The Broker's Voice: Using Social Media Metrics To Drive Business Opportunities

All right, welcome back to the Broker's Voice. I'm excited because I'm actually joined by two people today, not just one. I'm joined by Blake Lemoy and Thomas mackey, both with PrimePay. Now, when you heard me say prime pay, you might have been like, really? You got two dudes coming on from payroll services and hcm. That's not what we're talking about today. We are talking about how you can stand out when you're so easily commoditized by the broker market. That's what we are here to talk about today. So before we dive into that topic, I want to give each of these gentlemen a chance to introduce themselves. So, Thomas, I'm going to start with you question. How in the world did you find yourself in the insurance industry?

Well, it just kind of happened. I actually started in the golf industry, spent a couple seasons doing that, and then went to Enterprise for four years, rented cars for two years, and then did some B2B stuff on the other side and then got cold. Called on LinkedIn by one of our VPs at Prime Day. He asked if I was tired of cleaning cars in 100 degree heat. Yes, I was. And so that was four years ago.

Now what people I know, not everybody's gonna listen to this with on the video. Someone will listen to audio. What flag you got behind you? Is that a golf course flag?

That is a Ryder cup hazel team.

Hazel team. Okay.

Yep. I did not go. I wish I did, but I purchased that after that, after that tournament.

And I'm gonna ask an ignorant question. Hazel, Tina's. Where?

Minnesota.

Minnesota. Awesome. Awesome. Blake.

Yes, sir.

How the heck did you find yourself in this industry, my friend?

First it was banking. So started my career when Washington Mutual bank was doing their digital transformation. Built a personal brand as a digital marketing and sales business development. And kind of like our friend Thomas Mackey here, I got recruited off of LinkedIn from one of the big guys and I've been in the industry since 2014.

That's awesome. That's awesome. And that's. I think where we want to go today for this topic is, you know, Thomas, I would love for you to share with the listeners your experience and what you're doing to really stand out out. Especially when people. It's so easy for. For a broker to go, oh, you work for prime pay. And they put this instantly have this thought in their head. Right. And with you, Blake, you know, with your background of social media and the metrics behind it, I would really love to dive into you know, our industry has such a. I'm going to call it a, a jaded or weird view of social media. A lot of people don't believe it works. A lot of people go to it and want instant results, which does not work. And so we're going to dive into all things. Okay, you know, you need to be here. It's 2022. What the heck should you be focused on when it comes to social media and the metrics to make sure you know, your, your, your content is performing the way you want it to? Does that sound like a plan? Gentlemen?

Perfect.

Awesome. So, Thomas, I want to start with you. You know, you've been with Prime Pay for a few years. Just talk about, you know, again, when you're. It's so easily to be commoditized by the brokers you work with. What are you doing? Or when did you come to that epiphany that I needed to start standing out? And what have you really started leaning into to try to make that happen?

Yeah, I mean, you nailed it. It is a commodity, right? Same for the consultants that are selling employee benefits. A lot of people are doing it. A lot of great people out there. There's a lot of different options, but you have to stand out. And I came to that realization pretty quick. I started learning about the competition and how many are out there, and it's, it's crazy, right? And so I had to do something different. And I think that that keyword is different. It has to be different than what else is. Is out there. And so for me, when I find success, it all comes back to me. I rarely will post content about who I work for, what we're doing. It's all great stuff, but it's about me and my personal brand. So that's, that's what I look at when I'm thinking about LinkedIn and content strategy. It's who am I? What do I believe in? What do I want to share with people? It's more about the relationships and the friendships over any product or solution. Humans buy from humans. And that is, that's where, that's where I start. So I've started. You know, you may have saw a post the other day I was talking about golf, and it got more engagement and from the right people than I've had in a long time. And it's. I wasn't pushing product or anything, but I was just being me and people respect it.

Well, and that's what I loved about that post, is you brought a passion into it. Golf. Right. You Even came from the golf industry. And, you know, people don't understand. I actually had a conversation with a gentleman the other day about social media. He's like, I'm so sick of these posts about your personal life and things like that. I said, but what you got to understand is when you show people more parts of your life than just your business, but you tie business and life lessons around that. You don't just post it to say, see me, it gives somebody a chance to get a little more connected with you. So that post you made about golf and what it's taught you, trust me, we got a lot of golfers in the industry. It gave people an opportunity to get that much closer to you. You know, I think about when I post things about my, you know, I love to cycle, road cycle. I know when I put stuff out there, there's road, cyclists. You know, we have a mutual connection in Indianapolis. A gentleman, an advisor who I know loves cycling, Mr. Hank Hagen. It allows them to get to know you and get closer to you. That's the whole name of the game, 100%. So, Blake, let's. Let's flip it over now.

Yeah.

You know, when I think about posting content, Give us your background a little bit, maybe before we even get into metrics and things like that. Back in the, you know, when you were working for the bank in the banking industry and things like that, what were you doing back then to use social media, digital marketing to get that attention you needed?

