Use these 13 tips to get your insurance company in the news

Insurance companies benefit from media coverage

Why is it so great for companies like insurance firms to get media coverage?

For one, positive media coverage improves the reputation of insurance companies. Secondly, media coverage places your company at the forefront of prospective customers’ minds. More often than not, customers may not know about your insurance company until you are included in a news story and highlighted as an industry expert. When your executives are considered industry experts, your company and executives are on prospective clients’ radar when they need an insurance company.

So how exactly do insurance companies get in the news?

We’ve worked with several insurance companies and have found two main reasons why insurance companies fail to get included in the news:

First: They don’t know how to spot newsworthy events.

Second: They don’t pitch their company the right way.

Perhaps your insurance company previously tried to get included in a news story or pitched to the media and failed to be included or to gain a reporter’s interest. If so, it’s very possible your insurance company is making one of the two mistakes listed above.

To help you and your executive team find newsworthy items that may attract the media’s attention, we made an easy-to-review list that will help jumpstart your ability to gain news coverage. 

Below is a list of 13 ways we compiled to get your insurance company in the news.

1. Start with looking at where your customers live and the seasonal opportunities that may pertain to those areas. For example, you can discuss how to prepare for hurricane season and the types of insurance needed for that time of year.

2. Be sure to follow legislation changes that impacts the insurance industry and your consumer base. A spokesperson can provide insight to the media about those legislation changes. Also, draft social media posts and blog posts on the topic.

3. Take time to review your insurance company’s recent blog and social media posts for topics you can use for pitching to the media. (And if you’re not blogging, why not?)

4. Create and promote community hiring days for specific groups: veterans, women, a specific industry, etc. This is especially important when your company plans to hire more than 50 people. 

5. Take a moment to review and submit for local, industry, and national awards for your company through your local business journal, industry trade media, and business magazines, newspapers, websites, and other publications. There are a number of benefits to entering awards for your company.

6. Hired or promoted someone within your company? Share notable hirings and promotions with local business journals and news outlets and share your executive appointments and promotions with the industry’s media.

7. Think about your company’s pipeline; are there any strategic partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions on the horizon? You may have to keep these items close to the chest but know the media is interested in these types of stories. 

8. Be sure to share your insurance company’s charitable giving by distributing and submitting news briefs to the local community, business, and national industry trade media.

9. Research editorial calendars in insurance industry publications like PropertyCasulty360 and Insurance Journal for ways to add your company’s insight to upcoming articles and trends. This is something that is often considered low hanging fruit. 

10. Share news, if you have multiple locations, from your headquarters using our Avalon system where we dive into hyperlocal community news outlets. 

11. Have a member of your executive team submit a bylined article, letter to the editor, or opinion column to an industry publication.

12. Does your insurance company have employees who have provided outstanding service? Did they go to the scene of an accident to support a client? Highlight their efforts and contributions.  

13. Conduct a public poll or survey to find out what people actually know about the insurance industry and if they are properly covered.

We hope you were able to find a few opportunities you can use for possible news coverage of your insurance company!

Let’s take action together, not let these ideas go to waste, and get your insurance firm in the news.

If you’d like to speak with a PR expert, contact us at 888-PR-FIRM-8 (888-773-4768), and let's chat about where we go from here to get your insurance company positive news coverage.