They’re Not There? Think Again!
June 10th, 2011
Posted in “Social media just isn’t there with their customers — at least not yet.”
Columnist Ara Trembly wrote recently that several insurance excecutives at this year’s ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum expressed this same idea. I have heard similar statements as well, and though I do not question their sincerity, I do question their reasoning.
The social media adopters such as GEICO, USAA, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Westfield and PEMCO are not just going after those younger insurance buyers who would not be caught without their smartphones and Facebook pages. These companies are also creating new prospects among older buyers by using social media in imaginative, useful ways to reach them. They are enabling their agents to expand their reach and engaging buyers with entertaining, educational content and mobile applications that set them apart from their competition.
Insurers who believe they can wait until their policyholders and prospects ask for social media engagement are in for a surprise. The younger buyers won’t demand engagement from a company — they will just move to a company that does. Some older, less tech-savvy buyers may be content for now without using social media — but some will also be lured away when they discover how an insurer can deliver more value by using it. In this soft market, no insurer can afford to ignore such a powerful tool.
Comments Off The Regulators Are Coming!
It was only a matter of time before state insurance regulators began to get a handle on if or how to regulate social media. The “if” question has been answered As many as ten or more states have begun to monitor the social media activity of insurers and that number is predicted to grow to at least half by the end of the year.
The “how’ is a bit trickier. What these regulators appear to be looking for is evidence that an insurer has a formal social media policy and a training program to make sure the program will be compliant. At this point, the issues that raise the most concern for regulators include miselading advertising, the use of testimonials and endorsements (is an endorser being compensated?), consumer privacy, records retention (are posts retrievable?), and agent monitoring (are companies paying attention to what agents are posting?)
Social media success depends on two-way conversations that are spontaneous and sincere, not stiff and scripted. Regulators want to make sure, however, that what is discussed on social media sites is accurate and mirrors the information they collect from the insurer.
Bottom line: Companies can no longer put off the task of developing a social media policy and making sure their employees and agents understand it.
Rising Above the Chatter
Insurance executives take one look at the many conversations taking place on social media sites and cringe. Celebrity cults, hyper-ventilated screaming and self-important gibberish is part and parcel of the social media landscape. But so is real dialogue about real problems, substantive brand-building and a growing understanding about how our industry can and does work.
“Why should I want to tell anyone what I had for breakfast today, let alone find out what someone else had?” is a common question. Fair enough, but that’s not the right question to ask. A better question is: ”How could any insurer or producer use a mass communications tool that enables real-time, two-way conversations with a defined audience?”
The insurers and producers that embrace social media and truly listen and engage can rise above the chatter. Those who can be empathetic, reasoned and timely in their conversations will separate themselves from those who choose to rant about, minimize or ignore discussions about topics related to insurance. Those who reach out to the online world, not to pitch but to learn as well as guide and educate will create advocates for their brands — people who will promote more effectively than the best advertising. Those who can develop an authentic, upbeat, unscripted voice will make human connections with policyholders and prospects that no hard-sell can match.
Comments Off Stop Calling Social Media “New”
Social media is not a new-fangled technological concept but a throwback to the days of the small town merchant of fifty or one hundred years ago, if not longer. In those neighborhoods or small towns, everyone knew each other. The local storeowner knew what customers wanted and needed because he or she was one of them. An unhappy customer could complain face–to-face with the owner. Whether happy or not, customers could and would tell their friends and neighbors about the storeowner, the products and the service.
As our society became more prosperous and people ventured farther and farther outside of their towns, businesses grew larger and more impersonal and systems and processes more institutionalized.
Newspapers, telephone, direct mail, radio, and television provided these businesses the means to reach many consumers at once through advertising, catalogs, and news events. On the flip side, though, consumers were not as able to communicate as easily. Apart from surveys and focus groups, the dialogue was largely one-sided.
Social media reverses this long trend toward increasingly faceless institutions. In this global, high-intensity, time-starved, technological marketplace in which all insurers must operate, social media facilitates more of the personal, immediate, human interaction consumers crave from the businesses they choose to patronize. The insurers and producers that can best deliver that interaction will prosper. The ones who can’t or won’t will eventually disappear.
Comments Off Too Good To Be True…?
I am always amazed at how many quick fixes and “try this and you’ll be an instant social media success” schemes exist. “Learn how to create a viral video!” “Double your sales with Facebook!” No wonder some insurers and producers see social media as just more snake oil.
Quick fixes are nothing new, of course. When we get sick, we hope the doctor will be able to prescribe something to make the pain go away immediately. When we’re given an assignment at work, we tend to look for the quickest means to complete it. We all hope to win the lottery.
So it‘s only natural that we hope, even considering the outlandish claims of instant success, that the simple act of establishing a corporate Facebook page will somehow deliver an immediate benefit. And it should also be no surprise when top management is reluctant to allocate resources to a venture without some assurance that tangible benefits will be realized quickly.
The fact is, however, true social media success, i.e., meaningful and measurable benefits, takes planning, commitment and perserverance. Without a clear strategy and practical implementation plan, social media participation at the corporate level becomes little more than a waste of resources. Without a commitment to make social media a permanent corporate communications and research function, any effort will likely flounder. And without the perserverance to monitor, measure, reevaluate, and tweak the process every day, the conversations will grow stale and scripted and true dialogue will disappear.
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