Tag: employee benefits

  • How to Develop a Killer Content Marketing Strategy for Benefit Agencies

    Why You Need Content Marketing

    As social media marketing becomes more popular with companies whose clientele consists of other businesses, it’s important to understand how a quality content strategy can enhance your online brand. Creative content serves your business in two important ways.

    First, content crafted to tell your company’s story in an interesting, innovative way helps your audience connect with your brand and better understand your product. This is vital for turning social media interactions into leads and customer action.

    Second, the more relevant and valuable content you produce and publish, the higher you will be ranked in search engine result lists. If a potential client is Googling “2016 ACA compliance,” and you’ve published a recent blog on deadlines and reporting, your content will show up in search results, prompting the searcher to click through to your website. The more unique and niche content you produce on a topic, the more likely you are to show up high in Google results, and the more prospects you will drive to your website.

    In the age of technology, the average person is bombarded with thousands of advertisements a day. Because of this, it is essential that companies are intentional and innovative with their content marketing. We’ve put together a list of some of the best ways to ensure you develop an effective strategy for your company.

    The Content

    In a study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, creating engaging content ranked as a top priority at 72% for developing new material to post on your blog and social media. In the benefits industry, it is essential that you clearly convey how your company stands apart from other firms as the best option for crafting unique benefit packages, streamlining compliance and developing HR solutions. Focus on choosing relevant industry topics to present in an innovative way. To optimize your creative approach, try implementing the following best practices:

    Visuals

    Use pictures, infographics, and charts to inform your clients about your process and services visually. These mediums effectively grab clients’ attention and can help you convey information in a simple yet informative manner.

    Long-Form Content

    Be more analytic with lengthy and complex written content. Make sure to research thoroughly and back up your key points with real facts. Not only does long-form content give you room to explain fully to clients what needs your benefit agency meets, but also sets you up as a go-to industry source.

    Specialized Experts

    The benefit industry has a very specific target market, so to consistently create cutting edge content, an industry expert is an essential part of your marketing team. According to Curata, in 2017, 51% of companies will have an executive whose role is solely devoted to content marketing. Your company should employ or contract an industry expert (like eTekhnos!) to produce content and advise on how to best reach your preferred customers. Expert-informed content boosts your brand’s credibility and ensures that clients have somewhere reliable to turn to when they need help with difficult or complex benefit questions.

    Stay Up-To-Date and Be One Step Ahead

    As you create your own company-specific content calendar, it is equally important to stay up-to-date on what your competitors are talking about on their blogs and social media. Reading blogs, posts and articles that discuss how to create optimal content can help foster new ideas and also reveal what’s trending in employee benefits and human resources. Content marketing is always changing and evolving at a fast pace, and staying current on best practices and hot topics gives you a crucial advantage.

    Implement these best practices, and contact us today for help developing a custom content marketing strategy!

     

    By Nicole Federico and Kate McGaughey

  • How To Turn Your Employees Into Your Top Social Media Advocates

    socialmediaavocacyAlmost every business today is on social media. Whether you’ve opted for a Facebook or LinkedIn company page, are active on Twitter or even post videos on YouTube, you’ve most likely bought into the need to have an online presence.

    But have you considered how a social media strategy that includes online employee advocacy can drastically impact your brand?

    Research shows that employees are the most powerful advocates a company has, and should be invited into the process of raising brand awareness. Let’s look at L’Oreal as a recent case study. Their digital marketing team implemented the use of the hashtag #LifeatLoreal in an effort to familiarize corporate with local level employees by documenting interesting or humorous happenings at the office.

    The benefits went beyond expectation – employees generated interest among their personal networks in employment with the company and along with another similar hashtag campaign, it increased L’Oreal’s unique Instagram impressions to 200,000.

    Other examples of companies doing social media employee advocacy programs well are Starbucks, who brought in $180,000 in direct sales in less than a month with their Tweet-a-Coffee campaign, and Zappos, who offer special social media training to their employees and have a leaderboard to show which employees have the most followers.

    Think about it this way, when your social media manager shares content on your company channels, your reach (how many people see your post) is limited to your followers. When your employees start to actively share, your reach is then increased to their networks as well.  This can quickly add up to more impressions and ultimately – conversions.

    In fact, leads generated through employee advocacy on social media convert seven times more frequently than any other leads.

    Convinced yet? Here’s where to start.

    Create an Engaging Company Culture
    Employees need to believe in what they’re selling.  Social media advocacy programs should be voluntary, and to attract the most possible employee brand ambassadors, you need to create a culture of trust and authenticity. Be real with your employees about why you need them and how their advocacy makes an impact on achieving important sales or marketing objectives. If employees enjoy where they work, feel appreciated and understand their value, they will willingly share your content with their personal following.

