How to Market Annuities on Social Media

Looking to generate more annuity leads? The answer might lie in social media.

Social media may not be the first avenue that jumps to mind for marketing annuities, but it is a powerful way to attract leads.

Stats show that social media marketing accounted for 33% of digital ad spending in 2022.

Although most companies are pouring millions into social media marketing, industries like finance and insurance have been lagging behind.

It’s not hard to imagine how a fashion brand could supercharge its sales through social media. But annuities and insurance? Marketing annuities via social media is slightly less intuitive. As a result, a lot of agents are missing out on huge potential for traction.

Are you leaving social media untapped because you’re not sure where to start, how to create the right posts, or how to leverage ads correctly?

We’re here to help. Keep reading for everything you need to get started generating annuity leads on social media in this marketing guide.

Get Clear on Your Target Market

If you’re not sure where to begin with social media marketing, the best place to start is by figuring out the “who, what, where, and how.”

This might sound basic, but stick with us.

Your “who” is the people you’re trying to reach, your ideal leads—or in social media terms—your target audience.

Before you start anything to do with social media marketing, you need to identify who you’re targeting. Are they young urban professionals looking to start saving early to protect themselves from market volatility? Or maybe your target market is nearing retirement and is worried they’ll outlive their savings.

Once you know who your target market is, this can inform everything from what you post on social media to your ad copy and what platforms to focus on. 

Identify the Best Social Media Platforms to Focus On

Speaking of platforms, which social media apps are you going to focus on? This is the “where” of social media.

Unless you have a big budget, lots of time, unlimited focus, or a whole marketing department at your fingertips—it’s probably not realistic to focus on too many platforms in the beginning. 

If you want to protect yourself from overwhelm, it might be more practical to target two main players, such as Facebook and YouTube, and then test the waters on other platforms.

The secret to social media marketing success is uncovering where your target audience is hanging out. Fortunately, for annuities, this isn’t too difficult.

Most agents primarily market to older demographics who are either already retired or on the verge of retirement, and who might be interested in converting their 401(k)s (or other savings) into annuities.

At this stage, it’s no secret that Baby Boomers love Facebook. The second most-frequented platform for this age demographic is YouTube.

YouTube is also a favorite with social media marketers, who rank it as the second-best platform for ROI.

Another thing to think about when evaluating what platforms to focus on is intent. What is your target audience going there to do?

According to the Hubspot report we linked above, the majority of survey respondents use Facebook and Instagram to keep up with friends and family. Twitter is primarily used for keeping up with current events.

For YouTube and TikTok, the majority of respondents are heading to these platforms for entertainment and to learn something new.

This is ideal for marketers. If you want to reach new audiences, gain a following, and generate leads, the best environment to do this in is one where users are looking to be entertained or educated. 

Target Ads Correctly

Most content marketing strategies comprise of a blend between inbound and outbound marketing. In other words, social posts to create organic growth and social media ads.

Once you know which apps your target market is frequenting, you can devise ad strategies for these platforms.

Outbound marketing methods like social media ads are ideal for generating instant leads. They can increase your book of business right away, whereas inbound strategies take time to bear fruit.

However, if you want to see results from your social media ads, you have to target them correctly. If you don’t, you’ll be wasting ad spend and displaying ads to users that don’t convert. 

Social media platforms like Facebook offer powerful targeting opportunities, and you can select between parameters like:

• Age
• Location
• Gender
• Interests
• Income
• Education
• Life events
• Job titles

For annuities, most marketers target age ranges that indicate retirement readiness and income levels that promise financial stability. You can also target individuals who’ve recently shown an interest in retirement planning, personal finance, and insurance.

Life events such as retirement, job changes, and inheritance can also be effective parameters to target.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can leverage lookalike targeting to create an audience based on your existing annuity clients.

Supplementing Your Pipeline While You Wait for Social Media Marketing Strategies to Bear Fruit

Social media offers amazing targeting opportunities that can help you save on costs and reach the right people, but it can take time to perfect your ad strategies.

Unless you have experience in running ad campaigns, you might find that it takes a number of months and a fair amount of trial and error before your campaigns are fully optimized. 

If you don’t want to devote the lion’s share of your marketing budget and time on ads that don’t convert, you can also use a provider like TR King to help supplement your lead numbers.

This can help you fill the gaps in your lead campaigns and ensure you always have leads to work. 

With the right lead provider, you can fill your pipeline with high-quality leads whenever you want. Our Lead Stream service provides agents with on-demand, high-purchase intent leads in real time. 

Perfect Your Ad Copy

Besides targeting ads correctly, you also need to perfect your ad copy and optimize it for the highest conversions.

Crafting the right ad copy is an art in and of itself that can take some trial and error. Here are a few tips to get started:

• Address your target audience’s pain points and concerns (such as outliving their savings)
• Focus on benefits over features and how it can improve their life (i.e., “never worry about future finances again” or “relax knowing that your retirement is taken care of”)
• Use a clear CTA
• Utilize high-quality images, video, and audio

You should also pay close attention to the analytics on your ads and conduct A/B testing.

