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If I had to take a guess, you didn’t just navigate to this page for some light reading. You’re probably here because you’re considering applying to or interviewing for the Community Manager role here at Berry Insurance.
And if you’re planning on making a career change, you probably have lots of questions. Well, we want to answer those questions as effectively as possible for you. Let’s be honest: both job hunting and recruiting can be tiring, and neither of us want to spend a large chunk of time on an interview process just to realize way down the line that it just isn’t the right fit.
So in this article, we want to tackle some of the main questions on your mind so you can decide if you are interested in the role. Then when you come into the office to interview, we can dive deeper and really get to know each other so we can determine if Berry Insurance is the right fit for you and if you are the right fit for Berry Insurance.
So let’s get into it!
What is your approach or philosophy when it comes to marketing?
Our marketing approach is a little less “marketing” than that of other companies. Rather than traditional marketing and sales tactics, we take an educational approach.
To do this, we share all of our insurance expertise through educational articles, videos, and graphics on social media, our website, and emails. We use this educational material to ensure every interaction with those we serve is providing education and value from initial inquiries from prospective customers to conversations with clients we have served for decades.
Insurance is confusing, and often if people are reaching out to us it’s because they were told they are required to get a certain type of insurance, they are confused about their insurance policy, or they have experienced a claim - none of which are especially fun scenarios. So if we can be ready to answer their questions and help them navigate their insurance through educational, unbiased material, they will feel at ease and empowered to make their own insurance choices, and in turn will grow to trust us.
What would a week in this role look like?
As a Community Manager, your week will be filled with varying tasks including managing social media accounts, connecting to community leaders, connecting with the team about networking opportunities, leading fundraising efforts, managing online reviews, managing email marketing, participating in team meetings, and more.
But for more insight, we have another resource for you. To dive deeper into the Berry Insurance Community Manager responsibilities, read this article: Day in the Life of a Berry Insurance Community Manager.
How do you plan your marketing content? How far out do you plan?
At the beginning of each quarter, the marketing team has an in-person planning session, where we evaluate the marketing department and the organization’s current priorities in order to determine projects and goals for each individual team member that will support those needs.
We order each of those projects in order of priority, planning to complete the highest priority tasks first while also identifying some optional projects that could be completed if time allows. We also keep in mind the possibility of priorities shifting over the quarter. While we tend to mostly stick to our quarterly plan, sometimes things come up that we have to adapt to.
Of course, there is also a level of short-term planning necessary, especially for this role.
As you’re juggling daily social media posting and responding, email marketing, event and fundraising planning, and more, you’ll constantly need to be planning and adjusting your workload for the next few days and weeks.
Who are the people I would predominantly be working with?
At Berry Insurance, our entire team from the marketing team, to the sales team and account managers, to the owners, and even the office dogs, Shredder and Rider are involved in our marketing efforts, so in this role, you will be working with the entire team.
You will be collaborating regularly with the marketing team: Senior Marketing Manager Corin (that’s me!), Digital Content Writer Robbie, and Video Producer Jason to set and align priorities, work on projects together, as well as share challenges, successes, and teach each other our expertise so we can constantly grow together.
You will also be regularly working with both the commercial and personal insurance teams to assess their needs, align objectives, and work with them to determine and collaborate on networking opportunities.
In addition, you will need to communicate with community leaders, representatives, groups, and reporters, as well as Berry Insurance’s online audience.
How do you measure marketing success? What are the metrics for success in this role?
For us, the most important indicator of marketing success is if we are consistently publishing and distributing pieces of content that answer the questions they were intended to, and create value for the people we serve.
We often have clients or prospects reach out to us, thanking us for the videos and articles we put out and expressing how much they helped them. Since being educators for those we serve is our company’s philosophy, witnessing the value people get from our content efforts is the most important way we measure success.
While marketing analytics can be important to measure, we feel they don’t always show the full story when it comes to marketing success for a number of reasons. In this role, while we will be measuring social media metrics such as views, engagement, watch time, clickthrough rates, and more, we moreso use these analytics as indicators of what is working well in our marketing efforts and what we can work on – we use them as a growth tool. And when we happen to see marketing success illustrated through these analytics, we take the time to share and celebrate them as a team as well.
What is Berry Insurance’s culture/work environment?
If you haven’t been able to tell from our website, Berry Insurance is pretty casual, especially compared to other insurance agencies.
Where you might imagine a suit and tie, you will instead usually find jeans and our Berry-branded (and extremely comfy) t-shirts. Our office dogs Shredder and Rider add some comic relief, and there is often something exciting going on in the office like a team lunch or goofy video shoot.
As a small team, we are all pretty comfortable connecting with one another and exchanging banter, jokes, and feedback. We have a culture of learning and often participate in communication exercises, book clubs, or other growth-related activities.
Our kitchen is always stocked up with candy and snacks, and we often bond over team lunches from local restaurants, or team outings (such as chocolate walking tours).
However, we are also a hardworking team, so for much of the day while we are all tackling our priorities, the office can have some pretty quiet lulls.
What is your culture of feedback?
Everyone in our company considers themselves educators. And to be an educator, you have to constantly be learning, yourself. And feedback is a critical tool for learning and growth, so it is something we embrace as a company.
As we’re crafting social media posts, email campaigns, events, etc., we need to accept feedback from the team to make sure it is accurate and is conveying the right message.
The marketing team also consistently provides feedback to the rest of the team. For example, as the Community Manager, you may sometimes need to provide feedback to the team on presentations to their networking groups, their LinkedIn presence, or more.
And this feedback culture is pervasive even through upper management. Our owners Kaitlyn and Chris are constantly requesting feedback on how we can work better as a team, and how they can better run the organization.
What benefits does Berry Insurance offer?
Berry Insurance offers most of the standard benefits you would receive at any company, including health insurance, a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with contributions from the organization, group term life insurance, long-term disability, and a simple IRA plan.
Berry Insurance also offers a generous unlimited PTO policy with a minimum requirement of 120 hours off. We know all our team members have families and busy lives outside of work, so as long as job expectations are being met and time off is properly covered, we want our team to have the flexibility they deserve.
Considering a Community Manager career with Berry Insurance?
We hope we were able to answer some of your most burning questions about the Content Manager position here at Berry Insurance. More importantly, we really hope you liked the answers and are still interested in becoming a part of our team.
As you’re considering if this role is right for you, we realize you may still have questions about what it is like to be a Community Manager specifically for a small independent insurance agency. You can learn about that more in this article, where each of our teammates shares their opinions on the Benefits of Working for a Small Family-run Insurance Agency.
