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Soc Med1 16 Nov2010 Final
The document discusses the role of social media in insurance agencies, addressing common myths and realities surrounding its use. It emphasizes the importance of engaging with clients online as a means of building relationships and staying competitive. The document also provides a call to action for agencies to explore social media's potential and develop a strategic approach to its utilization.
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Soc Med1 16 Nov2010 Final
- 1. Insurance Agencies & SocialMedia ― Misconceptions & Reality Jason Hoeppner, CIC B. H. Burke & Co., Inc.
- 2. Insurance Agencies &Social Media ― Misconceptions & Reality If you have not yet viewed the Socialnomics video, and we have more than 5 minutes before we start… Please click the link below (it is 4 ½ minutes long): http://socialnomics.net/2010/05/05/social-media-revolution-2-refresh/ We will start at noon.
- 3. Agenda • What areSocial Media? • Myths & Realities • Why Should Our Agency Be Using Social Media? • What’s Next & Starting Resources
- 4. Agenda • What areSocial Media? • Myths & Realities • Why Should Our Agency Be Using Social Media? • What’s Next & Starting Resources
- 5. What Are SocialMedia? • The term “social media”, quite simply, refers to the online tools that allow you to interact, communicate, and share with others, the only requirement being that you are both on the same platform … and have a shared “interest”. • For insurance agencies, this means that in addition to walk-ins, phone calls, and emails, you now have an additional way to establish and build relationships with your clients and prospects.
- 6. What’s Out There •MySpace • Flickr • Facebook • YouTube • Twitter • LinkedIn • Blogs • Website
- 8. Agenda • What areSocial Media? • Myths & Realities • Why Should Our Agency Be Using Social Media? • What’s Next & Starting Resources
- 9. Myth #1 • Thissocial media trend is only a fad. Reality: • Sure, the platform of today may not be everyone’s favorite tomorrow (or next year); but regardless, what we are experiencing is a paradigm shift in the way people communicate.
- 10. Myth #2 • IfI am on social media and someone makes a negative comment, it will hurt my brand. Reality: • If your clients are online, comments may already be being made about your “brand”. If you aren’t there to hear these comments, there is definitely no way you can respond.
- 11. Myth #3 • Myclients are not on social media. Reality • How do you know they aren’t? Have you checked? Good chance your competitors have!
- 12. Myth #4 • Idon’t have time to participate on social media platforms. Reality: • You’re already spending time on the same things you’d be doing through social media. Networking, building relationships, and researching prospects can all be done more quickly, and in some cases more effectively, online.
- 13. Myth #5 • SocialMedia are meant for sharing personal news. Reality: • They are really good for that, but part of what you need to consider is how you can use social media to show the “personal side” of your agency. And, many of the platforms are geared specifically toward business only.
- 14. Myth #6 • Insuranceis boring. Why would anyone want to follow, friend, or connect with me or my agency? Reality: • Sorry, got nothing. You’re right. • But seriously, it’s up to you to make it a little more interesting and understandable. And, when it comes down to it, what do you talk about when you network?
- 15. Myth #7 • Ican’t trust my employees to use it correctly. They might waste time or, worse, embarrass the agency. Reality: • This concern implies that you have a deeper issue at your agency. Being involved in social media will not automatically cause your employees’ behavior to worsen.
- 16. Myth #8 • Beingon Social Media poses a serious E&O risk. Reality: • Social media provide a more-public method of communication than others, and thus pose some elevated E&O risk, but understanding how these media work significantly defuses that risk. And when in doubt, take the conversation to email, phone, or in person.
- 17. Myth #9 • Iam a local agent. Why do I need to connect with people in (name a state…)? Reality: • The use of social media does present a geographic challenge … but there are easy and effective ways to localize your participation.
- 18. Myth #10 • Socialmedia will bring me a ton of leads, convert me into a rock star, and even make my kids straight-A students. Reality: • Social media will not be a panacea. You will need to define your expectations and be ready to readjust them as you track your results.
