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

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Man speaking into a microphone beside the headline “Searching your business can harm your search results” in a Melon Local video.

Why You Shouldn’t Google Your Own Business

In the insurance marketing world, your Google ranking often plays a crucial role in prospective customers choosing between you and your competitors. The top organic result is 10 times more likely to garner clicks versus a page in the number 10 spot, and even a single step up the search ladder may increase your click-through rate by about 2.8 percent. So, for insurance agents pondering if they should Google their

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Portrait of insurance agent Josh Ellis featured in Melon Local's Interview with an Agent series

Interview with an Agent: Josh Ellis

When insurance agent Josh Ellis opened his Knoxville office in 2009, internet leads were still fairly new in the marketing world. Recognizing the potential in lead generation, Josh integrated them into his business strategy. Despite going through a multitude of different marketing companies, he found little to no success in getting the results he needed — let alone anything that was trackable. Between being an agent and overseeing his own

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Melon Local team member highlighting key insurance marketing trends and strategies for 2024

Insurance Marketing Trends for 2024

From Mother Nature doing her thing to the rise of insurtech companies, 2023 proved to be a unique and challenging year for the insurance industry. So, what can we expect for 2024? As we step into the new year, let’s look into the trends that Melon Local predicts will influence not just insurance agents but also their customers. Consumers Will Be More Price Conscious With a steady climb in insurance

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Woman seated behind a laptop beside the headline “Are you ready to get social?” on a Melon Local social media services graphic.

5 Benefits of Choosing Melon Local for Social Media

It’s one thing to be on social media, but are you getting the most out of all your platforms? Investing in your social media is just as essential to any other component of your digital marketing strategy. To put things in perspective, ad spending on social media is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.31 percent, resulting in a projected market volume of over $255 billion by 2028.

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Portrait of insurance agent Mansour Hasan featured in Melon Local's 5 Things I Love About Melon Local interview series

5 Things I Love About Melon Local: Feat. Mansour Hasan

Knoxville, TN insurance agent Mansour Hasan has served his community for over 18 years and currently provides coverage for over 5,000 households. As digital marketing and internet leads became more integral to building his business, Mansour realized he needed some pros in his corner who could not only understand his advertising needs but also deliver results. Enter Melon Local! Here are five reasons Mansour loves our fruitful partnership! 1. A

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Melon Local team member sharing 10 tips to help insurance agencies start the new year with clear goals and a marketing checklist

Your 2024 Insurance Agency Checklist

The end of the year is always a great time to assess our achievements, identify areas of improvement and, of course, set ourselves up for a prosperous new year. As an insurance agent, though, this may be the last thing on your mind as you’re still wrapping up things with the current year. Not sure where to start? Check out these 10 items to add to your 2024 checklist so

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Client holding a Melon Local tumbler beside the headline “What Does It Mean To Be A Melon?” on a testimonial blog graphic.

What Does it Mean to be a Melon?

Melon Local isn’t your typical digital marketing agency — so what makes us so special? No, it’s not just because we’re in the top three percent of our industry as a Google Premier Partner, and it’s more than us being able to deliver an average 30 percent conversion rate in our paid search campaigns. It’s safe to say we wouldn’t be who we are without the 1,800 plus One-in-a-Melon agents

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Portrait of insurance agent Steve Basler featured in Melon Local's Interview with an Agent series

Interview with an Agent: Steve Basler

Colorado insurance agent Steve Basler originally began his insurance career in Tennessee over 20 years ago. However, he eventually found his way to Colorado in 2007, and the following year, he opened his current insurance office in Wheat Ridge — a small city located in the busy Denver–Aurora–Lakewood metro area. In addition to his insurance office, Steve also runs and owns his own financial consulting company, Basler Academy. We caught

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Melon Local team member discussing customer service strategies and relationship-building techniques for insurance agents

7 Strategies for Improving Customer Retention as an Insurance Agent

Acquiring new customers is one thing, but the other half of the battle is maintaining their relationship with your insurance office. The average customer retention rate for an insurance agent is around 84 percent, while top-performing agents can see an average close to 93-94 percent. While the insurance industry may have a higher retention rate compared to others, it never hurts to strive for better. Let’s take a look at

