4 Insurance Agency Growth Opportunities in 2022

If you own an insurance agency, you’ve likely got a lot of balls in the air. How will you grow your book of business? How do you hire better talent? How can you avoid turnover? You’ll need  to tackle each of these questions to improve your agency’s growth. 

In this piece, we’ll look at four ways to jumpstart growth in 2022. 

#1: Take Your Marketing Up a Notch

Your agency can drive more business by improving its digital marketing efforts. One tool many agencies find valuable is an email newsletter. Email can help you attract new prospects and stay on your existing customers’ radar. For effective email communication, make sure to…

• Segment your list into prospects and existing customers. 
• Tailor your messaging to your audience’s needs – think: flood insurance ahead of the start of hurricane season. 
• Pair your newsletter text with links to timely or seasonal blog content. 
• Add a personalized touch, such as your contact’s first name in the email subject line.
• Conduct A / B testing to understand what is and isn’t working. 

Another way your agency can broaden its base is with social media marketing. Start by researching which channels can work for you. Each channel has different audiences: use LinkedIn for business crowds, and reach younger folks with Instagram and Twitter. Aim to understand each space, but don’t force trends – agents doing TikTok dances, for example, might not resonate with recent college grads.

Focus on one channel at a time. With each channel, you should regularly review engagement stats and adjust your approach as needed. 

One final marketing tool to help your agency grow: a pay per click (PPC) campaign. You can use PPC to drive paid search or social traffic using services like Google Ads or Facebook. To do that, you’ll need to do some keyword research to understand which words you should target.

Once you’ve compiled your research, set an initial budget before you start your PPC campaign. Then, carefully monitor your campaign’s progress, and do A / B testing to see which ads perform best.

#2: Invest in Your Employees

Your employees’ growth is central to your agency’s growth. But Deloitte research shows that only 41 percent of employees feel they have the skills to thrive professionally five years down the line. Equip your agents with vital career skills by investing in their education and training. Your support can improve their performance and boost employee retention.

To start, try subsidizing your agents’ continuing education (CE) courses. 

eBut don’t stop there. Try sponsoring additional educational opportunities, such as digital marketing courses, sales training, or industry conferences. The skills your team learns can drive growth at your agency. 

Another consideration: In the insurance industry, remote work has high potential to drive digitization. As remote and hybrid work become our new normal, subsidizing your agents’ at-home workstations will help maximize productivity.

If you include details about your remote work subsidy in job postings, you may even be able to recruit agents in different states more easily. Investing in your workforce in this way can help your agency reach new markets and carriers.

#3: Strengthen Your Hiring Practices

Higher-quality talent leads to agency growth. To attract that talent, you’ll need to dedicate time and resources to perfecting your hiring practices. The payoff is a stronger, smarter, better-performing agency.

Superstar agents want to work with engaged agencies, so make sure you’ve written detailed job descriptions that speak to the perfect applicant. An eye-catching job description should… 

• Use inclusive and compelling language.
• Detail essential job functions.
• Highlight growth opportunities.
• Emphasize your agency’s culture. 

Focus on recruiting underrepresented candidates to improve problem-solving and collaboration at your agency. Industry-wide, more than three quarters of entry-level agents are white; in senior positions, the scale tips overwhelmingly toward white men. Your agency can help shift the balance.

Diverse teams benefit your agency in many ways. For one thing, they tackle challenges better than less diverse ones. A diverse group of agents can also help expand your customer base. For example, nonwhite, multilingual agents can help your agency connect with new demographics.

As you recruit new agents, measure your hiring quality by setting KPIs that track candidates throughout their entire journey with your agency. LinkedIn research suggests that you try these:

• App completion rate
• Candidate call-back rate
• Sourcing channel effectiveness
• Time to hire
• Satisfaction rate

#4: Get Appointed With More Carriers to Expand Your Lines of Business

Getting more carrier appointments isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort. Expanding your product offerings can benefit existing customers and attract new ones. 

When your customers can choose between multiple carriers, you can improve their cost savings, and you won’t feel forced to make the most of a few products. 

More product availability can also lead your customers to consider policies that they otherwise wouldn’t have. That may help your agency grow by attracting new customers altogether. 

How do you get appointed with more carriers? Here’s how:

1. 1. Make sure your agency brand is strong.
   2. Craft a strong business plan.
   3. Research carrier requirements, and know how to communicate your value to the carrier.
   4. Network with carrier reps – this is extra important for independent agents.
   5. Understand the timeline. Appointments may take months depending on the carrier.

Another way to expand your product offerings is by hiring agents with new carrier connections. By synergizing your efforts to add new lines of business, you can accelerate your agency’s growth.

Join the WE Team to Jumpstart Your Growth

Growing an independent insurance agency can be daunting, but there are alternatives . 

By becoming a WE Insure franchisee, you’ll get immediate access to more than 100 carrier partners, back-end support, marketing assistance, and customer service teams. With our toolbox for success, WE take care of the basics so you can focus on engaging with your customers and getting them the policies they need. 

Tap into the power of WE and learn more about how you can join our team.