Best Practices of Hiring a Brand Identity Company for Insurance Agents

BEST PRACTICES OF HIRING A BRAND IDENTITY COMPANY FOR INSURANCE AGENTS

WE WANT YOU TO BE PREPARED. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE. -THE APP CONSULTING TEAM

PREFACE

BRAND IDENTITY ONLINE & OFF. BUT MOSTLY ON.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Insurance marketing has seen dramatic changes within the last decade. Many agencies are looking for answers on how to adapt to the changing landscape. Agency Performance Partners has compiled a consulting team to move your agency into modern marketing strategies through a combination of branding, education and benchmarking. The goal of this partnership is to develop a brand you love (via design and branding,) build a highway for people to find you (via SEO,) and then promote you via marketing and social media to tell your story and create new ways to communicate with prospects and customers.

When you start your process of finding partners to work with, you may become confused and find that a lot of vendors contradict each other. This can leave agency owners confused. We have developed this guide so you can ask the right questions. We even cover answers about how we work with agencies that partner with us, so you can compare notes.

Feel free to reach out to us at any time for more information!

THANKS.

PERSONAL DATA

Name/ Kelly Donahue-Piro

Role/ President of Agency Performance Partners

Location/ East Greenwich, RI

Phone/ +1 401.415.6205

Skills/ Agency Trainer / Leadership, Managment, Sales Coaching, Marking

Experience/ Twelve years of marketing and sales experience in the service sector.

Five-plus years experience in insurance technology, sales and marketing.

Worked with over 700 agencies in the past five years.

Coaching on sales, service and technology best practices.

To view more details: www.agencyperformancepartners.com

APP CONSULTING TEAM

BRAND IDENTITY ONLINE & OFF. BUT MOSTLY ON.

Name/

Name/

Name/

Eddy DeMelo

Jennifer Nottage

Emily Brochu

SEO & Content Marketing Consultant

Insurance Marketing & Social Media Strategy Consultant

Branding & Design Consultant

Nine years of digital marketing experience

Fifteen years experience in services marketing

Eight years of design experience

Former Director of Organic Search for a marketing

Four years experience in coaching and training

Founder of an identity design firm, Oรถmina Creative

agency specializing in the insurance industry

insurance agencies in Social Media

Former creative lead specializing in the

Experience implementing SEO, SMM, ORM, Local

Worked with over 200 agencies in the past four years

insurance industry with well over 100 insurance

Search & Email Marketing campaigns

Leadership in Digital Marketing Strategies

website designs under her belt

To view more details:

To view more details:

To view more details:

www.eddydemelo.com

www.linkedin.com/in/jnottage

www.oomina.com

“Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it’s not going to get the business.” ―- Warren Buffet

Q/A SECTIONS BASE QUESTIONS

WEB DESIGN QUESTIONS

SEO QUESTIONS

SOCIAL MEDIA QUESTIONS

7

BASE QUESTIONS

Do you have experience in the insurance marketplace?

How are you paid?

All of the consultants we work with have

when the project is completed. We all sign

experience in their field within the insurance

off on a project proposal, along the way,

The team we have assembled is paid per project, with 50% down to start and 50%

space for a minimum of two years. Everyone

if additional work out of the scope of the

from the designer to the social media

project is interesting to you, we can create

consultant has worked exclusively within the

additions to your selection.

retail insurance space for two years and on

How will I know what I need? agency. By listening to you, each consultant

There is so much conflicting advice out there. How do I know if a vendor is good?

will develop a three-tiered, proposal with

You can first start by looking at their work

everything from the basics to the works.

and talking to their insurance clients. Word-of

Based on pricing and exactly what you want

-mouth is always important. Next, if it seems

to accomplish, you can select a price point

too good to be true, it usually is. Anyone can

that works for you.

get a templated website inexpensively, but a

We take the time to understand you and your

over 100 agency, insurance association and

custom-built site drives a higher return for a

insurance technology projects.

larger investment.

How will I know when I find “the one?"

How do I know what to expect?

Your online identity is very personal and

The right team for you will always set

critical. You want to work with someone you

expectations. We need to benchmark your

I’ve found individual vendors that do each part.

How do I benefit from working with your team?

are comfortable with and “gets your agency.”

current results and then chart a plan to

Great question. The consultant team we have

The team we have listens to you and brings

continuously improve. We work closely with

has worked together on countless projects

your agency’s identity to the customer.

agencies to make sure we are always setting

in the insurance space. We provide seamless

We are expert translators on how to make

the right expectations.

work for your agency so it saves you time

insurance purchasing make the most sense

explaining and re-explaining who you are.

for your customers.

Also, we build upon the ideas with each other, so you are getting your own onlineidentity dream team!

