Read More

Many agents and brokers use Twitter to identify new insurance leads to help build their book of business. We have dozens of clients doing that on NeedTagger, today.

However, we’ve learned by working with our agency clients that prospecting on Twitter for insurance leads is something that requires a more nuanced approach than simply searching for the keyword “insurance”. If you’ve tried that simplistic approach, you know what we’re talking about!

Monitor Twitter For Life Events

Seasoned insurance agents know that personally-important life events such as buying a new car, having a child, moving or changing jobs often cause people to purchase insurance or re-think their insurance needs.

Well, people are people, and the same principle applies to Twitter conversations.

While it is true that some people will discuss their insurance needs explicitly on Twitter (see our “Automotive / People discussing Car Insurance” pre-tested stream for an example), most agents will get more leads by searching for people who discuss their life events. Because people talk a LOT more frequently about these sorts of things – just like they do in the real world!

The instructions below explain how you can create intent-filtered streams on NeedTagger to surface more leads from Twitter for your agency.

NeedTagger Settings for Insurance Leads

NeedTagger can be used to identify people discussing their insurance needs and/or their major life events.

Listed below are the StreamBuilder settings for identifying several classic insurance buying signals, plus an explicit search setup for car insurance.

Changing jobs

When people change jobs, they often have to change insurance providers. It may be because their new employer requires it, because they moved to a new state or simply because their financial situation has changed. Moving to a new city is a big life event trigger for insurance!

Here are the NeedTagger settings to find people discussing changing jobs on Twitter:

  • Industry: “Other”
  • Pre-Tested Stream: leave blank
  • Conversation Type: “Planning to leave job” (note: there are more job-related filters you can try, as well)

classic insurance trigger event - changing job

Addition to the Family

Having a new baby? Congratulations! You’ll need to update your health insurance. And perhaps buy some whole life.

Here are the NeedTagger settings to find people discussing new additions to their family, on Twitter:

  • Industry: “Health”
  • Pre-Tested Stream: “Pregnancy: people expecting a baby soon”

classic insurance trigger event - pregnancy

Change in residence

Try the following setup. Note the keyword and negative keyword selections (in blue).

classic insurance trigger event - moving

Buying a car

People buy cars all the time, and they need insurance for every one. However, buying a new car can also be related to a larger life event such as getting a new job, heading off to college, getting married, having a child or graduating college. In all of these situations, insurance needs change.

Here are the NeedTagger settings to find people discussing the purchase of a new car on Twitter:

Try the following setup. Note our use of a pre-tested Keyword group for “Automobile Makes and Models”.

classic insurance trigger event - buying vehicle any type

Car Insurance

Now that you’ve mastered the more subtle approach, why not monitor Twitter for people simply talking about buying car insurance?

Here are the NeedTagger settings to find people discussing their car insurance needs on Twitter.

Try the following setup. Note the inclusion of brand names and alternative keywords in the “Keywords” field. Select many Conversation Types.
needtagger setup - car insurance
With a Free account, you’ll only be able to try one of these set ups at a time. See if one of these works for your agency, then upgrade to Pro to cover all of your bases.

Build Relationships Over Time

Once you identify an in-market prospect, you’ll want to monitor their conversations and look for natural opportunities to to connect & build a relationship, over time.

To do this, add each prospect you find in NeedTagger to a “Prospects” list you’ve set up your Twitter account.

Note: you may want to check the “Number of Tweets” statistic in their Twitter bio/profile before adding them as a Twitter prospect – to make sure they post on Twitter frequently enough to actually have a conversation.

When connecting with a prospect for the first time, try to react to something they just said that sincerely interests you. This can be anything they say that you might have in common, such as:

  • local sports
  • local events
  • volunteer opportunities
  • great places to shop or eat
  • professional associations and clubs
  • etc.

The key is to build relationships through natural conversations – just like you do offline!

Your Twitter Profile is Your Landing Page

You might be asking: OK, it’s nice to talk to people – but when do I ask for an in-person meeting? when do I bring up the subject of insurance?

Tip: let your Twitter bio/profile page do the heavy lifting. On Twitter, your bio is your business card and your landing page. But it’s better than a business card, because it’s interactive.

Prospects will click or call you when they like you and are ready for insurance. So make sure you put  your phone number and website link on your bio!

Here’s an example of an insurance agent’s Twitter profile done right (note the regulatory disclosure link):

Don Lilly Agency example

We hope this brief overview will help you use Twitter & NeedTagger to identify and connect with more insurance leads in your market.

Happy prospecting!

How To Find Insurance Leads on Twitter by