    Develop a Social Media Policy and Explain How It Works
    Too often companies resort to the negative when implementing social media policies at work. Instead of focusing so much on what can’t be said on social media, highlight the positive ways sharing appropriate content can have an invaluable impact on growing and engaging new audiences. Help employees who aren’t tech-saavy by outlining liking, sharing and commenting etiquette and if necessary, provide periodic, pre-drafted copy for them to include when sharing.  Of course the best shares are organic as employees get excited about a new service, special campaign or company outreach event. Give them the freedom to share their own content as well as what you make available.

    Start Small With Sharing
    Implementing a social media advocacy program doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small with your initiatives. If you already post regular content on your blog and to your company social media channels, ask employees to share these on their personal accounts. For special campaigns, consider creating some extra Tweet copy and emailing these to your staff as options for sharing. Make it fun! Send email reminders when new blogs are posted and or create a hashtag specifically for your next company event or retreat that employees can use when they share photos.

    Set Goals and Track Your Results
    As an employer or manager, you need to know what’s working and what isn’t. Set reasonable goals. What do you want to get out of an employee advocacy initiative? Do you want to promote a certain product or service? Are you looking to expand brand awareness and turn leads into new clients from a previously untapped audience? Understand what you want employees to share about first. Then, identify key metrics that you will use to track the results. Examples of top metrics to follow are traffic driven to the website from social media, increased post reach, increase in sales, employee conversions from passive to brand advocate, a change in your customer base’s perception of your brand and any demographic change in customers.

    Share Your Success
    Finally, share your success with the people who made it happen! Did you meet a sales goal because of increased employee advocacy? Did you hit record high website traffic? Tell your employees. It’s important that employees see the impact of their advocacy, understand their role and contribution to the brand and that they also understand what works and what doesn’t. Top influencers should also be rewarded. Always recognize the people who are doing an awesome job at representing your company in front of their peers.  Not only does this inspire further action, it brings you full circle by contributing to an engaging company culture.

    Want to learn more about engaging your employees as social media advocates? Set up a call with our team!

     

    By Kate McGaughey

  • New Website Launched for Synergy Solutions Group of Virginia

    Here is our latest website redesign, just launched for Synergy Solutions Group of Virginia.

    The new SSG website was recently launched with rotating home page images creating a professional, modern feel that is easy to navigate.  The site is mobile-responsive, clean and concise, and provides a one-stop resource for potential and current clients.

    Visit the new SSG site at http://synergysolutionsgroupofvirginia.com/.

  • 4 Easy Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn | Employee Benefits Technology

    As employee benefit agencies, we know it can be hard to figure out the best way to leverage social media for your company, so we’ve made it easy.  Follow these four steps to get more out of LinkedIn today!

    LinkedIn infographic

     

    Want to learn more? Go in depth with our post 5 Ways to Optimize LinkedIn for Your Benefit Agency.

  • How to Write an Engaging About Page for Your Website

    F7OLW2SG0CDoes your About page grab potential clients’ attention or does it leave them yawning? We’re sharing tips on tone, content and format for creating an engaging About page that will make people want to work with your agency today!

    Tone

    When a potential client reads your About page they should feel like they are meeting you face-to-face for the first time.  You have the chance to make a good impression by adopting a conversational and human tone while still communicating what makes your services unique and superior.  An easy way to do this is embrace the use of “I” and “we” rather than writing from a formal, third person perspective. Your tone should be authentic and relatable while remaining professional.

    Content

    What should you talk about? Focus on telling your story with simplicity rather than filling an About page with industry jargon or fluffy descriptions.  People want to know where you came from, what you can do for them and why you are a credible choice. Show that you understand your potential client’s challenges and use examples of things you’ve done in the past to let them know you can solve their problems.

    Finally, always include a call to action.  What do you want them to do next? Your goal with your About page should be to motivate potential clients to contact you about your services.  Place contact information visibly on the page. Include several ways to get in touch including a contact form, email, phone number and physical address.

    Format

    Your About page offers a glimpse into who you are as a company – your history, the principles by which you do business and the people who make up your team. It is your first chance to establish trust with a client by showing who the people behind the brand are.  Don’t be afraid to move away from the traditional corporate About page format and get a little creative with what makes your company unique. Include images of your team that put a face to the name.  We like what Brio Benefits has done to showcase their team by incorporating a corporate portrait and a funny, personable candid photo along with each employee bio.  To view their About page, click here.

    Think your About page needs a revamp?  Contact us today and we’ll get you started!

  • 5 Ways to Optimize LinkedIn for Your Benefit Agency

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    Photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg

    LinkedIn is fast proving to be the foremost social media site for B2B marketing. Employee benefit agencies that rely on cultivating relationships in order to market a product or service may find utilizing more fast-moving social platforms like Twitter or Instagram challenging, but LinkedIn provides a space for professionals to interact with one another, share original industry content and create brand awareness for their company that results in leads and network growth. We’ve put together a list of five simple ways you can start optimizing LinkedIn for your business today:

    1. Create a Personal Profile

    Even if you don’t plan on doing much posting of your own on a personal profile, this step is imperative because right now LinkedIn requires that you have a personal account in order to make a company page. Your profile should contain a professional photo of yourself, your name, job title and ideally your work and educational experience as well as any relevant accomplishments or projects.