WEB DESIGN QUESTIONS

What is the difference between a web designer and a web developer?

What is a content management system?

Which one is right for me?

What is responsive design?

You can do it all, eh?

Responsive design means that the site

charges you through the nose (with good

Great question, though it’s kind of a twofer.

A content management system (CMS) does

was coded in such a way that it reconfigures

reason) don’t ever, ever, ever, EVER trust

Let’s start with the difference between the

just that; it manages your content, including:

to the size of the screen that the user is

someone who tells you they can do Design,

two. A web designer deals with the front end

images, text, blogs, pages, contact info, and

looking at.

SEO, Development & Marketing. It’s a lie.

of a website, which is how the site looks.

forms.

Unless you are working with an agency that

All of these things are very different and it The reason it is important is because with

is impossible for a single individual to do

slider on the home page and edits the photos

Which do I need? Well that depends. You’re

smart phones, tablets, and phablets (phones

all of them well. As the saying goes “Jack of

that go in the slider.

going to get this answer a lot. The CMS you

the size of small tablets,) more and more of

All Trades, Master of None.” These fields are

use is typically chosen based on what your

your users are visiting your site from a smaller

large and ever-changing. You want someone

On the other hand, a web developer deals

designer/developer is most comfortable with.

screen, and your site should accommodate

who is a master of their craft and deeply

with how the site is coded. Example: The site

They all function a little differently and some

that. No one likes to have to pinch and drag

understands what they do, not someone who

is for insurance and needs to integrate with

are better for really complex functionality,

to navigate a website. Nearly 15% of traffic to

kind of sorta made a website once and knows

a third-party HR management application.

while others are better for being easy to work

your site will come from a mobile device and

what social media is.

A developer would make sure the site works

with. We use WordPress; it’s robust enough

that number is growing every day.

with the application.

to do what most people are looking for and

Example: A web designer puts an image

it is super easy for clients to learn and use. A Which do I need? Well that depends. If you

few others that you might run across while

are doing what we call a “brochure” website,

you’re vetting designers would be Drupal

meaning a site that doesn’t have a lot of

(great for complex functionality) and Joomla.

complex functionality, then you need a web

While there are other CMS platforms out

designer. If you are doing a site that has a

there WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are the

lot of complex functionality then you need a

big three!

developer and a designer. Usually you won’t need just a developer unless you are just making edits to functionality.

What is a holistic “web” designer?

Note that “web” is in apostrophes here. That's because a holistic “web” designer would manage all of your brand assets beyond just web. Few web designers feel comfortable doing complete identity designs, meaning everything from logo, style guide, photo coordination, art direction and print design (signs, postcards, brochures ect.)

Do you provide maintenance and training after the site is live?

A good web designer will provide you with a site that you can easily manage with a bit of training. A great web designer will tell you that websites need to be professionally maintained quarterly and this includes: creating new images, creating landing pages, updating client lists, adding testimonials, and general freshening up of the site. Since this all needs to be done, they would suggest a small retainer to make sure your site stays up to date and accurate.

Do you have experience in my industry?

This is a question you want to ask because every industry has different needs, and their consumers want different things.

Remember, a website can function as a tool for your company just as much as it’s a tool for your consumer. You want someone who understands your industry and can give you a solution that solves problems you didn’t even realize you had. That's impossible to do if the designer hasn’t had any experience in your industry.

SEO QUESTIONS

In a few words, can you describe your overall approach to organic search?

Do you guarantee ranking or traffic results?

Our approach is to ensure that, on a

traffic results, and you should be wary of

technical level, your website is optimized for

anyone who does.

We do not guarantee specific ranking or

maximum search engine exposure. We build

What is your approach when handling local search and dealing with online reputation management issues?

As the client, what role will I have in the process?

How much will I have to be involved?

Nobody knows your products and your

While it’s important to have a website built

customers like you do. During the initial

all of our websites on a solid foundation,

The search landscape changes on a daily

on a solid SEO foundation, it’s also important

optimization of your website, you’ll be

while adhering to Google’s Webmaster

basis, with algorithm updates, technological

to ensure that you have an active presence

providing us with information on your

Guidelines.

advances, and updates in user behaviors and

on Google+, Yelp, and other local/review

customers and your business objectives that

trends. Because of this, making guarantees

websites. The first step is to secure and verify

will be crucial to getting your campaign

against performance metrics isn’t realistic.

all of the necessary profiles and accounts,

started on the right track.

On a content level, we want to ensure that your website appeals to both search engines

and we can help you with that.

and users. Engaging content, strategic

Here’s what you will get. You’ll have a

calls-to-action, and creative deployment

strategic partner who will:

From there, we’ll work with you to develop

to be. Once we’ve developed an ongoing

techniques ensure that your message is

•

Keep you updated on the latest trends

a plan to increase the amount of positive

optimization strategy, we’re happy to train

and best practices

exposure/reviews that your agency has and

you or your staff to handle some of the day-

time.

