In this myth-busting webinar, we address five common misconceptions insurance agents have about Google Ads. Join Steven Casey, a certified search engine marketing expert, as he shares data-backed insights to set the record straight. You’ll discover how local agents can outrank national carriers and how a well-crafted landing page can boost your conversions by over 50%.
As an official Google Partner since 2017, BrightFire has empowered local insurance agencies to maximize their Google Ads performance through our specialized Search Engine Marketing (SEM) service.
Replay the webinar or read the full transcript below to learn how your agency can leverage Google Ads to increase your online visibility and turn ad clicks into high-value leads for your agency.
Watch the Webinar
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Additional Questions?
If you have any questions about what we discussed in the webinar or our Search Engine Marketing service, schedule a call with a BrightFire Sales Advisor.
Webinar Transcript
Read the full transcript, or use the links to jump to a section, and see what’s possible for your agency.
- Meet Steven Casey
- Myth #1: No One Clicks on Ads
- Myth #2: Local Agents Can’t Compete
- Myth #3: Are Ads Worth the Investment?
- Myth #4: Get the Most Clicks Possible
- Myth #5: Do I Need a Dedicated Landing Page?
- Audience Poll: Do you now believe Google Ads could add value to your marketing efforts?
- Get Started with BrightFire
- Thank You & Questions
Meet Steven Casey
I’d like to begin by introducing Steven Casey, a Customer Success Manager at BrightFire.
Steven has been with BrightFire for three and a half years. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Florida International University and is certified in Google Ads Search, Google Ads Display, and Google Analytics.
To begin, let’s start with our first poll.
Myth #1: No One Clicks on Ads
Alright, so Myth #1 that we hear often, “People don’t click on ads. They skip them and go straight to the organic results underneath.” Translation, “No one clicks on ads.” Steven, what do you have to say about this?
Yeah, totally reasonable myth. There’s always going to be people that scroll right past the ads. But, the reality is the very top of the page is a great place to show, and this is the spot that Google designates for ads. Also, it’s Google’s main source of revenue, and they’ve been one of the most successful companies of the modern era. So as long as you see they’re doing good, it probably means that people are clicking on ads. And Google is going to make sure people continue to. On that note, a change they made in recent years, is they switched from having the word “Ad” next to the ads to the word “Sponsor”. And even more recently, in the past couple of years, they introduced a sponsored ads block, as you’ll see in the screenshot, and that just has a better connotation to users which helps increase clicks for Google. So that’s just one example of Google making sure clicks to ads are not going anywhere anytime soon.
Good information, thank you.
Myth #2: Local Agents Can’t Compete
Alright, so let’s go on to Myth #2. “I can’t compete with national carriers and their higher ad budgets. They’ll always outbid me for the top spot.” Translation, “Local agencies can’t compete with national carriers.” A common myth. Steven, let’s talk about this one.
Yeah, another reasonable myth. The thing here is our quality scores are going to be good, which is a factor Google looks at when choosing which ads to show. Our quality scores are going to be good because we’re targeting more localized keywords and our ad copy has local agent text in there and so does our landing pages; and that allows us to compete because Google likes to see those specific things in the ad and the landing page. Now, the big carriers often have larger budgets, much larger budgets oftentimes, so they can get more clicks without running out of money for that day. But as long as our campaigns have the budget to work with we’re going to be eligible to show where we need to.
Myth #3: Are Ads Worth the Investment?
So, that brings us to Myth #3 “”If I’m already appearing in the top positions organically, bidding on my own agency name is a waste of money.” Translation, “Ads aren’t worth the investment.” Steven, is that true?
Well, when people search for a business to do business with, they’re looking for credibility. The way to earn that is to show as much as possible on a search results page. So, on a typical search results page, there’s the AI section, that’s up at the top these days, there’s the Sponsored results or Ads section, the map pack below that, which contains the Google profiles, and below that the organic web section. If you show in as many of those places as possible, that’s the credibility right there, especially if you’re at the very top paying for those ads.
Ah, so it’s really about getting your name across the different sections on that page.
Yeah, trying to signal authority and trust with people. Because when they’re searching, they might not have heard of your business. But if they see it in four different places right there on the first page, especially in the ads section, it’s really going to help out that credibility.
Myth #4: Get the Most Clicks Possible
So, our next myth to tackle is “The more clicks and conversions my campaign has, the more successful it will be.” Translation, “My goal should be to get the most clicks possible.” Is that true?
So, it can be true, and this is something we talk about on a campaign to campaign basis when we meet with our clients. But, part of what our goal is to ensure we’re getting quality leads, not just quantity, but quality over everything. Although it’s unrealistic to think every lead is going to turn into a sale, our main goal as part of our optimization process is to ensure that we’re getting as many quality leads as possible. We’re not going to be happy if we’ve gotten 10 calls for you, but they were all bogus calls. So, it’s about fine tuning with quality at the forefront of our minds.
Quality over quantity, so true, as many things are in life.
Yeah, we’ve worked with many campaigns where the conversions are lower, but when we look into it a little deeper the return on investment on those can be the highest despite a low number of conversions, because of the quality of the conversion that came through. So, that’s what we’re really trying to determine and optimize for there.
Absolutely, we want to get the ROI up.
Oh yeah, that’s the name of the game.
Myth #5: Do I Need a Dedicated Landing Page?
Alright, so this brings us to our fifth and final myth today, “The best place to send traffic from ads is my home page. It has all the information they need.” The translation, “Should I be creating a separate landing page for my ads? Is it worth the effort?” Steven, what do you have to say about this?
