6 mistakes to avoid when using Facebook to promote your business
To keep our agents at the forefront of modern industry communication practice we share common mistakes that set agents back when using Facebook to grow their business. Keep reading to understand what to avoid and how to get the most out of your social media marketing.
With Facebook, you have access to communicating with members and prospects. This can be great for business growth and opportunities, but when working with health insurance, guidelines must be followed to avoid the following mistakes.
Mistake #1: Sharing photos that show faces and identifiable features.
It’s tempting to post pictures to Facebook that demonstrate your involvement with the community and your approachability as an agent, but posting pictures of members, prospects, or groups of people that depict their faces or other features that can make them easily identified should be avoided if you haven’t been given permission to share these types of photos by the people featured in them. 1 Instead, share photos of people where these features are not shown, such as photos of their hands or other unremarkable features.1
Mistake #2: Using marketing materials to promote your business that are not approved by the plans you work with.
Some plans may make accessing and posting marketing materials to Facebook easy for agents through libraries of marketing content, pre-approved materials that do not need to be submitted to CMS for review before being used.1 Any outside marketing materials would need to be submitted to CMS for review before posting and should be avoided for the sake of time and ease.1
Mistake #3: Using Facebook-specific materials from content libraries on any social media platform other than Facebook.
Some plans only allow their content to be posted on Facebook at this time. Refrain from sharing content on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, NextDoor, and LinkedIn.1
Mistake #4: Sending emails to your clients about the content you’re sharing on Facebook.
This type of communication falls under the umbrella of marketing. Any emails sent encouraging the recipient to engage with your Facebook content count as an email marketing campaign, and as such, the emails would need CMS approval before being implemented.1
Mistake #5: Using Facebook Messenger to communicate information with prospects.
Prospects may have questions for you about plans they may be interested in or other coverage concerns. Given the social aspect of Facebook, they might send you a message via Facebook Messenger containing their questions. Do not share specific plan information to prospects via Messenger. Instead, use Messenger to share your contact information and ask that the prospect call or email you to discuss their questions.1
Mistake #6: Posting content from material libraries to your personal Facebook account with the intent of promoting your business to personal connections.
Even though you might have connections on your personal Facebook account that could be interested in choosing a Medicare plan, the plans you promote might not allow sharing their pre-approved content on any account other than Facebook Business accounts.1
As an agent, interacting with prospects and maintaining relationships with existing clients is your bread and butter — and your long-term success depends on avoiding mistakes and keeping compliant interactions and promotion, especially on social media. At JAR, we give you the foundation you need to bolster your longevity by getting you in contact with our agile support staff to help manage your compliance and providing you with materials you need to stay informed and on-top of your game. Ready to see what you can do with a team that has your back? Contact our support staff today to get started on becoming a JAR agent today.
1. Humana Inc. Facebook: Social Media — FAQ. MarketPoint Retail Sales Learning and Development. 2021:2-5.