The web is hitting the insurance industry with force. Just lastyear, onlineinsurance sales grew by nine percent, hitting $17 billion inrevenue. Consumers are increasingly comfortable with purchasingpolicies online and Internet-first brands such as Esurance areemerging to take advantage of the dramatic cost savings that anonline direct-to-consumer sales model provides.

Against this backdrop of increased low-cost competition, local,brick-and-mortar agents and brokers have an acute need to stand outonline. Because nearly three out of every four consumers seek an online review beforemaking a purchasing decision, proactive online reputationmanagement is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for anyonelooking to build a book of business.

Concerned? Maybe you should be. Agents who are slow to adapt toa changing market will fall behind. 

The good news is that the trend toward online sales and onlinereviews presents a massive opportunity to transform word-of-mouthreferrals—long the lifeblood of most local agencies—into a powerfulonline presence.  And building a strong online reputationdoesn't have to be difficult. 

Here are four strategies that will make your insurance businessstand out online:

1. Be prepared for referrals from your online socialnetworks. Insurance agents often say that 90 percent oftheir business comes via word-of-mouth referrals, but most fail torealize that this process happens online as well as offline. Whenit comes to insurance, Americans are turning to their onlinefriends and peers for trusted advice. Most often it's a simplequestion: "Does anyone have an insurance agent that they reallyrecommend?" If you spend any time on Facebook you've probably seennumerous examples of this. 

To tap into this (free) lead flow, agents simply need to makesure that their online social profiles are reasonably professionalin appearance and that business information is up to date. Friendswill be much more likely to refer you to their friends if yourprofile looks "open for business." 

Note that this doesn't mean that you need to sterilize yourFacebook presence by removing all non-professional content. Peopleexpect to see a mix of personal and professional content onFacebook, so as long as you are not actively offending people, youcan continue to enjoy Facebook for its normal social purposes.

2. Buy "brand insurance" in the formof online reviews. We've all heard the Chick-Fil-A story and others like it—when national companieshave PR disasters, once august brands suddenly become toxic assetsand local franchisees are left scrambling to do damagecontrol.  In these situations, authentic online reviews are the best brand insurance thatmoney can't buy.  Agencies that depend solely on"corporate" for marketing and lead generation are especiallyvulnerable, while those who've taken the time to establish anindependent, positive reputation can weather the storm. Reviews notonly provide a distinction between the national brand and yourpersonal services, but also allow businesses to reach out toclients with the message you want to emphasize.

3. Get off the social media treadmill and spend timewhere it really counts. Many insurance agents think thatthe only way to stay ahead of the curve is to be active on as manysocial media sites as possible. The problem is that most don't havethe time or energy to regularly update half a dozen social mediasites. They get bogged down by the pressures of content creationand end up littering the Internet with empty profiles. That's why afull 70 percent of small business Facebook Pages are currentlyinactive. 

The good news is that most businesses get a large majority oftheir customers through just one or two channels, so focusingeffort on these key channels allows you to get the bulk of thevalue from a fraction of the effort.  An additional bestpractice is to focus on "timeless" content. Instead of breakingnews and trending memes, write up and post answers to most commonquestions that clients ask and set up systems that post customers'reviews to your personal website and other key properties.

4. Make everyone in your company an ambassador.Whether you're an independent agent or part of a larger company,your teammates are constantly in touch with both current andpotential clients. This happens officially via business email andoffice phones, but also unofficially via social media. Like it ornot, an increasing percentage of people are spending hours onsocial media each day, so why not encourage your team to promoteyour business? 

This is a large and growing opportunity, and companies likeSocial2Step make it extremelyeasy for companies to empower their employees as brand advocates.They estimate that each employee knows 634 potential customers, andthey offer simple tools to incentivize people to share the rightmessages with their networks. As an added bonus, studies show thatpromoting a company in this way improves employee morale andloyalty.

The online insurance market is rapidly evolving, but thesesimple strategies, which align very closely with core businessgoals of high customer and employee satisfaction, are unlikely tochange any time soon. Implement them and your insurance businesswill be robust against all sorts of possible mayhem.