•

Provide a high level; of transparency

mitigate any of the negative.

to-day pieces, including blogging and social

Do you share your strategies transparently with your clients?

•

Clearly articulate results

•

Provide your agency with a solid SEO

delivered to the right person at the right

You can be as involved as much as you’d like

with regard to the overall strategy

Absolutely. After all, we’re working on your website and your business. It’s only fair that we maintain an open and transparent dialogue about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

foundation and work with your agency to develop an ongoing plan that will set you up for continued success.

media best practices.

How will you measure success?

Using tools like Google Analytics, Google’s Webmaster Tools and a number of other reporting and analytics tools, we’ll track our key performance indicators to ensure that things are moving in the right direction.

How do you think the recent algorithm changes have impacted SEO strategies?

What's the quickest way to generate a large number of high-quality backlinks?

The days of optimizing your website strictly

large number of backlinks over a short period

for search engine robots are (thankfully!)

of time.

Be extremely wary of anyone that promises a

gone.

Link building strategies have changed With recent algorithm changes like Panda,

drastically, and it’s no longer strictly a game

Penguin, and Pigeon, it’s now more

of numbers, with the winner being the

important than ever to ensure that you’re

website with the most backlinks.

creating and optimizing your website for users.

The search engines are much more interested in seeing links from high-quality,

The risky link building and keyword-stuffed

authoritative sites than they are in low-

content strategies of the past need to be

quality links produced en masse.

replaced with the creation, syndication and curation of solid content, in addition to

Creating a large number of low-quality links

having a solid technical foundation.

over a short period of time, or engaging in any risky, link-building initiative can cause irreparable damage to your website and overall online presence.

SOCIAL MEDIA QUESTIONS

How long ago did you start using social media and why?

Do I need to stop my other marketing/advertising?

Do you guarantee followers?

You really want to choose a company that

What have been YOUR measurable results from using social media?

If they tell you “Yes!” right away, that is

Run away if they quantify this. Sure, with

was an early adopter of social media and

I.E: My business increased X amount, I had

warning flag. Every business is different.

many principles applied, followers are going

understood its importance early on.

X PR opportunities, met X people, and

Traditional advertising still could be a big

to come. Guaranteeing them seems a bit

recruited X people.

component. Other forms of marketing,

sketchy. Paid followers are NOT the type

Do I need to be on every site?

such as events etc., can be amplified and

of followers you would want as prospects

integrated with social media. Plus social

anyway.

The answer should be yes. You want to swim

marketing world (other important ones

How do you measure ROI?

where the fisherman are fishing. Granted, not

include SEO and pay-per-click campaigns

If you don’t keep score, how do you know

everyone uses every single platform,

depending on the client/goals.

where you stand? There are lots of soft

What do you personally use social media for and why?

More than sharing funny photos, a good consultant shows how they use/have used it for business.

What is your background other than social media?

If they are helping you with marketing, a good consultant will have a background in marketing and PR, even journalism.

Do you blog?

I hope so! And, more importantly, it is a welldesigned well-visited blog. Video blogs are becoming more and more relevant, as well.

Keep all of this in mind!

media is ONE component of the online

but why skimp out on one when there could be potential prospects. Everyone has his or her own flavor.

analytics you can use: Sentiment (how people

Will this fix my business?

A “Yes!” here would definitely not be a great

Have you created content yourself?

Hopefully there are good examples from the consultant’s personal work and/or work for clients.

thing. Social media amplifies bad business as opposed to fixing it.

feel about the brand), amount of followers, retweets, Facebook comments, blog traffic, website traffic, etc. But if someone does guarantee measures of ROI, run away fast!

Do I need a social media plan written down?

Hopefully the answer here is, "Yes." With deliverables, goals, room for experimentation, and more. A marketing map will help you identify your goals and keep tabs on your social media consultation company.

Can you give me some examples of how we could generate PR using social media?

Online relationships (with bloggers, media sources, etc.) are a different breed altogether and based around genuine caring, relationships and business. Speaking engagements and publishing press releases on specific channels will be a good judge of character and also will allow you to determine how well this company can assist you down the road.

OFFICE ADDRESS

ADDRESS:

CONTACT US: Phone

+1 401.415.6205

email

kelly@agencyperformancepartners.com

web

www.agencyperformancepartners.com

5775 Post Road #562, East Greenwich, RI 02818

Thank you for your intrest in collaboration with our team. Is your agency is ready to take it to the next level? Call us so we can assess your needs!