Social media's role in insurance services

Social Media Marketing for Insurance Services

Marketing is one of the functions where social media can be of great value to insurance companies. Social media can be used to reach out to new customers, engage consumers on a more individual level, promote insurance products, and reinforce brand messages. Thus, deployment of social can be a useful tool to generate positive outcomes such as greater brand awareness, increased customer base, improved customer satisfaction, and revenue growth.

An important objective for any organization from a marketing perspective is to increase awareness of its new and existing offerings. For insurance companies, social media can be a useful tool in this regard. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin, and other popular social networks can be used to educate or familiarize consumers with the various types of insurance covers and their benefits, discount plans, promotions, as well as newly introduced covers and benefits. Such awareness can influence purchase decisions. A major advantage of social media is that it offers a significantly cheaper way of marketing and promoting products to a much larger audience compared to traditional channels such as television, radio and the print media.

Insurance companies can also rely on social media to engage consumers. Today, consumers increasingly yearn for relationships. They want organizations that engage them in meaningful ways. They want to be involved in stimulating conversations and desire quick two-way communication. Since it is primarily about building relationships, social media has transformed the manner in which individuals and organizations interact with one another. With social media, consumers can offer their feedback about brands and products, and spread messages through word of mouth to their social circles. This feedback can then be used effectively to address customer needs, service inadequacies, and engage consumers in key issues of concern. In addition, word of mouth can be important for getting referrals and bringing in new customers, thereby accelerating sales (Balinas).

The applicability of social media in consumer engagement, particularly, stems from the fact that insurance products tend to cover events that are emotionally important to consumers (Ymarketing). For example, one buys insurance to cover their health, loved ones, and valuable property. Consumers attach a lot of meaning to insurance products that affect the family. Given that social media is about building relationships, insurance providers can exploit it to engage consumers emotionally, initiate meaningful discussions, and build a consumer-centered service culture. According to Morgan, building and maintaining relationships is fundamental to selling insurance products. Consumers generally seek trustworthy providers. By listening to consumers, building communities, sharing experiences, and cultivating transparency through social media, insurance organizations can create enduring relationships with their target audiences.

Consumer engagement brings to the fore a particularly important aspect -- understanding consumer behavior. Consumer behavior constitutes an important driver of marketing activities. In essence, marketing activities are primarily driven by the needs of the consumers, the frequency of the needs, when they want it, their tastes and preferences, and other similar queries. Social media offers a valuable channel to obtain knowledge about these issues (Morgan). Insurance providers can rely on social media to gain useful knowledge about aspects such as what consumers like or dislike about insurance products, what products are preferred by what demographic group, what barriers hinder the uptake of insurance products, and so forth. This knowledge can in turn be used to enhance the existing offerings or introduce new ones.

Moreover, insurance organizations can rely on social media to gauge consumer perceptions about insurance products. It is not uncommon for consumers to have negative attitudes towards insurance products, which may mostly be as a result of lack of knowledge and/or misconceptions. Social media presents a valuable opportunity through which insurance service provides can change these attitudes. By focusing on frequently asked questions and misconceptions in their social media efforts, insurance providers can promote a positive attitude towards their products, which can ultimately influence purchase decisions.

The above efforts can contribute to brand development. In an increasingly competitive business environment, organizations grapple with the challenge of distinguishing their offerings and brands from the competition. The insurance market, for instance, is replete with numerous service providers, each offering equally competitive products. Standing out from the rest can, therefore, be a daunting task. Nonetheless, social media offers a unique conduit through which brand identity can be reinforced. Properly branded messages showing the uniqueness and benefits of the provider's offerings, and conveyed via Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other social media channels can contribute to brand building.