For instance, if you’re running a video ad on YouTube, look at the engagement. Is there a specific spot where people are dropping off? See why you’re losing them at this point.

For a text ad, experiment with different colors, copy, and calls to action. A/B test different iterations to see which trigger more conversions.

Once again, while you’re getting the hang of creating ad campaigns, you might want to look into buying insurance leads to supplement your pipeline. 

Get Into the Heads and Hearts of Your Ideal Prospects

It’s not enough to simply identify your target audience. You also need to get into their heads and hearts.

This might sound a bit soppy, but it’s the secret sauce to social media and advertising success. The more your messaging can resonate and speak to their pain points, the more leads you’ll generate. 

Sit down and evaluate the feelings, worries, and desires of your typical clients. Some examples could be:

• Wanting to pass on their money if they die before retirement
• Not wanting to have their money locked up, in case they need it for an emergency
• Worries about losing money when the stock market goes down

At the moment, “ugly times” are driving record annuity sales. If you can address this sentiment in your social media posts and ads, there’s a good chance leads are going to come to you instead of the agent that’s putting out generic annuity ads and creating watered-down ad copy.

Create a Social Media Calendar

If you want to approach your social strategy like a pro, create a social media calendar and a publishing schedule. This allows you to plan out your posts and campaigns in advance for a seamless strategy.

Not only will it keep you organized, but it can also save time by allowing you to batch-produce content and have it scheduled and ready to go in advance.

Repurpose Content

Speaking of saving time, don’t forget that you can repurpose content. For instance, if you’re creating long-form video content for YouTube, see if you can turn key takeaways into short 1-minute videos for YouTube Shorts, Facebook, and TikTok.

Break Down Complex Concepts Into Easily Digestible Information

Not sure what kind of content to create for social media? One of the best formats for insurance agents is informational posts.

The financial world is full of jargon and terms that the average person doesn’t use all that often.

This can make anything to do with investing seem complicated and confusing. It can make consumers feel daunted and in the dark, preventing them from taking action around their finances.

Reports show that 7 out of 10 Americans feel intimidated about investing their money.

If you can cut through the complexity and give consumers clear, no-nonsense info in a concise format, this can instill trust and trigger them to take action. 

Instead of being another remote figure in the financial machine—you’ll stand out as the guy or girl who says it like it is, and is truly helping people manage their money in a savvy way.

Focus On Providing Free Value

Another guidepost to keep in mind around social media content is to provide free value. Nobody likes to feel like they’re being lured into buying something.

Instead, create content that drives value, provides free info, and answers common questions and pain points. Keep self-promotional posts to a minimum. A steady stream of “salesy” content is not the way to go. 

Tap Into the Power of Social Proof

Social proof is an insurance agent’s virtual gold. And social media gives you a powerful opportunity to share social proof with new audiences.

Do you have a collection of satisfied clients who’d be happy to publicly give you their stamp of approval on social media? Leveraging this is the perfect way to build trust with potential prospects.

Besides posting testimonials from clients, you might also be able to use reviews in your ad strategy. Stats show that review-based ads generate 4x higher click-through rates and a 50% reduction in cost per click and cost per acquisition.

Team Up With Influencers

Influencer marketing has exploded over the last few years, and there’s no reason why you can’t leverage it as an insurance agent.

Here are a few tips for a successful influencer collaboration:

• Identify the right influencers, ones whose content and audiences align with your target demographics
• Focus on building long-term relationships over paying for once-off posts
• Focus on engagement over promotion

If you try out influencer marketing, make sure you analyze the engagement rates, traffic, and sales so you can calculate the ROI of your paid partnerships.

Get Creative With Trends

If you follow social media trends, feel free to utilize them to inspire some of your content.

Trend-based posts can be tricky to create if you aren’t in tune with the social zeitgeist. There’s nothing more awkward than a brand trying to hop on a trend just for views.

But if you genuinely enjoy and engage with certain social media trends, there’s nothing stopping you from putting your own spin on them.

Are You Still Trying to Crack the Social Media Code?

Social media can be an invaluable way to generate leads, build trust, and reach new audiences. But, it takes time, focus, resources, and dedication.

You can’t expect to run a few ads or throw up a few posts and be swamped with new leads overnight. Social media is a long-term game, one that takes time to fine-tune and perfect.

In the meantime, you still need leads to work.

That’s where we come in. Here at TR King, we supply agents like you with high-quality leads that are ready to convert.

The best part? Our program is on-demand. You can pause, stop, or start your lead streams with a couple of clicks. 

You also receive leads in real-time. No more stale, bought leads hitting your desk days after they showed interest. 

Want some leads to work pronto? Contact us for a Lead Stream account invite and fill your pipeline with fresh, high-purchase intent insurance leads.