Sales can be a difficult business at the best of times, but when you work in one of the most competitive areas—insurance—it can be even more difficult. People tend to be wary when it comes to insurance salespeople; they know they need coverage, but they are often hesitant when it comes to the information offered by agents working in that field.

Gone are the days when agents selling insurance relied solely on knocking on doors or making phone calls. Next year, companies need to be more innovative when it comes to generating leads, from email marketing to using visual voicemail.

A big part of that is blog posts that engage customers. But what sort of topics should you consider, and what topics are likely to help generate leads?

Online content engages customers and potential customers and, perhaps more importantly, offers informative insights on a range of subjects. A well-written blog with relevant links can attract the interest of a potential customer.

Here are some ideas for blog posts you can adapt to suit your business:

1) Inform

Let's be honest. The variety of available insurance can confuse people who work in the industry, so imagine how laypeople view it. You may specialize in one area of insurance, but it is more likely that you offer a wide range of policies.

Your first blog could introduce the services you offer with simple explanations—and possibly links to more detailed explanations—of each type of insurance you offer, what it covers and what it means to the customer.

You want the reader to see you as an established authority on the subject. So, if you offer four broad types of insurance—travel, life, home and auto—your first blog could explain what each of these categories cover and, if you are preparing content in advance of publishing, have links to blogs that cover each category in more detail. Readers get an overview and are directed to more detailed information. When you add new products to your repertoire—say, pet insurance—introductory blogs can help.

2) Q&A

If a prospect is interested in a new policy, then it is inevitable that they will have questions. A good blog doesn't have to always be long-form content; sometimes people want information that is short, sharp and to the point. By preemptively answering their questions, you not only further establish your authority but also prompt them to come to you if they have more detailed questions.

Of course, you won't be able to answer every single question posed in a blog, but it is relatively simple to identify the FAQs you have received in the past. Gather as many of these questions as you can in a blog—and add an FAQ section on your site—and answer the questions to inform but also encourage the reader to get in touch with you. Common questions include:

• Can I bundle home and auto insurance?
• How do you value something in the event of a claim?
• Does my credit score affect premiums?
• When can I file an auto insurance claim?

3) Put Faces to Names

It can be too easy in this digital-driven world to have the people you deal with be nothing more than faceless entities. Add a personal element to your blog by introducing your team. This not only gives a human element to your organization, but it can also establish authority by giving the experience and backgrounds of agents.

Show potential customers that your agency is made of caring experts by highlighting agent empathy and what they bring to the relationship with every client.

These blogs can take a variety of formats, from simple Q&A sessions to a more detailed interview. You can market your agency by having the agents discuss why they think insurance coverage is so important and why your particular agency is the best choice. This will combine the uniqueness of each agent with the values of your business.

4) Guest Writers

Guest blogs can expand your reach and subject matter. Engage a guest blogger who links to your business. A guest writer can publish the content on their own platform, which expands reach. Depending on the writer, that can mean extra exposure on social media, via e-newsletters or the writer's website.

5) Occasional Humor

Insurance isn't the first subject you would think of when it comes to humor. Yet, including the odd humorous post can add personality to your business in the same way as team bios. If you are publishing blogs regularly, then throwing a little bit of fun into the mix can make your company seem more human and approachable.

While humor will not cement your position as an expert—and the tactic should most definitely be deployed sparingly—it can help when it comes to building engagement and relationships with customers. Ensure humorous content is tailored to the audience you are trying to connect with if you offer specialized insurance.

If you have been in the business for years, you will likely have a long list of amusing stories. If you are using humor from your own experiences, be sure to anonymize the tales so nobody is identifiable. Some potential insurance humor ideas could be about celebrities who have been known to take out insurance on body parts that are part of their persona; strange attempts at insurance fraud; or use creativity to add an insurance spin to popular memes.

6) Visuals

If your blogs are predominantly text, people may get bored and their attention will wander. Overcoming this problem goes beyond adding pictures to a blog post. Include visual content that both engages and informs readers.

For example, you may want to do a post that goes beyond insurance details and focuses on the different ways a customer can contact your business. We live in an omnichannel world where we increasingly work remotely or in a hybrid model, so we must offer customers choice. A quick flowchart on how prospects and customers should contact your agency could be helpful and informative.

Another thing to think about from a visual angle is statistics. Posting a list of loss data or rate changes could quickly confuse or bore your readers. However, transforming those numbers into graphs or infographics means offering those same statistics in an easily digestible and understandable format.

7) Helpful Tips

When publishing regular blog posts, a narrow focus on the insurance you offer will quickly run out of steam. In any industry, offering helpful tips or how-to guides can maintain engagement and interest of readers.

For example, if the core of your business is auto insurance, publishing a series of blog posts that cover car maintenance or avoidable claims can help customers keep their vehicles in better condition and avoid the most common claims.

These posts further establish your authority and, perhaps more importantly, can help establish trust between your organization and the potential customer. If the customer trusts you in the early stages of the relationship, then it is easier to pursue the lead and make a sale.

Each blog should have the ability to take a new reader and turn them into a qualified lead who may buy a policy from you at some point in the relationship.

That means you should always include links that lead to more detailed information or to a quote request form. Having a call to action (CTA) means that the customer always has an option to transform interest into something more tangible and, hopefully, conversion to a sale for you.

8) Listicles

People like easily digestible information. While you may initially think of listicle-type blogs as being associated with social media clickbait articles, they can be a good way to provide readers with quick insurance facts in a simple, readable way.

What are your most popular policies? What are the top risks that your target audience should be concerned about? You can make them the focus of any listicle.

9) News

Any industry may experience frequent changes. Those changes may come from within your organization, a governing body you are a member of, or even from state or federal government. Keeping both current and potential customers updated about any change shows a good level of customer service. You can also ensure that news updates are sent out to your mailing list, as well as posted on your website and social media pages.

For example, in 2012, the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) announced that auto insurance customers would receive a $400 refund per vehicle as a result of a surplus in the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) fund. This is relevant and important news that could have been covered in a blog post.

Each blog should have the ability to take a new reader and turn them into a qualified lead who may buy a policy from you at some point in the relationship. That means you should always include links that lead to more detailed information or to a quote request form. Having a call to action means that the customer always has the option to transform interest into something more tangible and, hopefully, convert into a sale.

Tanhaz Kamaly is a partnership executive at Dialpad. Connect on LinkedIn. This article was originally published in the December 2022 issue of Independent Agent magazine.