing Credibility, Loyalty means that the client will “give you the first shot” when it comes to their business. Example – many credit unions have had great success because they are spun from large companies with loyal clients or employees. Costco® is another example. When Costco® started selling tires, insurance and many other items and services that didn’t belong in a bulk consumer goods store, they found great success because people were loyal. Agents can also establish this by leaning on the first two pillars and being sure to strike the Loyalty chord for Second Sales.

So how do you put this all together? Well, the good news is that most agents are Generation X or perhaps Millennials, and statistically about 85%+ of you already have an active Facebook® account. Use this tool to begin your Social Media Marketing, but I must stress how important it is to be consistent, rotate your topics, create enjoyable content and do not come across as a solicitor! Social Media marketing is not spamming! (this I cover in another article). You will also need a monthly email newsletter. Try looking at MailChimp or Constant Contact these two solutions are great for accomplishing this task.