The Insurance Marketing Playbook

You can feel it before you can name it: the calendar is packed, your brain is fried, clients keep coming, and the business still won’t move to the next level. We sit down with Leia, an adult ADHD and executive function coach, to talk about the real pivot point for entrepreneurs, the moment you either cap your growth or you start delegating the work that’s quietly draining your energy. We get speci...

Everybody has a “rule” about marketing, and most of them sound right until you try to build a real business with them. We sit down and call out four popular marketing myths that quietly waste your time: the idea that you must be on every social media platform, that good marketing should produce immediate results, that more followers automatically means more sales, and that a good product will sell...

$48,000 in two weeks sounds like a book sales story, until you hear the truth: only $710 came from selling copies. What changed everything was treating the book as a marketing tool that drives real business revenue, not as the revenue itself. We share the behind the scenes strategy of how becoming “an author” can instantly upgrade your positioning, shorten the trust gap with prospects, and give yo...

AI is already in your customers’ feeds, your competitors’ workflows, and probably your own browser history, so the real question is whether you’ll use it with intention or let it dilute your brand. Shelby McFarland, marketing boss at The Marketing Broker, shares a grounded take on AI for small business marketing: what’s helpful, what’s overhyped, and what can quietly make your business look like e...

One day you’re grinding 60 to 70 hours a week and planning expansion. The next day the world shuts down, your clients panic, and your business has to reinvent itself before the bills hit. I’m Shelby McFarland, the marketing boss, and I’m telling the real story of how I survived the COVID years as both a sign shop owner and a digital marketing broker. You’ll hear how opening a second sign shop loca...

LinkedIn can feel like a noisy room full of “experts,” automation, and awkward cold DMs. We want to cut through that with something more useful: what’s working right now when you’re a real person trying to grow a business, land better opportunities, or build a personal brand without turning into a corporate robot. Shelby McFarland talks with LinkedIn specialist Katie Rasure about the surprising st...

A packed room, quick questions, and the kind of answers you only get when people stop performing and start telling the truth. We’re in Conway, Arkansas at a Women in Business Showcase talking with founders, operators, and creators across interior design, events, yoga, HVAC, construction, insurance, counseling, accounting, law, and more. The focus isn’t hype, it’s what actually helps women build a...

If you’ve ever paid for marketing and still felt like nothing changed, we’re saying the quiet part out loud: marketing can’t replace selling. Shelby McFarlane sits down with Arkansas insurance agent Nick Tubberville to unpack the difference between being visible and actually closing business, especially in industries where you’re selling something intangible like insurance coverage or digital mark...

If your agency’s marketing sounds like “great service” and “competitive rates,” you’re not building trust, you’re blending in. On this episode, Alexis and Mattie step in for Shelby and get blunt about the phrases that make insurance agents invisible online, even when they’re genuinely excellent at what they do. When your website copy and social media posts read like everyone else’s, prospects defa...

Your next month of insurance marketing is hiding in the questions your clients ask you every single day. If you’ve been stuck trying to “come up with content,” we’re flipping the process: we start with real conversations from sales calls and turn them into posts that feel natural, helpful, and easy to batch. We walk through a simple challenge: write down five questions you hear nonstop and make fi...

Random posting doesn’t fail because you’re not trying hard enough. It fails because it doesn’t give people a reason to trust you, understand you, or take action. We share a simple framework built for insurance agencies that want consistent leads without living on social media: three post types that work across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and beyond.  First, we get clear on educational posts that...

You’re posting, you’re trying to stay consistent, and the likes are still… not there. If you’re an insurance agent staring at low engagement and wondering whether social media marketing is a waste of time, I’m going to challenge three myths that quietly sabotage good digital marketing for insurance agents. First, “If I post more, I’ll get more leads.” Consistency is non-negotiable, but more posts...