Yeah, the thing here is, these landing pages we create are built for conversions. The goal is to make it as clear and easy as possible for someone to get in touch with you after they’ve clicked the ad. On every landing page, there’s going to be very clear calls to actions, like a form to fill out or a phone number to call, right there on the screen, and some of our agents have even included an instant quote tool as well, if you have that. It’s all strategically placed throughout the page. A typical homepage just has a bit more fluff. Sometimes, people are able to navigate to different tabs which could lead away from a conversion, and it’s just not as optimized specifically for conversions, as one of our landing pages would be.
So, the goal here is we want to keep people focused on the goal we want them to achieve. We don’t want them to deviate from that focus.
Right, and make it as easy as possible for them to do business with you. They are looking to possibly do business with you, because they clicked on an ad or searched for you, and they want to know how to get in touch with you, so we’re making it easy for them to do that.
Right. Good information.
Audience Poll: Do you now believe Google Ads could add value to your marketing efforts?
Okay, at this time, we’re going to launch our second poll. You’ll see that pop up on your screen. With the information that we shared today, we want to know, do you now think Google Ads could add value to your marketing efforts?
Wow! I’m loving this. Alright, so I see many people have responded, and we’re getting a lot of ‘yes’s here. I’ll share the results with all of you. As you can see, 93% of you have said ‘yes,’ you now believe Google Ads could add value to your marketing efforts. So, very good. That’s the purpose of today: we want to educate you, so you can make informed decisions for your agency.
Get Started with BrightFire
If you’re ready to boost your agency’s brand awareness but don’t have the bandwidth to do so, or you’d prefer to leave it to the digital marketing experts, consider BrightFire’s Search Engine Marketing service. Our Google Ads certified experts, like Steven, can help guide your agency on which solution, or combination of solutions, best reflects your goals and budget.
Our digital marketing strategists and designers are experts at crafting effective copy and creating eye-catching designs, while ensuring everything is optimized for your agency’s goals and target audience.
After we discuss your agency’s needs, we’ll be equipped to recommend a Search Engine Marketing solution that will meet those needs and help you stand out locally against other agencies and the biggest names in insurance.
We provide everything you need, including the setup for the solutions of your choosing between Website Visitor Retargeting, Search Engine Branding, and/or Google Paid Search. You’ll also receive copywriting, graphic design, custom ad design, a custom landing page for each campaign, call tracking with local phone numbers, click fraud detection and protection, BrightFire’s budget planner, and a reporting dashboard that you can access at your convenience to manage and monitor all of your BrightFire services.
If you’re interested in learning more about our Search Engine Marketing service, simply go to http://www.brightfire.com/contact-sales and schedule a no-obligation consultation with a BrightFire Sales Advisor.
Our digital marketing services don’t have any setup fees, contracts, or user fees, and we also include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Thank You & Questions
As a reminder to our attendees, please use the Q&A feature to submit your question. We’ll do our best to answer any questions that come through. If we aren’t able to address your question during the webinar, someone from BrightFire will follow up by email.
So our first question is: “Is it really possible for me to compete with the big national carriers who have massive ad budgets?”
Yeah, fair. Yes, we’re going to be able to compete as long as the budget allows. Our quality scores are going to be good or better than many of the large carriers out there, because of the localized keywords we’re targeting and the demographics and all that we place on the campaign, so the only limiting factor for how many clicks we can get will be due to the budget.
Our next question is, “You mentioned the importance of dedicated landing pages, ad copy, and technical tools like click fraud detection. Does the agency have to manage those settings ourselves, or is that all included in the BrightFire service?”
Yeah that is something that is all included in the service. From managing the landing page, all of the optimizations to the campaign. We are willing and open to meeting with you to discuss any possible optimizations ideas that you have, and we will talk through if that’s a best practice. But, everything to do with the campaign is totally managed by BrightFire.
And that’s why working with experts like BrightFire is the value, because as we mentioned you get copywriters, people that know how to shape the headline and descriptions. You’re getting a graphic designer. And you’re getting someone like you (Steven) who has the certifications in the Google Display or Search Ads campaigns. So, imagine going out and hiring all of those people, or trying to take that on yourself.
Alright, we have another question coming through. This question is pretty broad. I think the answer may be specific to the person, but “What’s a good budget to be effective?” Do you have any recommendations there?
No, that’s a great question. So, the minimum budget we will run a campaign with, again, that’s the budget you’re paying Google directly, is $300 minimum. That just ensures we get enough clicks in order to be somewhat effective. And we do see many campaigns with that budget, that do get quality leads come through. But when it comes to what we recommend, we recommend at least a $500 budget per month, just so we can get enough clicks in order to average out and be successful in the long term. We can do a little bit of math here, average costs per click, across all campaigns (not being too specific), is about $8 – $10 per click. So, if we just do some math there, if we have a $500 budget, we’re able to get about 50 clicks per month. And good things can come from 50 clicks a month. So, that’s the mark we’re confident can be successful. Of course if we do the minimum $300 budget a month, we can still get about 30 clicks, and that can still be effective as well. But we’re confident in recommending $500 per month.
Great. And obviously it depends on their goals and what it is they’re trying to achieve, right?
Oh yeah. Generically speaking of course.
We have another question: “Can I run an ad for only a couple of months throughout the year, or does it have to be set for the entire year?”
Yeah, good question. The BrightFire service is a monthly subscription. So, if you did want to pause the campaign throughout the year that is something we can do. Just know you will still be charged the management fee for the campaign, because we’re still optimizing the campaign even though it’s paused, we’re still hosting the landing page, things of that sort. Also, if you pause it too much during the year and too many times, it can trigger what’s called a “new learning period”. And not to go too far in the weeds with that, but Google Ads campaigns do better when they’re consistently running, because they’re consistently being optimized instead of starting and stopping. So, best practice for a Google Ads campaign is keep it running and maybe lower the budget if you don’t have the bandwidth for certain months out of the year.
Good information!