At Keller Stonebraker, a Selective® agency partner in Maryland, Ric Buchanan, Senior Vice President, runs the social media accounts. His goal is to provide customers with relevant industry information while highlighting the agency’s commitment to the communities it serves.
We spoke with Buchanan to get an inside look at the Keller Stonebraker strategy and how he carries it out to help the agency “get social” on four platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Starting social media accounts
Keller Stonebraker, which been active on social media for about five years, attended social media summits and consulted with experts in the social networking field in order to develop a plan before launching.
Having a social media plan in place beforehand helps when getting started, Buchanan noted. His goal in using social networks was, and remains, to increase interaction between the agency and the customers and prospects in its local market and generate awareness of the agency brand.
The agency’s focus with its social media content is: Offer the agency’s followers stories from the voice of Keller Stonebraker, while also offering industry perspectives from insurance carrier partners.
Expansion across platforms
Posting on different platforms necessitates different styles and content. For example, Buchanan noted, the LinkedIn platform draws more of a professional audience. So content for that social network includes business topics relevant to that audience. Facebook requires local and community-focused content, while Instagram audiences demand visually focused posts.
Developing content
Keller Stonebraker creates much of its social media content in-house. Buchanan starts with a list of potential topics and asks the rest of the Maryland based insurance team for input, queries them about what they feel passionate about, and seeks other topics to focus on. It’s a collaborative effort within the agency, he noted.
Keller Stonebraker also shares content from Selective’s social site, social.selective.com, giving the agency topics to share beyond those it creates directly. That resource, Buchanan noted, also gives the insurance agency content that covers topics in more depth than the agency would be able to generate itself. Additionally, alternating Selective content with the agency’s original content gives variety to its pages.
Improving content & delivery
The nature of social media, Buchanan said, means making adjustments to ensure the delivery of good-quality information to followers. Even while the agency sticks to its plan and is well along in executing its social media strategy, Keller Stonebraker constantly seeks to improve its content and performance. One change Keller Stonebraker has made over the course of five years has been to shift to using more original content to offer industry insights to customers and prospects
An area of potential change is video. The agency is considering the effort involved (and value delivered) in creating and publishing videos – which could help the agency show up in more search engine results and reach followers in additional channels. While still under consideration, video potentially can help tell the Keller Stonebraker’s stories to reach different styles of followers. Articles cater to those who enjoy reading, but video could tap into a new audience that looks for content that can be absorbed visually.
Advice to other agencies about social media
“Sometimes agencies are a little hesitant about starting social media,” Buchanan said. “But when it’s done right, it can be a very powerful tool. Social media posts can be brought up in face-to-face interactions. Showing your agency as active in the community is a great way to demonstrate the agency’s devotion to protecting the community in which they serve.”
A key reason Selective creates posts on social media is to provide relevant, engaging, and industry-related content to support you, our agency partners. Sharing content on your insurance agency social media pages shows insurance clients and prospects that you care about the things that are important to them, which helps to build relationships without using hard-sell tactics.
If you would like to be featured in Selective's agency spotlight, share and post content from social.selective.com or Selective's Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter pages.
We spoke with Buchanan to get an inside look at the Keller Stonebraker strategy and how he carries it out to help the agency “get social” on four platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Starting social media accounts
Keller Stonebraker, which been active on social media for about five years, attended social media summits and consulted with experts in the social networking field in order to develop a plan before launching.
Having a social media plan in place beforehand helps when getting started, Buchanan noted. His goal in using social networks was, and remains, to increase interaction between the agency and the customers and prospects in its local market and generate awareness of the agency brand.
The agency’s focus with its social media content is: Offer the agency’s followers stories from the voice of Keller Stonebraker, while also offering industry perspectives from insurance carrier partners.
Expansion across platforms
Posting on different platforms necessitates different styles and content. For example, Buchanan noted, the LinkedIn platform draws more of a professional audience. So content for that social network includes business topics relevant to that audience. Facebook requires local and community-focused content, while Instagram audiences demand visually focused posts.
Developing content
Keller Stonebraker creates much of its social media content in-house. Buchanan starts with a list of potential topics and asks the rest of the Maryland based insurance team for input, queries them about what they feel passionate about, and seeks other topics to focus on. It’s a collaborative effort within the agency, he noted.
Keller Stonebraker also shares content from Selective’s social site, social.selective.com, giving the agency topics to share beyond those it creates directly. That resource, Buchanan noted, also gives the insurance agency content that covers topics in more depth than the agency would be able to generate itself. Additionally, alternating Selective content with the agency’s original content gives variety to its pages.
Improving content & delivery
The nature of social media, Buchanan said, means making adjustments to ensure the delivery of good-quality information to followers. Even while the agency sticks to its plan and is well along in executing its social media strategy, Keller Stonebraker constantly seeks to improve its content and performance. One change Keller Stonebraker has made over the course of five years has been to shift to using more original content to offer industry insights to customers and prospects
An area of potential change is video. The agency is considering the effort involved (and value delivered) in creating and publishing videos – which could help the agency show up in more search engine results and reach followers in additional channels. While still under consideration, video potentially can help tell the Keller Stonebraker’s stories to reach different styles of followers. Articles cater to those who enjoy reading, but video could tap into a new audience that looks for content that can be absorbed visually.
Advice to other agencies about social media
“Sometimes agencies are a little hesitant about starting social media,” Buchanan said. “But when it’s done right, it can be a very powerful tool. Social media posts can be brought up in face-to-face interactions. Showing your agency as active in the community is a great way to demonstrate the agency’s devotion to protecting the community in which they serve.”
A key reason Selective creates posts on social media is to provide relevant, engaging, and industry-related content to support you, our agency partners. Sharing content on your insurance agency social media pages shows insurance clients and prospects that you care about the things that are important to them, which helps to build relationships without using hard-sell tactics.
If you would like to be featured in Selective's agency spotlight, share and post content from social.selective.com or Selective's Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter pages.