If you have ever wondered “Is AI going to take my job?” I want to flip that question into something practical: how do we make AI work for your insurance agency. I share my no-hype approach to getting found on ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and whatever comes next, without paying thousands to someone selling “AI marketing” as a mystery box. The real win is visibility, and visibility comes from becoming a c...

Your social media can look quiet and still be doing its job. We’re pulling back the curtain on Meta analytics so you can stop guessing and start managing your insurance agency marketing with real numbers. We walk through where to find your data inside Meta Business Suite and why reviewing a clean 30-day window makes decision-making easier. Then we unpack the metrics that matter most: viewers versu...

Your carrier’s name might be famous, but your neighbors buy from the person they trust. We’re talking about the power of personal branding for insurance agents and why “just using the corporate logo” isn’t enough when multiple agents in the same town represent the same big-name company. I share how I like to position an agency brand so your name leads, your community remembers you, and your online...

Marketing keeps changing, but most small business owners are still stuck with the same problem: trying to do everything at once and ending up exhausted. From a super casual recording spot while I’m volunteering with a local nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs, I crack open Chapter Nine of my book, Market Like A Boss, and get practical about what actually moves the needle when your time and budge...

The hardest truth in business might be the simplest: if you’re not funding visibility, you’re funding invisibility. Shelby opens chapter three of Market Like a Boss and takes us straight into the mindset shift that turns “How much does it cost?” into “How much should I invest to hit my goals?” From there, we get a practical, plain-english blueprint for building a real marketing budget, avoiding ra...

Curious why AI summaries seem to spotlight other agencies instead of yours? We dig into how tools like Google’s AI Overview, ChatGPT, and Grok actually choose their sources—and how you can become one of them. Our focus is practical and tactical: turn the questions your clients already ask into the content that search and AI love, then repeat it with a cadence you can sustain. We walk through the e...

Feeling lost in the AI noise? We cut through it with a clear path that blends proven SEO habits with smart, practical use of AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok—no mystery fees, no jargon. Shelby shares how to lock down your foundations first, then use AI to research, plan, and publish content that actually moves rankings and drives local traffic. We start by demystifying what AI search really does: it...

Tired of posting and getting crickets? We break down a simple, repeatable video strategy that turns attention into trust and trust into bound policies—without fancy gear or a production crew. Shelby McFarland, The Marketing Broker, shares how she records once and repurposes everywhere, why real faces beat AI gloss, and which short formats spark the most DMs for insurance agencies. We get specific...

Tired of saying “we’re honest” and getting crickets? We go straight at the trust problem insurance agencies face on ad-saturated feeds and show how to replace vague claims with proof people believe. Shelby breaks down practical systems for collecting Google reviews, building a steady stream of testimonials, and turning everyday client moments into visible credibility across search and social. We s...

Trapped indoors by a winter storm and buzzing with pent-up energy, we mapped out a practical visibility blueprint that helps local insurance agencies get seen, heard, and chosen by the clients who actually live in their service area. The heart of the strategy is simple: clarity first, community always, and consistency that compounds. You’ll hear how a messy brand story muddies algorithms and minds...

Fear of “spending too much” on marketing is one of the fastest ways to stall growth. We dig into five practical mindset shifts that transform scattered tactics into a focused system: reframe marketing as an investment, stop paying for cheap shortcuts, build visible proof across Google and social, outpace competitors with smart timing, and design processes that save time and money over the long hau...

Most insurance posts sound the same, which is why they get ignored. We’re flipping the script by showing how story—your origin, your team, and your community presence—turns passive scrollers into clients who stick around even when rates move. If you’ve ever wondered what to share beyond “Get a free quote,” this conversation lays out a simple, repeatable approach that feels good and works. We start...

Trust closes policies faster than any ad, and we break down how to build it on purpose. Shelby from The Marketing Broker shares a complete referral system for insurance agents, from turning five-star service into client advocacy to using Google reviews that actually tell a story. You’ll hear how to choose the right networking groups, claim a category-exclusive seat, and teach partners to spot and...