So the bank, one of the biggest things was you needed to have new branded content, so the website needed to have different content. And that was just seasonal banners running, you know, seasonal stuff just to make sure the transaction was fresh. And every time you visited that website, it was a fresh transaction. And it was a new face, like a, you know, a new logo kind of, or a. Or a new, you know, updated kind of banner. And that was really it at the very beginning in the early 2000s.

And so what do you know when you look at social media today? I mean, that was early, too. We're talking. That was before. Most people probably had a good grasp of what it was and why they need to use it. But we're now in 2022, and if you're not using social media right now, you're in trouble. And so let's talk about metrics, because I think a lot of people get this wrong when they hear metrics, especially in our industry, the immediate metric people think about is likes and comments.

Yeah, yeah.

When you think about metrics and social media, and let's for maybe the topic of this conversation, LinkedIn, because a lot of our peers are on LinkedIn. What should people, what matters? What should people be focused on?

So I think the first thing is you got your top of funnel awareness. The more people that are aware of you but then also focus that voice and focus on a specific target. So if your target is a executive cfo, then you want to share the personalized stuff. You golf. Right. These are people that also golf. I cook, so sometimes I'll put something in there about cooking or my kids and coaching and baseball and this because that's what like minded professionals and people are doing in that same industry. So it's not personalization. That is not without a point.

Yeah, that's a really good point. Thomas, I'm going to flip it back to you for a second. You know, when you think about what Blake just said, that personal touch and creating that personal connection with those executives that are ultimately going to make the buying decision, do you have any examples, you know, working with the market you work in and let's call it the Great Lakes area where you've been able, your content or just your awareness, just you putting yourself out in the market has allowed you to really make a good connection with an agency or an advisor that's ultimately sent you business.

Yeah, well, let's keep talking about golf because that's, that actually is part of my personal brand. It's, it's more than the game for me. It's, and if you saw the post, it's more than that. So it's, it's a part of who I am. So I, I talk about that all the time and it's been able, we've been able to create relationships based on the fact that we have that in common and become friends before we do anything else together. And, and so once you have that friendship with somebody now it becomes easier to start talking business and how can we help each other and you really want to help that person once you have that personal connection. And so I start there as a friend and you brought Hagan up. Great example. We met handful of years ago and best friends now and it's because of golf. He got me into cycling and so we play golf together from time to time as well. And it's because of that personal, that personal brand and where we started our relationship that's taking it into business as well.

So I'm gonna put both of you on the spot if you're ready for it. I'm gonna start with you, Thomas. You know you talked about that post you made recently about golf. Talk to us, if you don't mind. Walk us through the post because I think a lot of people get very hung up on what should I say? And if you, if you didn't see it, it's a picture of Thomas teeing off. But talk a little bit about the message you put in the post that allowed you to tie the game of golf into whether it was business or life.

Yeah, so I started it.

Just.

Everyone knows that I'm obsessed with golf, but what has that really taught me? And so I tied it into business, but also life lessons, but mostly, mostly business. I'm focusing on your next shot, right. You hit a bad one, that's okay. Make the next one even. Even better. Same is true for business. Play the ball as it lies. You know, honesty, transparency, integrity, those are all crucial business lessons. Play the course, not your opponent. We talked about being a commodity. There's a lot of people out there that are doing different things, trying different things, but I just need to focus on my game and what I have going on. Right. And then focus on. On the long term. Golf is a. It's a four hour, ish, you know, 18 holes, not just one, two, three. You have one good hole, you have one bad hole, but it's the 18 that actually matters. So you have one bad month and one bad quarter in business. So what? Go crush the next one.

If you're at a golf outing with a lot of bad golfers, it's a five or six hour 18 hole.

You know it. Yep.

I give golfers credit. I have friends who will go on these trips where they play 36 holes a day for three days in a row. I'm like, man, yep, that's love. And go. I can play golf, but 18 holes, I'm good. So I give you guys a lot of credit. Blake, what about you? Because I have actually have some clients and peers that are into cooking. Yeah, I would, you know, again, just like Thomas did, someone listening in going, how do I tie that into my business? Or what do you. How do you tie cooking, a passion you have into business? Again, business, life lessons that allow you to really connect with your target audience.

So I was listening to Thomas, I was thinking about this because I share random facts about my personal life because my journey is what brought me here. From Seattle to Texas to New York and back and forth, my kids. So this last one, strong ethical leaders are needed for today's changing world. And I posted a picture of me and my son. I'm leading this 13 year old kid into this world. Like I need to be this strong ethical leader and I just shared it because that's what I'm seeing. So I connected those things because we need strong leaders to change. We need this stuff to go. So whether it's cooking or me with my kids or anything, I think it's sharing your why and sharing who you are. Like you said, Thomas. And then that aligns with personal brands and that's how connections and deals are made. Is, you know, now that I've seen you do certain things, I like those certain things too. And yeah, maybe I'll have a conversation with you.

