As we are now well and truly living in the digital era, it’s safe to say that the current generation is growing up exposed to online social media platforms like never before. In previous generations, our information sharing was kept to a minimum but these days it doesn’t seem like many people have private lives – their lives are all played out on public platforms and insurance taxes.
It may be an understatement thatonline social media has an important role within our daily lives – it’s there for work purposes, staying connected with friends and other personal uses. With most of us actively using online social media platforms, the figures reflect that. Around 600 million people are on Instagram, 319 million on Twitter, 106 million on LinkedIn and a whopping 8 billion Facebook users. One technological company, that actually understands that, is SchemeServe.
How Do We Use Social Media?
The majority of social media users are actively using the platform as a way to share information – information that once would have been private. Whether we’re pouring ourselves a glass of wine, picking the children up from school or popping to the shops, it’s all put on our timeline. This can be even more easily achieved by software for insurance brokers. When Facebook first invented their ‘check-in’ feature it was all over the news about how dangerous it could potentially be and no-one could understand why someone would want to reveal where they were. But a few years later, we’re doing just that across all of our social media accounts.
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Social media very quickly became somewhere to update our friends, family, colleagues and even ‘friends’ who we don’t particularly speak with how we’re feeling, where we’re going and what we’re planning on doing. While we were correct to question our safety in doing this, society hugely took a leap in deciding that it’s nothing to worry about. The option of being able to document our lives on social media has transformed our lives and whole culture.
Our culture is now very open to public exposure regarding very personal details, society seems to have fallen into the trap of false security that they feel their social media account offers. Not only that but we also use our accounts to keep up with current events. Social media is more than a place to stay connected with friends, it has become our news station. How many times have you logged into Facebook or Twitter and discovered that a celebrity has passed away or that there has been a disaster somewhere?
The Downfall of How We Use Social Media
A huge part of our society continuously uses social media to document almost every step they take and what they are thinking. As millions of us have had accounts for the best part of 10 years, there is a lot of personal information that is open to being found. But would this be an invasion of privacy if we, ourselves, have intentionally put it out there for others to so easily find? The same must be said about documenting our whereabouts and even where our children go to school. Does sharing all of this private information with strangers have any obligation issues for insurance policy holders?
If we updated our status to say that we were going on holiday for a week or spending the evening out, this information can easily get across to hundreds of people. Would this then be enough to invalidate any claims if you become a victim of burglary after so publicly announcing when your home would be empty for that period of hours or days? Read more about the UK motor insurance industry in this article. How should an insurance company deal with this type of issue, especially when we agreed to ensure that all reasonable care would be taken, when we signed our policy documents?
It has been well broadcasted across various news stations that social media has gotten people into big trouble and potential danger, by simply mentioning their whereabouts and what they are doing. Teenagers have been known to post information regarding parties and within a couple hours, word has spread and thousands of people have invited themselves along.
As our culture is so dominated by social media, should this be discussed and implemented into our insurance policies? Should it be a point of discussion when we are purchasing insurance?
The Insurance Industry & Social Media
The Relationship Between Insurance Companies & Social Media
Other than affecting the way we live our lives; social media has always brought great benefits for businesses. Social media has quickly become an essential part of marketing and reaching out to potential clients as well as maintaining a relationship with existing clients. Quite frankly, a vital element of running a fintech businessthese days is getting content out on social media platforms. One of the first things a potential client will do is try and search a company, product or service online, so offering your clients the opportunity to be engaged with your brand through your content is so important. In addition to the content, your clients are going to want to see some recommendations and social media offers well-trusted reviews and will also allow existing clients to do some of the marketing for you – by spreading it through word of mouth. The impact this has on businesses doesn’t stop with the insurance industry.
Using Social Media to Communicate with Clients
As mentioned above, putting content on your social media accounts is hugely beneficial to your insurance company, but putting out content that revokes a reaction and engagement is key. Insurers require a way of reaching out to their clients and social media platforms offer exactly that. Figuring out how people search for products and services and then using that when implementing your marketing and brand awareness strategies will help your business grow as well as maintain a healthy competitive stance in the insurance industry.
Listen to your clients’ needs and wants by effectively using your client insight tools. When your clients start sharing information you should be using this and analysing it to discover how to interact and reach out. A bonus from this is you will also learn how your clients are finding and interacting with your industry competitors.
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Before the digital era launched, businesses never knew of such beneficial brand awareness strategies. Maintaining vital communication and appropriately engaging with clients before the rise of the internet and social media was much more difficult. Years ago insurance companies would have taken days, perhaps even weeks, to respond to clients but these days clients are able to get efficient responses within the hour. By having an excellent response time through social media, this results in ultimate client satisfaction and reflects your company in a positive light – this would then be reflected in the reviews and recommendations. Companies that have impressive online reviews are going to become a brand that people recognise and trust.
How to Effectively Use Social Media Within Business
We have discussed just how important social media platforms are within the insurance industry but how do you get the best out of your social media accounts? There are numerous ways of taking full advantage of what being on social media has to offer, but knowing how to can be some-what confusing or difficult. Read more here. So here are the best ways to better use social media platforms to grow your brand awareness:
Emphasis on the ‘Social’or Put the ‘Social’ in Social Media
One of the best techniques when existing and putting out content on social media is taking a step back from all the corporate and business talk. You want your clients to engage with you and in order to do this you need to create an open dialogue. Allow your clients to see your company as a brand they can talk to and interact with. Occasionally companies will often allow their individual staff or team members to shine through, letting your clients further get to know who’s behind the screen. This creates a personalised environment and makes your brand approachable.
Stay Relevant
Not just with current events but also in terms of your content. Keep your content relevant to the purpose of your business, you don’t want to mislead your clients. You could even start a discussion about how social media itself is relatable to insurance – remember what we discussed earlier about posting your whereabouts and insurance claims? Perfect for getting a reaction and client engagement.It’s very important to keep track of the insurance market share. By giving out helpful advice and tips, this gives your clients an idea that you care and will be there to offer further support and advice when needed. Relevance and customer satisfaction all in one!
