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Using sales and marketing tools to drive more sales and grow more business should be at the top of your New Year’s resolution list.

​In the insurance business, as in many industries, sales and marketing are crucial. There are a number of things you can do to improve sales and marketing, from better motivating your team to investing more in your marketing budget. Using the right marketing tools can also make a huge difference in driving more sales, expanding your customer base, and growing your business.

There is a large range of sales and marketing tools currently available that are indispensable for insurance businesses. Some such as insurance CRM software are ones you probably already know you should be using, whereas others are less obvious and fill needs you may not even know you have!

Here is our list of the top 8 online sales and marketing tools that will help you lift your game in 2020.

Could your business use more sales revenue? Blitz can help to nurture relationships and win more customers with our easy and effective sales follow up software! Schedule a free demo with us!

1. Buzzsumo

There’s no denying that social media is highly influential in 2020, and as such needs to be a key part of any business’ social media strategy. You may think of social media being the domain of consumer-driven businesses in industries like beauty, fashion, and travel. However, social media can also be a highly effective marketing tool for businesses in the insurance industry. Consider this: 87% of B2B companies consider social media to be a “high successful” marketing tool. As social media becomes an increasingly popular marketing tool for businesses, it also becomes increasingly complex. Your competitors will use clever social media tactics to market their services, so you also need to lift your marketing game.

Buzzsumo is an extremely useful tool to help you do just that. This content research and monitoring tool lets you analyze your social media activity by seeing what’s working and what’s not. Perhaps even more importantly, it lets you do the same for other social media channels by displaying which of your competitors’ posts are trending. This kind of competitor analysis lets you learn from your competitors’ marketing strategies, and then put those lessons into practice. Buzzsumo has additional handy features such as alerts for certain keywords, author name or domain, and influencer search related to specific topics.

2. Blitz Sales Software

One of the most critical tools for sales and marketing teams in the insurance industry is CRM software. CRM tools are essential for being able to manage customer relationships, follow up on leads, and track sales (which in turn will lead to better customer retention and sales rates). Blitz Sales Software has been developed with small insurance companies in mind and is designed to free team members from repetitive manual tasks so they can focus on the things which will help to grow the business.

Blitz’s tool includes helpful dashboards that allow team members and leaders an overview on how sales are tracking and the status of leads and contacts. This allows the team to see which areas need attention. Because the tool is cloud-based, you can access it from anywhere, an important consideration for sales reps who are always on the go. Other features include web forms, workflow automation, appointment scheduling, and report generation. Blitz also has a range of features designed to remind your team to follow up, as well as the ability to track follow ups and progress.

3. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is an essential SEO tool. SEO, or search engine optimiation, is a critical part of marketing for any business operating in 2020. With 97% of general customers searching for businesses online, and 71% of B2B customers searching online as a first step, online search results matter. This means that it is vital that your business is ranking highly on search engines. By search engines, we mean specifically Google, as the majority of search traffic is here. To rank highly, you need great SEO.

Google Analytics is a comprehensive SEO tool run by Google themselves which allows you to see how many users are visiting your site and what they do when they get there. This is critical for you to see how your site is performing both in terms of driving traffic through SEO and converting visitors when they get there. With Google Analytics, you can run customized reports, understand your visitor demographics, and get insight on why customers may be visiting your site and leaving without taking the action you want them to take.

4. Canva

When it comes to marketing, engaging with your audience is key. And in order to be engaging, you need great visual content. This could be photos, stock images, and other graphics you have sourced from others. However, custom designs and graphics can take your social media, blogs, emails, and other content to the next level.

Canva is an extremely user-friendly online design tool that allows you to quickly and easily create your own designs. This free tool has a range of templates and an intuitive drag-and-drop interface allowing you to create your own content, text, or anything you like. All templates are customizable. But if you’re after a truly unique design, you can build it from scratch!

5. Mailchimp

Email marketing is another highly effective marketing tool you should be using in 2020 (if you’re not already). Building a strong contact list and engaging with it effectively is a great way to grow your customer base, strengthen your relationships with customers, and encourage repeat business. Email marketing also dovetails extremely well with sales efforts, allowing you to send out new offers, reach out to lapsed prospects, and more.

Mailchimp is the undisputed leader in the email marketing field and is a comprehensive solution for both storing mailing list data and creating engaging emails. You can use it to create multiple lists of contacts which can be tagged and categorized. It also has sophisticated campaign capabilities with templates and customization options you can use to send out sophisticated campaigns and track engagement.

6. Wix

Your website is one of the cornerstones of your sales and marketing strategy. It is absolutely critical when it comes to finding new customers, converting prospects, advertising your services, and building your brand. Thanks to the range of website builders now available, many small businesses are choosing to build their own website, not only to save significantly on costs, but also for greater creative control and the ability to easily maintain and update the site themselves to support better digital marketing.

Wix is one of the best, if not the best, website builders out there, and ideal for small insurance businesses looking to create or re-launch their site.

7. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn has been around for a while, but this platform has really grown in recent years, becoming not only the world’s largest professional networking platform but also a powerful sales and marketing tool. This is especially true for B2B insurance companies.

If you really want to maximize LinkedIn to find new prospects, you should be using LinkedIn’s own sales tool, LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This tool is designed to make it easier for users to use the social media platform to find new prospects. Its features include advanced search options to identify leads, make custom lead recommendations, access InMail to contact all members, and measure and track sales.

8. Zoom

Advances in technology in recent years have opened up a range of opportunities for sales and marketing within the insurance industry. One of these is undoubtedly the ability to meet with clients and prospects virtually, eliminating the need for travel and allowing sales reps to keep in touch much more easily than ever before.

Zoom is probably the best virtual meeting tool on the market at the moment. More than simply a voice or video calling service, Zoom has a range of features which make meetings more effective including screen share, mobile screen share, webinar, group meetings, and group collaboration. You can set up meetings and invite other participants to join at any time. You can also record calls, allowing you to check details or agreements at a later time.

Using the sales and marketing tools above can help you make more sales, gain new customers, and expand your business. That’s why you should definitely add “use more marketing tools,” to your 2020 New Year’s resolutions.

Increase the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts at your company with our easy-to-use follow up software. Blitz is reasonably priced, and is packed with the tools your agency needs. Contact us to learn more!

Tom Buckland

Tom Buckland

About the Author

Tom Buckland is a digital marketing specialising in technical SEO. He’s the founder of Ghost Marketing and HQSEO in the UK and loves helping businesses profit through smart digital marketing strategies.