The Latest News From Melon Local
Stay in the know with the latest news in digital marketing, best practices and updates from Melon Local.
4 Questions to Ask Before Granting GBP Access
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the most valuable digital assets your business owns. It’s often the first thing potential customers see when they search for your business, making it a key driver of organic calls, website visits and foot traffic. In fact, a fully optimized GBP gets
Photo Best Practices for Google Business Profile
A picture can really be worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to the photos you choose to upload on your Google Business Profile (GBP). Well, at least according to the search engine, businesses that add photos to their GBPs receive 42 percent more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35 percent more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t. Although images don’t directly influence your
10 Strategies for Higher Performing Google Ads
In the fiercely competitive digital insurance marketing space, the secret to making your Google ads stand out isn’t just a hefty budget — it’s through strategic planning and understanding the search engine’s Quality and Optimization Score system. Let’s dive into how Google measures the quality and optimization of an ad and some strategies you can incorporate into your paid search campaigns. How Google’s Quality & Optimization Score System Works Think
Gemini vs. ChatGPT: Which AI Program is Better?
The tech world witnessed an “artificial intelligence (AI) spring” in 2023 with the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4. Amid this wave of innovative language models, Google’s Gemini AI launched as a formidable contender to ChatGPT, sparking a debate on which AI titan holds the crown in the digital marketing space. Leveraging cutting-edge technology is key to staying ahead for insurance agents, raising the question: Will ChatGPT or Gemini reign
6 Ways to Leverage Community Involvement for Backlinks
In the competitive world of insurance, fostering connections within your community goes beyond handshakes or sponsoring local sports teams. Picture transforming these personal, face-to-face interactions into powerful tools that enhance your online visibility through strategic backlinks. Let’s take a dive into how active participation in your community can open doors to numerous backlinking opportunities and potentially level up your Google ranking! Why Do Backlinks Matter? Think of backlinks — hyperlinks
Inc. Ranks Melon Local at No. 5 in Rocky Mountain Regionals
Melon Local is proud to announce we were ranked No. 5 on Inc. Magazine’s fourth annual Regionals: Rocky Mountain list for the fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the region.This is among 72 other regional companies from Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. “It’s incredibly rewarding and a bit surreal to see our team’s effort and innovation recognized by Inc. Regionals,” said Melon Local CEO and Co-founder Whitney Green-Olson. “From our
Interview with an Agent: Michael Popwell
Before opening his own agency in 2020, Michael Popwell honed his skills for six years under the mentorship of an experienced agent. One pivotal lesson he absorbed was the critical role of digital marketing in the modern business landscape. As he prepared to launch his insurance office in Suwannee, GA, Michael recognized that a well-crafted marketing strategy was essential for standing out in the competitive environment of the Atlanta metro
How Melon Local Leverages Artificial Intelligence
If you’ve sat through a sales demo with an insurance marketing agency in the past year, you might have listened to them touting the extra edge they have through utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). With the global AI insurance market on track to hit nearly $46 billion by 2031, AI will become just as necessary to our industry as any other technology. But here’s the thing: while many agencies are just
5 Things I Love About Melon Local – Feat. Joey Eades
Joey Eades began his professional journey as an insurance team member in West Virginia in 2013, where he discovered his true passion for forging connections and a desire to open his own agency. In August 2017, his dream came to fruition when he was presented with the chance to establish himself as an agent in the quaint town of Appomattox, VA — an opportunity he has cherished every day since.
Fireside Chat with Whitney Green-Olson, CEO
We already know the bar was set high, but it’s safe to say last year was truly One in a Melon. Our journey through 2023 was marked by phenomenal growth and accolades that underscored our commitment to excellence: Our community of agents grew to nearly 2,000 agencies, a milestone that speaks volumes about the trust and confidence in our services. We managed a whopping $20 million in client ad spend,
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Interview with an Agent: Chad Stalvey
After earning his finance degree from the University of South Carolina, Chad Stalvey imagined himself working on Wall Street. However, when the 2008 financial crisis swept the nation several months later, Chad was forced to reevaluate his career path. Fortunately, he was offered the life-changing opportunity to take over an agency in North Augusta, SC, where he could apply his financial background toward helping local families and businesses with their
Insurance Marketing Trends for 2023
The insurance industry and digital marketing world are anything but static. From more extreme weather patterns to disruptions to the traditional business model, you can expect this year to be filled with innovation and disruption for the insurance industry. Let’s go ahead and talk about several marketing trends and predictions we’ve come up with so you create an effective marketing plan for 2023! Prepare for an Ever-Changing World While the
Highlights from Melon Local’s Third Year in Business
Wow, where do I even start with all the amazing things we accomplished at Melon Local last year? As CEO of Melon Local, I can definitely say 2022 was a milestone year for our company. Reflecting on 2022, some of our most notable highlights include: Celebrating three years of fruitful partnerships Adding 600+ individual agents & offices as clients Achieving Google Premier Partner status (top 3% in the U.S.) Reaching
Interview with an Agent: Chasidy Murphy
If you live in Trophy Club, TX, chances are you’ve probably seen insurance agent Chasidy Murphy cruise around in her agency-branded Jeep. After spending years working in corporate roles, Chasidy felt the urge to carve a new career path for herself and opened her Trophy Club insurance agency in 2016. When it came to marketing her insurance agency, she originally signed up with a marketing company that didn’t quite get
Google Maps to Embrace New ‘Neighborhood Vibe’ Feature
Google is bringing some new ‘vibes’ to Google Maps. During its recent annual ‘Search On’ event, Google announced a new feature called “Neighborhood Vibe,” which will highlight the most popular and hottest destinations across different neighborhoods. The new addition to Google Maps will be made possible by combining AI with local content from Maps users, including info taken from Google. “When you’re looking at the map of an area, we
Organic Search vs. Paid Search in Insurance Marketing
When marketing your insurance agency, you may ask yourself if it’s better to get leads through organic search or paid search. While 68 percent of online experiences begin with a search engine, the results from organic and paid search can vastly influence people’s purchasing decisions in different ways. Not sure where to start? Here are the benefits of going with either an organic or paid search campaign: Organic Search Benefits
15 Reasons Melon Local Can’t Be Beat
We’re not like other digital marketing agencies. We’ve planted roots, gained expertise, and established fruitful partnerships in the insurance industry – and only the insurance industry. While it might be convincing enough to hear we are in the top three percent of Google Partners in the United States as a Google Premier Partner, there are plenty of reasons why we’re your one-stop shop for insurance marketing needs. In fact, we’re
How to Address Google Business Profile Suspensions
While having a Google Business Profile (GBP) is a must for boosting your insurance agency’s search engine rankings, having an account can come with complications. Your GBP can become suspended if you’re not adhering to Google’s guidelines. It is also possible for your account to face suspension due to an internal problem at Google. Even more frustrating is that Google often won’t provide any clear reason for why your account
Melon Local Interviews AHA President Joe Nguyen
Insurance agent Joe Nguyen and a group of 30 agents came together in Las Vegas, NV for the first-ever Agents Hosting Agents conference in 2005. Realizing the value agents could gain from in-person networking events like AHA, Nguyen decided to turn the conference into a non-profit organization that has since hosted over several thousand attendees. Now with their fifth conference planned for April 19-21, 2023 in Anaheim, CA, we caught