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Latest Blog Posts

Customer using a smartphone to leave a five-star review for a business

6 Ways You Can Generate Reviews for Your Insurance Agency

As part of your insurance marketing strategy and online reputation management, generating and encouraging online reviews is essential.  Online review statistics have shown over 54 percent of online shoppers read at least four product reviews before purchasing a product.  Having a substantial number of positive reviews is crucial for adding credibility to your agency’s reputation. On the other hand, negative reviews can also help you determine any unmet needs of

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Person using a tablet to perform a Google search, representing search engine optimization and online visibility

What to Know About Google’s Responsive Search Ads

Google will no longer serve new expanded text ads starting June 30, 2022 The world of paid advertising is constantly evolving, especially with Google, which is continuously updating how it runs its ad programs. If your business revolves around insurance marketing – let alone any kind of marketing – you should be aware of Google’s plans to scrap expanded text ads to instead focus on responsive search ads on June

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Portrait of insurance agent Kira Schnell-Harrison featured in Melon Local's Interview with an Agent series

Interview with an Agent: Kira Schnell-Harrison

Before she became an insurance agent, Kira Schnell-Harrison was a competitive synchronized figure skater. Kira grew up ice skating in Wisconsin and, at one point, qualified for Team USA. After her skating career, she worked in various roles in the consumer goods industry before opening her Chicago-area insurance agency in 2019.  Although she doesn’t compete anymore, she still coaches ice skating and applies the same experience to managing her insurance

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Woman holding a magnifying glass and laptop to represent organic search optimization and SEO research

What is Organic Search Optimization?

You’ve likely heard of Search Engine Optimization, but have you ever heard of Organic Search Optimization? If not, we’d love to explain! Melon Local offers an exclusive Organic Search Optimization (OSO) insurance marketing package which can boost your web presence by focusing on your organic content.  There are many ways your insurance agency can benefit from this package, including being listed in the most popular business directory listings and having

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Woman reacting to Facebook notifications on a smartphone, representing audience engagement and social media interaction on Facebook

20 Ways to Use Facebook in Your Insurance Marketing Strategy

If there’s any social media that’s necessary for your insurance marketing strategy, it’s Facebook.  With over 2.45 billion monthly users, Facebook is a great platform for making fun and engaging insurance social media posts. It also has the power to boost your agency’s visibility, drive leads, add value to your customers and strengthen your relationship with them and your local community.  Whether you’re just starting off or you’ve been using

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Portrait of insurance agent Kevin Hayward featured in Melon Local's Interview with an Agent series

Interview with an Agent: Kevin Hayward

Kevin Hayward originally envisioned himself as a newspaper writer. He studied communication and was an active freelance writer for his local newspaper, but soon realized he had a passion for the insurance industry.  After earning his bachelor’s degree, Kevin entered the insurance world as a claims agent in 2007. He worked his way up the company ladder and became a public affairs specialist and wrote articles for the insurance company’s

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Business professional holding a computer keyboard to represent choosing an SEO-friendly domain name for a website

7 Tips for Choosing an SEO-Friendly Domain Name

Having an SEO-friendly domain name can make a huge difference in the overall success of your insurance agency’s marketing strategy. So, why is it so crucial for your insurance agency to choose the right domain name? Well, it helps:  Define your brand Increase your click-through rate Generate more leads Boost your traffic Give credibility to your agency If your domain is too long or complicated, chances are it will be

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Smiling customer expressing appreciation for a positive business experience

10 Ways Your Insurance Agency Can Show Customer Appreciation

Just because your insurance agency sells someone a new policy doesn’t mean that things end there. The insurance industry is all about nurturing long-term relationships, and like any healthy relationship, there needs to be a balance of mutual appreciation between you and your customers.  Reciprocity is crucial to your agency’s long-term success and, in turn, makes your customers more likely to return the favor through additional sales, reviews and referrals.

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Google Premier Partner graphic featuring the Google logo and Melon Local branding celebrating Melon Local's 2022 Premier Partner status

Melon Local Named 2022 Google Premier Partner

All of us at Melon Local are ecstatic to announce that our insurance marketing agency has achieved 2022 Google Premier Partner status in the Google Partners program! Okay, so what does this mean exactly? It means Google now ranks Melon Local in the top 3% of all Google Partners and distinguishes us as a top industry performer. That’s a pretty big deal! This February, Google recognized the achievements of Melon

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