    1. Set Up a Company Page

    Now that you’ve created your personal page, you are able to set up a page that specifically provides information about your company to LinkedIn users.  This page should contain your company name, logo, a link to your website, and a short description of your business that includes relevant keywords that are specific to what you do. Keywords can be in the form of phrases such as “Maryland insurance broker” but should shy away from staying as vague as “insurance company.” This helps your page receive a higher ranking in search engine results. Finally, ask employees who have personal LinkedIn profiles to list your company in their work experience, helping ensure that you can be found easily when people search for your business.

    1. Share Quality Content

    Sharing content ensures more opportunity for people to visit your company page and then hopefully website to follow up! Posts can be a mix of your original content and outside articles, videos or podcasts that are relevant to your industry.  Recent studies show that the best time to post on LinkedIn is Tuesday through Thursday between 7-9am, noon and between 5-6pm.  In addition, data revealed that posts made on Tuesday between 10-11am have the most clicks and shares. For best engagement results, companies should make it a priority to post on their LinkedIn page once a week, but no more than once a day.

    1. Join or Create a Group

    LinkedIn Groups provide a place for professionals to connect with peers working in their field or with similar interests where they can share helpful content, reviews, ask questions, post job openings and make new connections. You are able to either search for groups to join or create your own group based on your topic of choice where you can invite people to become members.  These groups are useful for connecting with prospects and establishing your company as an industry expert.

    1. Make Personal Connections

    By utilizing not only your company page but also your personal profile, you can enrich your business’s success by connecting with prospects and clients. Start slow by inviting 3-5 people to connect with you per week.  Follow up with a thank you message and a quick introduction when they accept your invitation.  Did you write a blog for your company or on an industry topic?  Post it to you profile. As you continue to share content, consider submitting it to LinkedIn Pulse’s editors to have your blog post featured.  This translates to much more visibility for your company! Finally, don’t be afraid to engage with others.  If you see content you like, write a comment or send a quick message to the author.  Other LinkedIn members are interested in the same thing you are – building mutually beneficial relationships!

    Generating brand awareness for your company on social media is becoming more and more important in our highly digitalized economy. LinkedIn offers the perfect space for your company using a B2B marketing model that is based largely on relationships to thrive and establish yourself as an industry expert while expanding your network of prospects and future business connections.

  • 3 Ways Social Media Helps Employee Benefits Firms

    MH46O0ISCFIn the world of employee benefits, we know that relationships are key. Particularly for independent firms, a new client is more likely to be obtained through a game of golf with a current client who knows local business owners than by a YouTube video explaining an online enrollment process. However, companies that do this type of B2B marketing can highly benefit from a robust social media presence, and we’re here to tell you how with three simple points:

    1. Increase Relational Reach

    Most professionals today have accounts on LinkedIn if not Facebook and Twitter. These three big social media channels offer a unique opportunity to nurture current business relationships and foster new ones. Becoming a part of industry groups on social media helps your business see who else is in your field with whom you could build partnerships or share services and keep up with what your current clients are doing both in business and in the community.  With private messaging, industry groups and platforms for public sharing, it’s easy to make initial and continuing points of contact with both current and prospective clients.  Don’t stop at just a business page – drive engagement by posting, sharing and connecting through your personal account and encourage your employees to do so as well – this adds an extra relational aspect to your brand which shows you personally care about your clients.

    1. Become Industry Experts

    One of the biggest things social media can do for your brand is add credibility as an industry expert through the content you post, thus giving you more opportunity to develop relationships with a larger pool of people. Start by creating a blog post a few times a month that educates about a unique service you offer or explains an aspect of employee benefits that is often confusing to clients. The key is to offer content that is engaging, educational and gives value to the reader – this should not be a sales pitch – quality content will bring a reader back for more. Share this post on your company and personal LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts and encourage employees to do the same. Reply to comments and shares with a personal note of thanks or a follow up question to foster engagement!

    1. Offer Creative Content

    We know it’s important to create original content, but what does that look like? Start with a blog. Write succinct posts about topics relevant to your industry, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box a little bit.  We all know employee benefits topics can get boring, but what about doing a profile on an employee who has benefited from a client’s wellness program that your firm set up?  People want to hear her story. As you get more comfortable, explore other mediums.  Share photos from company workshops or community events where you were participants or make a short video explaining a commonly misunderstood aspect of employee benefits packages. And don’t worry – if you don’t know where to start with creating content, there are companies to which you can outsource that will help you find the perfect way to share your story as an employee benefits broker.

    Social media is increasingly becoming a vital tool in how we do business in today’s economy.  By understanding and implementing these three concepts about how to use social media in the employee benefits field, you can expand your relational reach, establish your business as an industry expert and offer diverse creative content that sets your brand apart and generates client loyalty.