“We need more followers.”

I hear this all the time from agents looking to grow their agency on social media.

Followers.

The term “Followers” in reference to social media ignites one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate it. It trivializes what social media marketing can do for a business and marginalizes the people who are actually connecting with that business.

No one is following you.

Human beings are choosing to become part of your audience and at anytime they can choose to leave your audience.

Our focus is NOT to collect social media followers or email subscribers or even to generate new leads.

When it comes to social media, our focus is audience building.

When we look at social media marketing in this way the messages we send out into social media seem to take on a little more importance.

We don’t deserve new connections in social media just for being there.

As insurance agents, we take our work very seriously (as we should). But when it comes to marketing our business, specifically online, we barely pay attention.

I’m not saying that insurance agents need to become social media marketing experts. They don’t. That what the Grow Agency and my own Hanley Media Lab are for.

It’s your job as an insurance professional to be as good at what you do as you can. However, part of that job now includes at least a working knowledge of social media marketing.

Old Tactics New Tools

Social media is NOT as scary or confusing as many agents are making it out to be. I’ve been helping insurance agents market their business online for five years now while doing it for own agency at the same time.

I’ve had enough conversations over the phone and at conferences to understand the disconnect.

Agents believe these new social media tools mean new marketing tactics.

Here’s the part where you should get excited…

The same old-school relationship building tactics and strategies that worked in the analog marketing days, are what work in today’s digital marketing age.

You read that right, all we’re doing in social media is building and strengthening relationships. Connected Generation consumers want a relationship, (in varying forms), with the brands they do business with.

There’s no magic button to press.

Forget about selling. The idea that you can sell inside social media is false.

Sales are going to come from social media, but they won’t come from selling. Your sales that come as a result of social media marketing will be a derivative of the relationships you build inside a social media platform.

Focus On Audience Building

Think of the people who you connect with in social media, not as potential sales, but as audience members. Real human beings, with real emotions, who aren’t going to buy from you just because you sell something they need.

Listen to Claudia McClain on the recent Agents Influence Podcast. She has 18 – 20 marketing touches a year with her clients. Claudia is a master of providing relevant, valuable content to her clients on a consistent basis.

These clients aren’t entries in her agency management system, they’re her audience.

We talk about how much we care about our clients all the time. At conferences I hear agents discussing the difference between direct writers and independent agents being the passion independent agents have for the clients they serve.

Yet these same agents are fine with blasting value-less, interruption-based marketing messages through Facebook at the same clients who were cared enough to connect there.

This needs to stop.

Social media marketing isn’t going anywhere.

These are the new tools for reaching your audience.

Independent agents MUST begin to take social media seriously or before too long the audience we always believed was there, may be gone.

Think relationship first. Build one quality relationship at a time. Over time, your audience will compound and your business will grow.

I promise.

Thank you and Good luck,

I am Ryan Hanley

P.S. Order your copy of my first book, Content Warfare: How to find your audience, tell your story and win the battle for attention, which will serve as your battle plan for building an audience online.