I love how you said that because I think you know the word you use the word journey.

Yeah.

That's so important because I think one, the pandemic changed everything because a lot.

Of people's journeys changed.

No matter whether you're a new, a new broker or that C suite executive you've been afraid to get in front of, everybody went through the same thing. It kind of level set the playing field. And I tell small agencies this all the time. I work with a lot of agencies who might be a smaller independent agency and they focus on small group business.

Yeah.

And they don't know what they should talk about or share in their contest. Said share your entrepreneurial journey.

Yeah.

You're why your prospect is going through that too.

Exactly. They're going through it too. And that connection is going to make you a deal.

Absolutely. So I'm going to go back to you, Blake, and then I'm going to spin it to you, Thomas. Blake, somebody's listening, going, okay, I need to get started. I know. I finally need to get my butt on LinkedIn. Where do I start? And let's go back one more time. What metrics should I be paying attention to when I'm posting content? Because our industry, I'm going to say it, and I used to be guilty of this. Sometimes we focus too much on popularity and not enough on performance. I'm there to do business. Yes, I want to connect and I want to create awareness. But it's, I'm there to attract the right people into my world that could ultimately have a business I could have a business relationship with. So new broker trying to get on or an industry partner. Where do they start?

So you know who you surround yourself matters. So those, those connections that you want to surround yourself with, those leaders that are saying the same thing that you're saying or the same passions that you have that can spark a conversation. I love talking to other CFOs and leaders that are sharing stuff about their family because I can also connect with that or cooking because then that connects. So I think that's the how and then the why. Like I look and I don't really need to connect with more people in my industry. So if you're HCM or if you're any in this, like, thanks. But I actually actively unfollow to remove that audience and I actively follow certain segments and certain leadership to build my audience intentionally.

I love that you said that because I had Seth Denson join me a few weeks back on the Broker's Voice. He's a friend of mine, probably in my opinion has the best brand in the industry. Yeah, he's also a very best kept secret in the industry. When I said that to him on the episode, he said, I actually love hearing that because he said I don't care about having a brand with the industry. I want to have a brand with my prospects. And I thought that was so well said. And that's exactly what you just said. It's not about connecting with as many peers and it's about connecting with the people that could do business with you.

Yeah, impressions are great, but impressions in the wrong audience is a waste of my time. Boom.

Impressions on the wrong audience is a waste of your time. Thomas, how about you again? Broker? Knowing they got to get on LinkedIn a little more often than they are right now. They maybe represent an industry partner like Prime Pay or a carrier, where, let's face it, brokers love to commoditize you. Where do they start? Where should that advisor or that carrier rep start with content?

Well, I would start with the personal brand of it. You know, figure out who you are, what sets you apart. Follow Andy Neary. Right, let's. Yeah, just start, start there. What's going to set you apart? What are people going to want to, what do you want to talk about? What do people want to hear? And don't, yeah, don't focus on the products too much. Focus on your, on yourself and be a human being. Simple as that.

Couldn't have said it easier myself. You know, I think about.

This phrase I've used a lot with clients is, you know, when you are in a world of commoditization and we all are, whether, whether you're a broker trying to go after employers, a lot of them just view you all as, all of us as brokers. Right. Or you're a carrier rep or an industry partner working with brokers. It's easy to go oh, so you represent a carrier. Got it. He or she who is seen the most and educates the most will win.

And so when you represent an industry partner and there's others that do what you do, if we see you the most and you're bringing the most value to me, I'm going to do business with you.

Right. You've let them down the buyer's journey, You've educated them the most. You're the highest frequency thought leader. So why wouldn't I give you a chance if I needed to buy your service?

What advice? So let's, let's wrap up here. John or Blake, I'm going to start with you. What's your one piece of advice again? Whether it's social media in general or LinkedIn specifically, if you could throw out one secret sauce, one thing that's helped you, what would be that one piece of advice?

Like, really understand what your mission, your vision, what makes you curious, and put those out there and share what you love and share what you're doing, because that's going to attract the audience that will talk to you and you want to talk to.

That's awesome. I mean, it goes back to the word you used, right? Journey. Share your journey. It's that simple. Thomas, what about you?

I'd say just do it. You know, it takes a lot of people outside of their comfort zone a lot of times, whether it's coming up with some new creative content or even doing video that's uncomfortable to get started. And I, I hated recording myself for the longest time, and then I just did it and it became easier and I was talking about things that I was passionate about, and that passion came through and it was easier to create content as a result of that.

So this is a question for either one of you to answer. Maybe I'll go with Blake, because you've been doing it for a lot longer. Blake, go back to your early days of social media and digital marketing. Look at it. When you look at yourself on a video or content you created, you're already shaking your head. When you started, were you really good at it?