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Independent agencies are using new media to reachan increasingly tech-sawy audience.

by Bonnie Brewer Cavanaugh

hen Treutel Insurance Agency Inc. of Bay St. Louis, Miss.,entered cyberspace 10 years ago, the small independentagency on Mississippi's Gulf Coast just wanted to communi-

cate with its customers online. But times have changed, and now a thirdgeneration of Treutels is using the Internet to service policyholders 24hours a day, seven days a week, with interactive communication.

"We started using the Internet for e-mail communications and thenevolved to having a basic Web site," said Angelyn Treutel, who along withher husband, David, owns and operates the agency, which was foundedmore than 80 years ago."Now we have added customer service functionali-ty where customers can print auto I.D. cards, request policy changes, viewpolicy coverages, request insurance quotes and more." The agency islicensed to write insurance in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

"More customers are becoming computer savvy and wish to do businessvia the Internet," Treutel added.

54 BEST'S REVIEW • MAY 2007

It's a pattern that's emerging amongindependent agents across the coiin-ir\'. said Lori Reed, director of market-ing Ibr insurance online resource com-pany InsureMe (insureme.com) inSouth Denver. InsureMe is just begin-ning to hear from agents who areusing new media to market their

wares. New media is comptiter-generated communication

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devices juid Web sites."We haven't seen anything that s

"wowed' us} et." Reed said. We see themdeveloping more of tlieir own Web sitesand doing more and getting moreinvolved in SEO and things like that."

Search Engine OptimizationSliO. or search engine optimiza-

tion, is the process by which Web siteauthors can improve the volume andquality of traffic to their sites fromsearch engines through organicmeans, increasing the chances the

Web sites will appear duringonline searches.

"Search engine optimiza-tion is a verj' interesting mar-keting strategy,"Treutel said."The trick is to select key-words that will draw cus-tomers to your site. In addi-tion, for some search engines,the position at which yoursite will appear on the list isdetermined by the number ofother Web sites that link to your site."

Treutel said she is "always tinker-ing" with ways to improve her Website's hit ratio. She periodicallyupdates the keywords and tests theireffectiveness by using differentsearch engines to determine the

site's positioning.

"Our Web site host providesstatistics on the number of visi-

tors we have, and which pagesare viewed and for how long,

so we have a sense for whatthe customers are seek-

ing," Treutel said.Some 85% of Web

sites are found throughsearch engines, saidJeff Yates, executive

director of theAgents Council torTechnology, an

arm of the Inde-pendent Insurance

Agents and Brokers ofAmerica. IIABA represents

some 3(M),(HX) business ownersand employees nationwide.

"So being positioned with searchis a big area. You're broadening thefunctionality that you have with youragency Web site," Yates said. SEO is ahuge area of interest to independentagents/We have a work group at ACTcoming up with information on howyou position yourself."

Besides using an organic keywordsearch, agencies can increase theironline presence through paid adver-tising on search engines, in whichthe agency's URL. or Weh address,would appear at the top or along theside of a (ioogle search results page,Yates said.

But paid ads can be expensive. On

Independent agents are starting tofind new ways to market them-selves using new media.

Agencies must become morecomputer literate to respond todirect writer competition andcustomer expectations.

Many agents aren't yet comfort-able using new media and needthe support of trade groups andother agents to get up to speed.

the other hand, compet i t ion isgreater on organic searches.

The online environment is sosophisticated that getting an insur-ance industry presence on the Inter-net is "very difficult, because thereare some realh' hig insurance compa-nies that have just taken over thespace," Reed said. The large carrierswith hig ad budgets are buying tip allthe industry search terms; a smalleragency likely won't appear on thefirst few search pages, she said.

"Others who have great links andgreat content will be on first," Reedsaid. She's been getting calls fromindependent agents who can t figureout why their Web sites aren't show-ing up on search engines. That 's"because all the rest of u.s are \7ingfor those important words." she said.

