Generating insurance leads is the practice that keeps your business going. Finding new means of gaining leads is part of the job, so looking for fresh ways to bring prospects to you is important. That said, not all ways of generating leads are equal. It is all too easy to set plans in motion that set you three steps back instead of forward. Here are some of the best (and a few of the worst) ways to generate leads:

Strategize

A proper plan for getting new insurance leads will be the foundation of your success. Consider the goals that you want to achieve. List the avenues you have at your disposal to make them happen, as well as the steps you need to take towards new paths. Make sure that all the points of your strategy reflect analysis of data. You want to focus on what your target prospects want and don't want. This will go a long way towards building a touch point between you and your prospect.

Using the best data on hand, and using it well, will allow you to track how many people use your content. They will then sign up as leads, then convert from prospect to customer. This will create new data. You can then use that data to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your strategy. Knowing what's working and what needs tweaking will create a stronger business model.

Create Strong Content

"Content is King.", as the saying goes. However, the best content makes the best king. Creating content for your business that is relevant and beneficial to your prospects will not just attract traffic. It will convert it to leads, and that is what will put you ahead of your competition.

Focus on drawing prospects to your website with content designed to answer their questions.  It will also show proof of the benefits you supply, and inspire confidence in your skills. A pro website can provide all of these to your audience. In order to keep your presence fresh on the internet, create a blog and keep it updated frequently. This will ensure your site ranks high and often in search engines, which will result in more traffic and more leads.

When creating your content, keep value as the star you steer by. Whether by blog post, email, or video, your content should leave your prospects with a full grasp of the value you alone provide. You should make every part of your inbound campaign with this as the top priority.

Create a Social Media Presence

A strong social media presence is crucial in today's connected world if you want to reach new prospects. Research and analyze the social networks available to you and integrate them into your business strategy will help grow your prospect base, and increase your engagement rate.

LinkedIn is an often neglected yet powerful way to grow your social media presence. Unlike your website's content, you don't own the content published on LinkedIn. However, what you do publish there stays on LinkedIn forever. This means you put in a little time once, then you have an asset that can generate leads for years.

Get Out There!

Sometime in the far-flung future, you might be able to do all of your lead generation behind a computer. That time isn't now. The people you meet daily are too valuable a resource to ignore in your lead generation strategy. Referrals from current customers, as well as friends and family, and you shouldn't overlook them as a strong lead stream. Creating a connection with a prospect becomes less of a challenge when the two of you have a common associate.

Being active in your local area is another great way to gain exposure. You can host information seminars for small business owners. You can also take part in area meetups and online forums to share your knowledge. Another way to put yourself out there that also will make you feel good is to offer to consult local charities regarding their insurance needs. It's important to remember to not approach these as sales transactions. First and foremost, your goal here is to be helpful. Your sincerity will be your strongest selling point.

The final three suggestions here are network, network, and network. The more you expand your contacts, the greater your potential lead base becomes. Looking into joining your local chamber of commerce. Attending focused social and networking events (Meetup is great for this) is another great opportunity. In case your new contact doesn't have a business card, you should bring blank card cards with you to get their info.

The Don'ts

For all the great ways to generate new leads, there's going to be some that fall short. They can look good in the small picture, and then prove themselves inadequate at great cost. Here are a couple to be aware of:

Fly By the Seat of Your Pants

When you creating content, plan it out. If you aren't writing with strategy and intent in mind, it can waste all your hard work. Base your content on analysis of your relevant data and with your audience in mind. If you work off of what you feel instead of what you know, your lead base could suffer for it.

The same applies to your social media interactions. Social media is a valuable tool for lead generation, but only if it's done according to a plan. Create a content calendar as part of your strategy, and plan ahead in order to produce an ongoing, strong brand presence that you can keep a clear eye one. Consistent, relevant content will keep your touch point fresh and vital.

Make It Difficult

Making it difficult, or worse nonexistent, for prospects provide information is a good way to turn away new leads before they can start. Adding your contact information should not be treated as an afterthought, it is the gateway your audience needs. All too often, contact info is in the footer section of the page where it is hard to find. Make the user experience as easy and intuitive as possible for your prospects.

Do not overlook the necessity of an opt-in or subscription form on your website as well. This form provides an easy way for the consumer to get their relevant info to you. It's a call to action that's easy for them to use and for you to get what you need. 

Make sure your website sends the lead's info to a current email address, and to alert you when it's sent. If you don't know that the info is sent, or it's sent to a stale email address, it might as well not exist. The best practice is to have an email auto-responder set up to notify the prospect that their request has sent, and to send you an alert when you receive it.

Paying attention to these do's and don'ts, along with strong lead generation services that QuoteWizard provides, will give you the resources you need to increase your lead base, and create a successful business.