Your prospect’s customer experience with your agency begins before they even reach out to you. And prior to that outreach, all they have to go on is the attractiveness of your brand.

The top insurance brands always have great word of mouth behind them, a standout online presence, and solid marketing and advertising. Brands with room for improvement are unknown in the local community, don’t advertise and can’t be easily found online.

Your online impression has a big influence on what type of experience a prospect believes they’ll get from your business—which means it plays a huge role in how likely they are to contact you to learn more.

Here are three ways to improve client expectations early in the buying process:

1) Look your best on major listings. It’s free to claim your agency’s spot on listings like Google My Business and Bing Places. Add some photos and contact information, and voila—you can now be found more easily when people search for insurance.

For extra credit, ask your favorite clients to review your agency on Google. In insurance, reviews on websites like Yelp don’t matter as much as they do on Google. Look around—most of your competitors will have less than 10 reviews on Google. You’ll be surprised how much those gold stars next to your name mean to someone who’s thinking about reaching out.

2) Think like a web user. Newsflash: 99 times out of 100, no one cares about Life Insurance Awareness Month or how they can protect their house from wind damage. When you post on social media, post things people care about—memes, quick tips, relevant news, client profiles and the like.

Use what’s unique about your brand. If your office is located in a pretty place, share weekly pics of the beauty surrounding your office. Obsessed with high heels? Show off your kicks of the day with the hashtag #KOTD. Maybe you’re a foodie? Show us what you’re eating. Like to sneak away from the office to play golf? Those posts would do numbers on social media.

The point is, if you’re going to invest time in social media, post about the things people care about. The fact that your agency sells insurance is not one of them.

3) Stay top of mind. If you want social media to work for your brand, you’ve got to get the word out. Nothing is going to happen until then.

National brands like State Farm advertise at football stadiums, on billboards, through display ads online and via strategic mailers. They don’t believe this will lead to you purchasing a policy right then and there—they’re basically just making you remember their brand.

Likewise, your social media should create positive brand recognition. The more active you are on social media, the more visible you are to people inside and outside of your network.

For more ideas on how to maintain a positive client experience throughout the customer journey, keep an eye on IAmagazine.com and upcoming editions of the News & Views e-newsletter.

Cam Bob III is founder of Infinity Leads, a customer acquisition agency for insurance, and author of “The Digital Insurance Agent.”