Reed also i.s hearing from SEO mar-keting firms "talking about what a com-petitive space it is," she said. Tlie organ-ic jjart of it is getting reiUly congested.

"Just to jump through all thehoops Google wants you to, you real-ly have to be pretty .sa\'vy in the envi-ronment. Your name isn't going toshow up anymore," Reed said. "It'sgetting tougher and touglier."

Many agents aren t yet comfort-able enough to use the Internet tomarket themselves. Reed said. "Someof them are sort of confounded by ttbecause Google has so many rulesand ways to make sure people arevalid. The) Ye not showing up likethey might've five years ago."

Some agents are starting to orga-nize themselves by states or regionsto addtess online marketing con-cerns. "My sense is they're going tohave to start relying on outsidesources to advise them," she added.

BEST'S REVIEW • MAY 2007

BiogsBlogging is another Internet mar-

keting avenue for agents in whichWeb site visitors are able to respondto an agency's take on current indus-try trends or legislation. Adding ablog to an agency's Wel̂ site increas-es the agency's chances of beingfound by consumers during an onlinesearch; tliat s because biogs, whichare often updated and refreshed, tendto appear higher in search enginelists, according to insiireme.com. \new blog is added to the Internetever)' second, the company .said.

"It's such an important exposurebecause you post your response foreveryone to read,' Reed said. InsLtreMeruns ;ui agent blog on its site; the com-pany received three awards for itsbiogs in 2006.

Get Up to SpeedOne tiling an independent agency's

Web site has over those of the largedirect writers: a small agency s onlinepitch "is not all about price, said Stuart[)tirland. vice president of operationsfor Scely & Durland Inc., of Wiirwick,N.Y. "The ' l-SOOs' of the world are seU-

Search engine optimization is not a simple undertak-ing, but most of the techniques are free, said LoriReed, director of marketing for insurance Web siteinsureme.com of South Denver. She offered a fewsteps to help agents get started on SEO:

1. Read what you can about SEO on the Internet, in Lori Reed

biogs, articles or books. Use your favorite search engine and type in"insurance SEO."2. Determine your ideal customer, the one who will buy exactly whatyou are selling (you don't want spurious visitors; you want true customers).3. What terms would this customer use to search for your product?Use your location, unique offerings and company name. Generalterms won't work in the insurance industry.4. Use those keywords throughout your Web site, in your Web site'stitle tag. and in your URL5. Provide lots of information on your Web site about your product.6. Consider hiring a reputable, well-referenced SEO marketing firm(one that's not representing another insurance company).7. Here are things the search engines check for, so you should too: usefulcontent that is not just stuffed with keywords; a clean and fast-loading site;links with other sites in the industry; no technical errors or content that istoo similar to other sites; and an organized site map.

ing price, and price alone, liiere's notmuch qtiality in\'(tlved in that."

Seely & Durland, a tiiird-generationinsurance brokerage founded in 1934.

writes personal lines and commercialbusiness and has a financial servicesdivision, Durland Financi;tl Planning.

"We've been automated since the

Old Versus New Media

A ccording to the American Advertising Federa-tion's Media Investment Survey 2007, 7'i% ofnearly 1,000 organizations polled said they arc

allotting up tt) 20% of their budgets for experimentationand new media options." Further, 78% of respondentssaid the>' are "always open to new ways of using tradi-tional media.'

Companies are committed to finding aninnovative media mix that combines traditionaland emerging media," according to the federa-tions Web sitc.TheAAF.headqtiartered in Wash-ington. D.(~.. is the oldest national advertisingtrade association, representing 50,000 advertis-ing professionals.

"We currently spend very little on our Inter-net advertising, roiighh' 5"<- of the total budget,and since we have reduced our "paper' adver-tising, we are actually saving money overall." said AngelynTreutel. owner of the Treutel Insurance Agency Inc.. BaySt. I.ouis, Miss.Tlie agenc7 has "significantly decreased"its newspaper and phone-book ad\ertising; any ads theagency does place in traditional media are skewed to

Angefyn Treutel

send customersand prospects tothe Web site forthe latest informa-tion on insurance issues, coverages or customer service.

