Should small and medium size insurance agencies spend money on pr releases? Larger agencies are already investing in this important marketing activity - which is an accurate depiction. That is the inference here. Carry out the large brokers know something smaller agencies do not? Press releases, which today are often referred to as news releases, provide agencies with a lot of insurance agency marketing benefits. There are two kinds of distribution services, fee based releases and free releases. Small agencies with modest budgets and some extra time can consider most of the free distribution services. Some of these include:
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Brian Lock InsurancePRLog
Newsvine
Newswire Today
Free Press Release
PR.com
i-Newswire
24-7
PR-Inside
There are a large number of free distribution services, some of which also offer premium fee based release services. Agents and brokers which can allocate plan for more comprehensive distribution should look into fee based or subscription providers. Some the higher known fee based services are:
PRWeb
PR Newswire
Marketwired
BusinessWire
Why should insurance agents use pr releases to augment their insurance agency marketing initiatives?
Expand market presence - deliver a refined message to some broad target market.
Reach new markets - alert new target markets, especially verticals, of products and services.
Create name recognition - helps target prospects "know" your agency when contacting them or quoting.
Define expertise - alerts prospects of deep industry knowledge (group and compliance benefits, trucking insurance, risk retention groups, restaurant insurance, etc.).
Improve insurance agency search engine optimisation - though search engines argue to the contrary, search engine optimisation specialists have proven that press announcements positively influence insurance agency SEO (SERPs).
Attract media attention - Properly executed, insurance agency pr releases may be distributed to hundreds of thousands of news subscribers and tens of thousands journalists and bloggers.
Increase web site traffic - pr releases engages readers and directs these to visit your website.
Boost social networking traffic - most press release services allow readers to discuss the production via social networking.
What should agents include in their releases? Here are among the common components which ought to be included in every release:
Headline - allow it to be relevant, pithy and short.
Summary - a simple description from the release, with greater granularity compared to headline, enough to whet the appetite of the perspective reader.
Dateline - usually includes the production date and originating city of issuer.
Introduction - first paragraph within a press release, that generally gives basic solutions to the questions of who, what, where, when and why.
Body - the information of the release including background, quotations, metrics and details etc.
About - most add a brief "about" section, providing information about the organization issuing the discharge, website link as well as other information vital that you the issuer.
Media contact info - name, phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, or some other contact info for your release contact person.
Most services offer guidelines, release examples and FAQs to assist agents and brokers with press release basics. Finding worthy topics is probably easier than agents might think. New insurance agency webinars or webinar programs, new lines of business, new employees, new offices, new carrier relationships, innovative products and service announcements, new website resources, upcoming speaking engagements or trade exhibition exhibitions, and content/video libraries are topics which may benefit from a release. Agencies can either staff this work internally. Alternatively, outsource the initiative to a proficient insurance agency marketing and PR organization. - Brian Lock Insurance