Internet life insurance agents have the world at their fingertips, quite literally. With online channels like social media, paid advertising and content marketing, agents essentially have access to almost anybody they want.
The only problem is the same opportunities exist for large, online agencies who have the resources and budgets to attract massive audiences. For these companies who can spend tens of thousands of dollars on targeted ads, the internet has been a goldmine, leaving independent life insurance agents wondering, ‘how can I compete?’
Fortunately for the solo agent, these giants take a generalist approach to their online presence. A quick visit to SelectQuote or Intelliquote will show you broad written and visual content that’s intended to work for any demographic. This means that despite driving massive amounts of traffic to their site, many visitors are going to be unsure if it’s the right company for them.
For any company or salesperson, if you’re trying to market to everyone, you’re essentially marketing to no one. Unless you have a massive marketing budget to work with, this type of strategy will not get you very far.
Yet therein lies the opportunity for independent internet agents.
Instead of being a generalist, like the large agencies, be a specialist and market your services in a way that makes individuals feel like you ‘get them’.
In other words, select a niche.
Why selecting a niche is important?
Focusing on a niche market does two things: 1) It makes it easier for you to run your business, and 2) It makes it easier for people to find you and want to work with you.
To fully appreciate what ‘niching down’ can do for both you and your business, let’s dive into these benefits even further.
Choosing a niche makes it easier for you to run your business:
- It simplifies your marketing efforts. Each time you go to write a piece of content, create an ad, or post on social media, your content will be easier to create by knowing exactly who your audience is, what type of information they’re interested in, and where they spend their time online. It will also help you make better decisions when designing your landing pages, website and quoter, especially when using a site like NinjaQuoter that allows for customization. Selecting a niche forces you to develop deep insights into your customers, which will allow you to create massive value for them.
- It plays to your strengths. By selecting something you’re interested in or you have a working knowledge of, the act of selling becomes much easier to do on a daily basis. It also makes the continuous learning process more enjoyable and straightforward.
- It helps you build credibility. When you focus on a specific area and build a brand around it, you will become the go-to agent for that niche. This makes it even easier to market yourself, become a thought leader, and gain incredible exposure.
Selecting a niche makes it easier for people to find you & want to work with you:
- It’s easier to be found in search engines. By selecting a niche, there will be less competition, and your long-tail keywords will rank higher, faster. Think about this: when people search online, they search by specifics, not general terms. A diabetic who is interested in life insurance will search, ‘life insurance for diabetics.’
- It opens the doors to different (and profitable) marketing channels. This can include being showcased at niche trade shows, sponsoring relevant events, being interviewed on niche podcasts, and guest blogging on complementary sites.
- It’s great for word-of-mouth marketing. With how easy it is to share opinions and information online, word-of-mouth marketing is as strong as ever. Since people have a tendency to befriend others just like them, you can bet that life insurance suggestions will come up amongst people in your niche.
- It allows you to serve your audience really well both online and offline. When selling to someone over the phone you’ll have a long list of talking points in your arsenal if you need them, and you’ll also have great material to work with at in-person networking or sales events.
Selecting a niche will not only give you greater pleasure in running your business, more recognition as an expert in your field, and improved marketing opportunities, it will also provide you with a more fulfilling career. To choose a niche means that you are dedicated to helping a particular group of people, and the very act of identifying that group means that you are more likely to actually help them.
In addition to helping others, selecting a niche will help you better serve yourself and your family. By bringing in more targeted leads, closing with a higher rate, and working with a greater sense of purpose, your success as a niche agent will be superior to that of a generalist.
Now that you know why selecting a niche is so important, you can resolve yourself to finding one that resonates with you and allows you to build your own niche empire.
