Ten years ago, less than fifty percent of the population used the Internet. Five years ago, users of the Internet consisted primarily of business professionals. Today, retirees are the largest growing demographic of Internet users. Seven out of every ten people you meet in America uses a computer at least once a week. Considering this continual growth, agencies across the nation have begun to embrace the marketing potential the Internet has to offer.

To take advantage of these growing marketing opportunities upon the Internet, agencies must first develop an effective and visually appealing website. Your website must be more than just a business card on the web; it needs to be a functional tool that benefits both potential and current customers. To create a successful web presence your website should include the following:

Agency Information

Include information about your agency such as company origins, community reputations, testimonials and noted success.

Agency Offerings

What does your agency offer? Why do your product offerings standout from your competitors? Your website should convey your complete product offering such as each line of business and any additional services that would benefit your target customer.

Customer Service

A website is open for business, even when you are not. Provide your customers the ability to request quotes or policy change requests anytime, day, or night. Include a mailing list feature that allows your customers to receive your agency's newsletter.

Contact Information

If for any reason your new website cannot fulfill your customers needs you want to make it easy for them to contact you. Your website should include all forms of communication methods including local and toll-free phone numbers, fax numbers, driving directions, and e-mail.

Useful Experience

Build a useful consumer resource that will repeatedly draw customers back to your website. Incorporate helpful tools such as an insurance terms glossary, a frequently asked questions page, company links, document libraries, and a newsroom.

Once your website is up and running you must begin to market it as more than "just a website". Notify your customers that your website is a resource available to them twenty-four hours a day. Advertise the functionality of your website, not just the fact that you have one. To effectively market your website you should follow the

Printed Materials

Include your website address on all printed materials such as business cards, letterhead, and brochures. Include a brief statement promoting the fact your website is open 24/7.

Example: For policy service any time, day, or night, visit us on the web at...

Voicemail

State your website clearly in your outgoing voicemail - Inform customers and prospects calling your office outside of business hours that information about your agency as well as customer service options are available twenty-four hours a day via your website.

Yellow Pages Advertising

Maximize your yellow page presence by including your agency website along with phone numbers. By including your website address your yellow page ad opens your business up to possible business, even outside the hours you normally answer your phones.

Advertise for a Good Cause

Make a donation of school supplies to your local schools and have them imprinted with your agency web address.

Storefront Advertising

Prospects may drive by your office every day and may see the name of your agency and a phone number, why not your website as well? Many prospects are more likely to remember a website name than a phone number.

Search Engine Tricks

Include important links on your website. Search engines look for websites that link to other sites. Be sure to include links to the companies you write with, organizations you are involved with, links with information about your community, and insurance industry related news. Make reciprocal agreements with organizations to incorporate your web address on their website as well.

By combining these offline and online marketing initiatives with an effective website your website traffic will soar, right along with your business.

89% of e-mails received by insurance agents today are classified as spam. That means that only one out of every ten emails is a legitimate business communication! Over the course of a year, financial losses can really add up through the lost productivity of you and your employees. However, the greatest threat to computer networks today is from malicious programs such as trojans, zombies, and viruses, which hitch a ride within many spam. Once upon your network, these programs can potentially mine customer data from your systems sending their confidential data to unscrupulous parties looking to steal the identities of your customers!

1/2 the way there.

The traditional way to decrease the number of spam received by an insurance agency is by installing an application that contains a spam blocker. Often these applications are bundled within an antivirus program. These programs do help; however, they are not always the most effective solution for curbing the flow of spam into your organization. These programs require constant updates to keep up with the latest spam signatures and techniques. These updates are rarely kept up-to-date after the initial subscription period expires. Additionally, these programs must download the infected spam to your machine before it can classify it as malicious. This download allows the infected item into your organization unrestricted before the program is able to quarantine the item.

Stopping the Attack

To effectively block spam and other malicious email, organizations are employing a new generation of spam blocking tools. One of the more effective ways being used today is through the use of spam firewalls. Prior to your mail server, incoming mail routes through your spam firewall's gateway which analyzes your mail for spam and other malicious code. Items classified as spam are held for further review within a quarantine folder, thus keeping an infected item from ever entering your organization. Furthermore, the firewall's spam signatures are kept up-to-date upon a single device, no more worrying that all computers are running the latest definitions.

For Insurance Agencies with less than fifty email users, many online providers offer hosted spam firewall protection. For larger organizations, your own spam firewall will easily pay for itself through productivity improvements and decreased downtime.

A fully functional online presence has become a required asset that every agency should possess. By having a website, you enable your agency the ability to offer your products and services to prospects and customers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Today, a website has to be more than just a business card on the web. It needs to have a complete offering that includes automated customer self-service and informational resources that repeatedly hold the visitors interest.

Beyond Quoting, Offering Customer Self Service

Do you remember walking into an airport and waiting in long ticket counter lines? If so, you have seen firsthand how technology has changed the way consumers interact with business. Less than ten years ago, as you entered an airport, long lines greeted you at the ticket counter. Now you are welcomed by self-service terminals that offer a quick check-in experience speeding multiple customers through at a fraction of the time. No longer do you need to speak to a customer service agent, you can simply do it yourself. Not only does it expedite the customer, self-service lowers the employee resources required by the business.

This trend of customer self-service has begun to spread to every industry, including insurance. It began with online quote requests, via an online form. Next was the introduction of online rating. Recently, companies began offering customer self-service options to compliment the online quoting. These options included online payments and policy self-service.

What started with the carriers has now migrated down to the agents themselves. Whether it be the ability to request an ID card, report an accident or remove a vehicle, your website must offer the customer the ability to service their policy directly. Like the airline industry, this automation of your customer service will appease the consumer's desire for quick service while lowering the overall resources required by your agency.

An Informational Resource

Although banks were one of the first industries to embrace customer self-service through the usage of ATM machines, they were slow to develop their online presence. In the recent years, they have made up for it! Banking websites offer virtually everything these days. Buy stamps, lookup ATM locations, view product offerings, pay your bills, print your statements and even request copies of checks, all from an easy to use website. By providing this complete experience, banks customers return often to this one-stop portal.

An agency website needs to replicate this breadth of offerings by presenting the client access to any services that your agency offers. A complete website should include online glossaries, driving directions, location mapping, current newsfeeds, payment options, and links to useful websites such as credit repair and partner mortgage companies. By offering more features your website becomes a portal for which customers will return repeatedly.

Holding On

Now that your website offers a complete presence, you want to draw and keep visitors upon your site. Provide the consumer an incentive to come back often. Create quarterly giveaways. Offer gift cards for referrals. Provide links to the latest viral videos. The sky is the limit with a website.

Finally, retain your customer's interest, by keeping your site up to date! By updating your site's content, you retain the dynamic and ever changing spirit of the Internet. Buyers will recognize your commitment to technology and will reward you with repeat visits.