If you were to ask which benefit available to Big I members I feel isn't taken advantage of enough, I would 10 out of 10 times say access to the Trusted Choice co-branding opportunity and everything that comes along with it.
Let's talk about branding. You know, name brands. Products and services we are all familiar with based on logos, our feelings about a specific product, an experience, or maybe a spokesperson or slogan. I read a quote recently that said, “branding is a reason to choose" and this could not be more accurate.
Can you keep a secret? Before learning about the independent agency system, I had … wait for it … auto and home insurance with a captive agent. I know, I know – how could I have been so unaware of all of the better other options out there? The answer – branding. I was familiar with other insurance brands because they were insurance for me. Let's do a little exercise: think about all of the insurance “brands" out there – what comes to your mind when you think of their brand? Probably a guy named Jake in khakis? A gecko? The phrase 15 minutes could save you? Mayhem? Am I right? That is called consistent branding and it works. Branding is so very important for every business, and independent insurance agencies are no exception.
As a member of Big I Arkansas, your agency is a member of the mothership, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA), which means you have at your disposal one of the most powerful branding tools available to independent Insurance agents. That tool is Trusted Choice®. Trusted Choice® is the national marketing brand created exclusively for Big I members to help consumers understand the value that an independent agent offers. This brand was designed to highlight the strengths of independent insurance agents: Choice, Customization, and Advocacy.
In 2020, Trusted Choice reached 100 million consumers, had 20,000 agents utilizing their resources, had 2,000 pieces of content shared monthly, and had 2,500+ agencies co-branding with the Trusted Choice logo. These numbers show the power of the Trusted Choice brand.
So, there's Trusted Choice and TrustedChoice.com – the TrustedChoice.com website was created for independent insurance agents AND shoppers to help them connect with exactly what they need, insurance solutions. You have access to materials that will benefit your agency, provide you with consumer leads, and enhance your online presence. So, why aren't more agencies taking advantage of this?
Well, you probably want to know how Trusted Choice can help your agency? We thought you'd never ask! Trusted Choice helps by educating consumers on the value of independent agents, providing your agency with marketing resources to connect you with consumers, and helping you to be a part of the collective brand. Ahh, there it is….branding. This applies to carriers too - Trusted Choice Carrier Partners that support the brand are demonstrating their commitment to the independent agency system, and their confidence in their agents' unparalleled value.
Let's take a deep dive for a minute and talk about a few ways the Trusted Choice brand and TrustedChoice.com can assist with branding identity and help to amplify your local marketing efforts.
By Helping Enhance Your Digital Presence
Have you ever visited a really bad website? Do you have a really bad website? Do you even have a website? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then it's time to make sure your web presence is working for you effectively – whether that means enhancing an existing website or simply creating one. If you have an OK website that you would like to level up, let Trusted Choice do a comprehensive digital review. They will analyze your current website and social media channels, and give you feedback you can use to make changes that will yourself apart from the rest. In my opinion, a bad website is worse than no website, so make sure that your agency's digital presence is drawing customers in and not running them off.
For agencies who have no current online presence outside of social media, Trusted Choice has partnered with five industry leading web providers that can help your agency build a modern, clean, custom, and lead-capturing website for a fraction of the cost of other web developers. Creating a website is quite the endeavor and there is a lot involved. Leave it to the experts to help with this and pay a minimal fee to have your domain maintained – it is totally worth it to pay the monthly fee to have someone else maintain it. Visit Trusted Choice to get started.
By Aligning Yourself With a Recognizable Brand & Advertising Campaign
Being in the independent insurance world, it is crucial to enhance reach and increase brand awareness. And what better way than aligning with a recognizable brand and advertising campaign? Trusted Choice logos are available for free download for co-branding purposes, for use on your website, on signage at your agency, and any consumer-facing material. Trusted Choice also has a variety of consumer tested, customizable advertising campaigns that are always free, and a way for you to highlight your agency value. You can choose your ad, send in any additional content, and Trusted Choice will take it from there. Are you kidding me right now? I think you should read that again. This is all available to you – for free. Are you taking advantage of this benefit?
By Providing You With Content
We can all probably agree that having a social media presence isn't the hard part – maintaining that space and having (good) content is. Even on a personal social media page, unless you are a social media influencer and it's your bread and butter, or you use it as your very own daily diary (we all know those people), it can take several weeks, if not months, for us to have new content to post. An agency Facebook page is no different – sometimes good content is hard to come by. There are only so many times you can poll your audience about their favorite snack before your audience starts to disengage. Trusted Choice has graphics, infographics, videos, and articles to share on social media that are professional and can be filtered by popular topics (specific types of insurance coverage, season of the year, etc.) For ideas on how to implement this content, check out the Trusted Choice monthly Content Calendar.
By Connecting You With Buyers
Are you actively looking for leads and seeking insurance shoppers, or are you cool with your current book and not looking to grow your agency? If you answered yes to the latter, you can go ahead and stop reading now. My guess, however, is that most if not all agencies want (need) good, solid, legit leads. By upgrading to an advantage subscription with TrustedChoice.com, you will be staying ahead of the competition by strengthening your online presence and attracting the right business. TrustedChoice.com attracts insurance shoppers to you by creating search engine optimization (SEO) keyword-rich content on their website. They gather information from insurance shoppers based on their needs and connect them to Trusted Choice agents based on what is in their advantage subscription profile. You take it from there and grow your business and make millions and millions of dollars. Ok, that might be an exaggeration but you get the idea. The possibilities are endless.
Let's recap and circle back to the quote I mentioned earlier – let's give insurance shoppers a reason to choose independent agents. Take advantage of all that is available to you by co-branding with Trusted Choice so that when people think about insurance, they think of you, a Trusted Choice independent agent.
Did I mention the reimbursement money that's available to our members through the Trusted Choice marketing reimbursement program? Shoot me an email for more information about how to get money back from expenses incurred for marketing materials that include the Trusted Choice logo.
There's so much available to our members through Trusted Choice and we want to make sure you are aware so that consumers are aware – of you. And how do we do that? All together now, branding. To find out more information about Trusted Choice visit www.trustedchoice.com.
