How Inbound Marketing Saved a Business

Marcus Sheridan almost lost his swimming pool business during the recession. But instead of accepting defeat, he says he grew the business into “one of the largest of its kind in the world.”

He credits his success to inbound marketing. By sharing his expertise on the Web, he says he attracted visitors to his website and gained trust from homeowners, who were searching for answers to their pool questions.

Sheridan, who is the keynote speaker at this month’s Big “I” Young Agents Leadership Institute in San Antonio, says independent agents can also use inbound marketing to boost business and build credibility with online insurance shoppers.

IA: How did you get into marketing through your swimming pool company?

Sheridan: After the housing marketing collapsed in late 2008, we were getting ready to go out of business. But we had roughly 20% of the market still available to sell to—the rest couldn’t get financing any more for pools.

That’s when we had to do things differently than we had ever done them before.

We said, “Why don’t we become the best teachers in the world about fiberglass swimming pools?” If anybody had ever asked us a question, we made sure that we answered that question on our website.

When we did that, search engines fell in love with us because nobody else was answering those questions. We started to get more traffic to our site.

Homeowners loved us because we were honest. We were transparent and we weren’t hiding any information. That led to more visits, and ultimately, way more appointments and then way more sales.

IA: What exactly is “inbound marketing,” and why does it matter to independent agents?

Sheridan: Inbound marketing is the process of providing such good information that people come to you to learn. They come to you for advice, and you become the trusted agent.

It’s the opposite of outbound marketing, which is spray and pray. The old methodology of jumping in front of people and saying, “Hey, listen to me”—which is radio advertising, billboards and advertising methodologies that we’ve been doing over the past 20 to 30 years.

The whole realm of insurance is based upon trust. When you become a great teacher and you’re able to resolve the concerns that your prospects have, you’re going to earn their trust and ultimately, you’re going to earn their business. You’ll become the go-to resource for insurance in your area.

IA: How can agents use their insurance knowledge effectively—and efficiently—in their online marketing?

Sheridan: They should take every question that they get and write them down.

[Insurance agents] are really good at answering those questions because they do it every day, and so they should answer them in video or textual format. Put those answers on your website.

This way, before people even meet you face to face, they can hear your philosophy from your website. Or, if they contact you, you can send them this information before you meet them.

What would happen if people were more educated or prepared before an agent met with them? What would happen to closing rates? What would happen to the sales cycle?

Everything would change. This is what happens when people become the best teachers in the field.

IA: Who should be creating marketing content online—does an agency need to hire a marketing consultant or specialist?

Sheridan: No, not at all. Often times, that’s counterproductive.

You might need somebody to help you with the technical side of getting started. But once you understand how to add content to your website, you should produce it because it’s your company and your voice, and you’re the one who the customer is going to talk to.

We don’t want them to hear the words of somebody else. No marketing person will ever be able to understand your industry as well as you.

IA: Why is it worth it for agents to spend time on inbound marketing—what would you tell an agent who says he doesn’t have time to spend on it?

Sheridan: I look at it like this: When was the last time your company didn’t have enough time to do payroll? I’ve told this to thousands of business owners, and no one has ever said we didn’t have time to do payroll. They make the time because they know they have to do it.

When somebody gets it, when they get the power of inbound marketing, they would never dare say, “I don’t have time.” They might say, “I’m not motivated.” They might say, “I don’t care.” They might say, “I don’t need the leads.”

But they surely would never say, “I don’t have time,” because that’s a myth. We have the time for that which is most important to us.

Victoria Goff served as IA senior editor.