Agency Branding: Do You Really Know What It Is?

Agency branding…many people think they know what it is but in reality they aren’t sure. Even more importantly, many agents don’t fully understand the power and opportunity in building a brand. Just five years ago, having a better than average website was enough, but in today’s social world you really need to have a distinct image that cuts through the clutter of insurance marketing, speaks right to your target market, and delivers a clear message of why a client should work with you.

When you look at your brand where would you go first? Try this—take out a business card, letterhead or envelope, open your website, and grab a recent print piece. How much of it is clear, clean, and consistent? If the answer is not much, your agency is lacking a true brand. A brand has very little to do with you and everything to do with a clear message to your exact target market.

In insurance we all want the same customer—a person who values our expertise, pays their bills and wants the best coverage. I have yet to meet one agency owner who isn’t looking for this person. The problem is if your image is less than amazing you are never going to attract the crème of the crop. So take a hard look at what your current image says about you. Take it one step further—what does your office look like? Does it match the type of clientele you want?

So let’s break down what branding is for an independent agent and why it’s critical to make investments in developing it.

1. Brand: Brand is what people think when they hear your name. Do they think old, outdated, difficult, or been there forever? Or do they think friendly, easy to deal with, and modern?
2. Branding: Influencing what people think about your brand. This is where you get to change perception. When I first started my company two years ago, I knew my biggest investment needed to be in a great website and brand. I had to look really awesome to get attention, look professional, modern, and pretty fun to deal with! If your brand is telling more about your products than you, it’s time to take a look at it.
3. Influencing: Consistently communicating your brand across all customer touch points. The key word here is consistently. You can’t have a brochure that looks one way and an email signature that looks another. It’s amazing how powerful a consistent brand image can be.
4. Finding Your Brand: You may be struggling with what to tell people about your business. It should not be “We give great service” or “We have been in business for 300 years”; it needs to be about the customer and not you. In order to build a brand, you have to think “Why are we different?” It often helps to work with a real marketing and branding company. They will help you do the research about what your target markets really care about and how you rise to that occasion.
5. The Big Idea: Once you know what makes you different, it’s then time to boil that down to three-to-seven words that describes your business. In branding and marketing, simplicity is key so don’t overdo it!
6. Communication Silos: Next we need to determine how we are going to represent your brand in nonverbal ways, e.g. defined customer experience, how you represent your agency visually, and what your sales team says compared to the content on your website.
7. Documentation: Your brand needs to be documented and trained upon. It can’t just be in your head hoping everyone follows it. It needs to be clearly documented and adhered to!
8. Implementation: Now you need to start using your brand. Sometimes this means making some investments to display your branding assets such as stationary, social media images, email marketing, tradeshows, white papers, and your website.
9. Grow: Once that is all pulled together, you can grow! Great branding gives you the opportunity, and using it correctly will communicate your values and products to the right people.

We know branding can be a challenge—from really understanding your target market to training your team on your brand. What we often find is that agents don’t know someone who can help them build a brand. We recommend looking locally, but it’s also something we handle! You can download an infographic on agency branding to learn more. https://www.agencyperformancepartners.com/branding-infographic/