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Agency Acceleration Lab is the podcast for insurance agents and agency owners who want to scale smarter, not harder.
Hosted by Alex Branning, each episode breaks down real growth strategies, marketing systems, and client retention frameworks that help you attract better clients, increase lifetime value, and build a more predictable agency.
If you're serious about building a high-performance insurance business, you're in the right place.
Episode Transcript
Agency Acceleration Lab – Episode 9
How to Fix Your Facebook Ads Strategy with SHAUNA
Alex Branning:
Hey guys, I'm here with Shauna, one of the leading experts in Facebook ads. We're going to talk for the next few minutes on what you, as an insurance agency owner, should do inside of your ads account and how to think about Facebook ads. Shauna, I've been following you for a long time, and you have three growth levers that you encourage agents to use. Let's go through them one by one. Let's start at the top. Go ahead.
Shauna:
Okay, perfect. So here's the thing, Alex. As you were saying, I specialize in lead generation, and I have met with many different agencies, FMOs, all the way down to the independent agent. And these are three areas, whenever it comes to lead generation, that every agency owner should be in control of. So the very first one we're going to talk about is this: every agent knows that lead generation is the fuel to their business, and they will say it's so important. However, in my experience, it's one of the very first things that they want to outsource, that they're like, “How can I just have nothing to do with it?”
Unfortunately, a lot of agencies are outsourcing their ads and their lead generation efforts in a way that they don't even own the assets. So they are essentially outsourcing it to a marketer where it would be like, “I use my Facebook ad account. I use my dummy Facebook page that's titled like local area updates, or there's one Dolores Humphreys, or that is senior lifeline. And I'm running these generic ads. I'm giving you the leads.” But you're essentially building up their assets.
That's why growth lever number one is that you must own your lead generation strategy. You must be involved with it whenever it comes down to building up your own assets. So that way you're not just renting a house. It's just like if you were going to put in your time, money, and energy into building up a kitchen in a house that you're renting, the landlord can walk right in and swoop it away. So we want you to own your assets and make sure that you're actually running ads from those.
Then the second big thing is owning the messaging that is actually out there for your ads. There is such a big difference for agents whenever they're speaking to someone that came in from an ad that says, “If you're overwhelmed with Medicare, we can help you make the right decision,” or “Did you know that there are specific deadlines that you have to meet before you turn 65? We specialize in helping seniors find the right plan the very first time,” versus an ad that says that there are grocery cards available or that there's an additional Social Security check. So it's being involved with the messaging. So you're actually building your agency, and this is an asset that is going to compound over time.
Alex Branning:
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, because I know when somebody comes in through my Agent CRM funnel, okay, they came in and they're looking for this, but if they came in from a different funnel, now I know the messaging and their expectations for why they even reached out to me are completely different, and I handle conversations a different way. So when you're generating leads on Facebook and you can't see the ad, you don't have control over the ad, you're guessing at that point, right Shauna, on what they are interested in, and that puts you at a disadvantage as an agent, right? It really does.
Shauna:
Alex, and one of the things, so I was running Facebook ads, YouTube ads, social media ads for seven years before I entered the insurance space in 2022, and the way that I always did it when I was operating more of an agency and working with so many private clients was, number one, I was a partner with them, so I was building up their assets. I believe that if you work with a contractor and you dissolve the relationship, you should walk away in a better position than you did when you first started working with them. So I'm building up their assets.
And number two, they were involved in all of the ad copy. I didn't just write their ads. I actually had them create a couple of versions that I requested so I had their language, and then I would go in and spruce it up and work on the hook and how we have the call to action, and we'd make sure that it had synergy with what their business was actually about.
And it was shocking to me when I entered the insurance space and I saw how many agents have been told, “Just don't worry about it. Just don't worry about your leads. All you need is a name and a number and give them a phone call.” But you can literally do 70% of the selling and the trust building if the front end of your funnel and your marketing efforts are in line with your business.
Alex Branning:
So good. So the first growth lever is to own your lead generation engine. What's the second?
Shauna:
The second one is understanding the marketing metrics that matter. Marketing has a lot of subjectivity to it, but there's a large part that is actually very concrete, and most agency owners are obsessed with what the cost per lead is. While that is important, only looking at cost per lead doesn't give you insights into how you can decrease it and increase the quality.
It's like driving a car and only seeing the speedometer. You don't know what your gas level is, you don't know if you need to check the engine or the tire pressure. So understanding these metrics can actually open your eyes to where you need to fill in the gaps.
So we look at cost per lead, then we move over to one of the most important metrics, which is the link click-through rate. That tells us how many people clicked on your link to go to your page or form. In the insurance space, it's great when it's over 1%, but we can work with 0.8%.
If we're getting clicks, then the next thing we look at is the landing page conversion rate, which is how many people actually turn into a lead. We want that around 20%, but we can work with 15%. If that's low, the problem is not your ad, it's your page.
Then we look at CPM, which is what Meta is charging for every 1,000 impressions. And then we go even further, because as of January 2025, insurance became a Special Ad Category, meaning your ads are shown broadly, but over time they should shift to the right demographic. So we look at the breakdown and see how different age groups are responding so we can make strategic decisions.
Alex Branning:
Yeah, I've noticed with the new algorithm, Facebook is getting really good at showing ads to the right people. So what do you recommend as far as patience before turning ads off?
Shauna:
So with the new Andromeda algorithm, it's using AI to read your ad, understand the content, and predict whether it's going to work. If you're specific enough, people will self-include or self-exclude, and the system will find the right audience quickly. So yes, you need to give it time, but strong messaging makes a huge difference.
Alex Branning:
Let's talk about the third growth lever.
Shauna:
I love this one. It's “fish where no one else is fishing.” Imagine a lake where 20 to 30 fishermen are all in the same corner using only 3 to 5% of the lake, while 95% is untouched. That's exactly how insurance marketing works.
There are three levels of awareness. At the bottom are people who are unaware. They don't know they have a problem or need your help. In the middle are people who know they have a problem but don't know what to do. At the top, only 3 to 5%, are ready to buy.
Most agents only target that top group with ads like “Enroll now” or “Get a quote.” Everyone is competing there. But the real opportunity is in the 95% below that. If you educate people earlier in the journey, you build trust, and when they're ready, they come to you.
Alex Branning:
I love it. For those of you listening, download the playbook. Go to agencyacceleration.ai and find the episode with Shauna. There will be links to learn more and follow her. Shauna, thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Shauna:
Thank you, Alex. It was so nice meeting with you and sharing this with agents. And I absolutely love Agent CRM, because once you get that lead, having that automated follow-up system and support is incredibly powerful. Thank you for having me.
Alex Branning:
Thanks for watching. Take notes, take action, and subscribe. You will not get any value from this unless you implement it. Please share this episode if you got value from it, and I'll see you online.