"Using the Internet is more cost-effective than anadvertising campaign using direct mailers orradio/T\' advertising,"Treutel .said.

As consumers transact more and tnorebusiness over the Internet, thc\- will demandthat capability from their insurance agent,Tretitel said. Her Web site incltides stich cus-tomer come-ons as round-the-clock onlinecustomer access, a rolling news feed and evenlocal weather. "The ctistomers who are tisingit are thrilled with the capability and theirability to communicate with us at their conve-

nietice 24/"', she said.Custotiiers are asking for more functionality, she

added. Increased functionality not only keeps the Website positioned for the next generation of consumers, butcreates a more level playing field against direct writers.

BEST'S REVIEW • MAY 2007

Marketing

Agent/Broker

Keeping It Real

Some agents in cHsaster-prone areas areadvertising their Web sites ptior to stomiseason, oftering lips on how to prepare for

storms or how to file claims, said Jelf Yates, exee-utive direetor of tlie Agents Cxjuncil for Technol-ogy, an arm of the Independent InsuranceAgents and Brokers of America. Others. like/Vngelyn Treutel of Treutel Insuranee AgencyInc. and Stuart f)url;md of Seely & Durland Inc.are offering more customer ftinctionalit}.

That's a big area that we're working on aswell and I ste agents working on.TIiey're evolving their Website from just brochurew'are" to where clients can getanswers they're looking for on tilings about their prcxlucts."Yates said."Wiiat were working on Ln die industry is howdo we extend that out to the customer?"

Real time may be the key, he said. Aeeording tothe council, real time is "the ability for you to clickon a btitton from a client file in your agency man-agement s) stem or eomparative rate Ibr imnietliateaccess to carder information on that client." Agents

using real time are able to send a request for up-to-date information on a client, which

then gets sent back to the agencys\'stem on a real-time basis so tliey

can respond to eustomers immediately.Ideally, ACT would like to extend that real-time

access to the customer: then agencies could free up person-nel to niiike client contacts.'With all the time savings youhave witli real time, savvy agents are transforming their staffto be more tnisted atlvisers ;md make more pn>active con-tact with the customer." Yates said.

early '8()s," said Durland. who handlesmost (jf the computer atid technology-related operations for the agency. "Ouragency is very comfortable with thechanges. This ageticy has never beenafraid of technology; we keep imple-mentiiig it as it comes along.'

The agency's Web site is about tobe revamix;d; they re hoping to get tothe point where they can have fullinteractive access for customers. "It'sgot to be interactive; it's got to be cur-rent." Durland said.

Tlie present Seely & Durland Website includes an icon for "cyber insur-ance terms and definitions." whicbwhen cUcked, takes the customer to anew page featuring insurance tips,trends, commentary and a verbalblog,' or podcast, with a companyrepresentative. The site also featureslive help atid a video tour of theagency's services.

Seely Sc Durland is taking advantageof uses for its software that it had nottapped into before, such as trackingclient referral sources. It s been a boonto die company.

"For us, our best business is ourreferral business," Duriand said. "l!ptmtil a year or so ago we weren't track-ing it. Now were actually tracking it;we know who is sending people to us,how much they're senditig to us."

Yet the agenc>'s new media usageis "just building out; it's in its infancystage," Durland said. Currently the site

offers 24/7 contact ;ind software capa-bility tor customers to log on atid per-haps add a new car to their auto poli-cy, ask a question about theirdeductible, or request an auto I.D.card, he said.

"It gives them the flexibility of

doing things they don't have time forduring the day, but they don't mindhopping on the PC later on," Durlandsaid. "We got it in the beginningbecause we were starting to tliink ofdisaster recovery and things likethat—what if' scenarios." IHH

BEST'S REVIEW • MAY 2007