- 19. Agenda • What areSocial Media? • Myths & Realities • Why Should Our Agency Be Using Social Media? • What’s Next & Starting Resources
- 20. Why Should OurAgency Be Using Social Media? Maybe you shouldn’t… ; ) … but realize that your competitors might be. If we have addressed concerns you had about social media, you definitely should take the next step and discover whether and how these tools could become your business ally. And, if you don’t want to be that agency five years from now that doesn’t have a social media presence, you might want to start exploring it now.
- 21. Agenda • What areSocial Media? • Myths & Realities • Why Should Our Agency Be Using Social Media? • What’s Next & Starting Resources
- 22. What’s Next? • Takea look at what you’re currently doing for marketing, networking, and relationship- building. • Determine where your clients & prospects are. • Put together a strategy and get the right people to lead the initiative. • Tune into the next BHBCo webinar.
- 23. Starting Resources • B.H. Burke & Co., Inc. (!!) • Agency Social Media Template & Webinars http://www.iiaba.net/act • http://www.mashable.com • Aggregators: – TweetDeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com) – HootSuite (http://hootsuite.com) – Seesmic: (http://seesmic.com)
- 24. If You HaveFurther Questions • Link Up & Follow Me! – twitter.com/JasonBHBCo – linkedin.com/in/JasonBHBCo – facebook.com/JasonBHBCo • The Old Fashioned Way! – Jason@bhbco.com – (860) 399-8288
Editor's Notes
- #4 One of the things I want to make clear is that this topic is something that could very easily be discussed for several days. We are just going to be looking at the tip of the iceberg. And in the same way, once we do get down below the “water level” we will see that there is so much more – potential at least – to the topic of social media and how insurance agencies can utilize it effectively. I do want to leave plenty of time at the end as well to discuss any questions you may have at this point.
- #5 One of the things I want to make clear is that this topic is something that could very easily be discussed for several days. We are just going to be looking at the tip of the iceberg. And in the same way, once we do get down below the “water level” we will see that there is so much more – potential at least – to the topic of social media and how insurance agencies can utilize it effectively. I do want to leave plenty of time at the end as well to discuss any questions you may have at this point.
- #6 Now I do want to say that there are a multitude of reasons why using social media may not make a lot of sense for an agency – or even your own agency. We are going to hopefully touch on some of these in this session. But I do know, and I hope that we all see it in some fashion, that social media is not going away, and there are a lot of people on these platforms every day. And, there are many successful and huge businesses that are using it now with good results; and producers as well that will continue to use it more and more to help them find and close prospects
- #7 Each platform offers you a different level of control. Of course, your own website is (or at least should be) completely dedicated to your business.
- #8 http://www.fredcavazza.net/2009/04/10/social-media-landscape-redux/ As you can see there is a tremendous amount of social networks out there. This graphic was actually created over a year ago, so you can also imagine that the landscape has grown considerably since then. What does it mean? There are a lot on online resources that a lot of people are utilizing. The trick is to find where your clients – and prospects – are spending their time.
- #9 One of the things I want to make clear is that this topic is something that could very easily be discussed for several days. We are just going to be looking at the tip of the iceberg. And in the same way, once we do get down below the “water level” we will see that there is so much more – potential at least – to the topic of social media and how insurance agencies can utilize it effectively. I do want to leave plenty of time at the end as well to discuss any questions you may have at this point.
- #10 As those of you who viewed the socialnomics video saw, the numbers are pretty convincing. And the trending lines have not changed direction. Social media allow us to passively, and with “permission” listen to what is being said in the areas that interest us. Likewise, for those that connect with us, we already have their “permission” to communicate with them… But this permission can be very easily revoked if we do not provide the kind of value and interest that our listeners expect… Think about how we communicate with our clients today. Can it be done more easily and effectively from a business standpoint through social media?
- #11 Does a tree falling in the forest make any noise? How about a client (or ex-client) making noise? Does anyone hear them? If they are complaining, justifiably or not, online, others will hear it. And, it will be a permanent record. How horrendous would it be to see a negative (or even neutral) blog or tweet come up when someone Googles your agency’s name? [By the way if you have not put your own name and agency’s name into a search engine, you definitely need to.] [If we have time we will also show you how to keep that ear set up to automatically listen.] If we have a plan and know how to address negative comments, we can turn them into a positive example of how the agency cares, listens and continues to make itself better…
- #12 Pull up a quick Facebook ad page to show how they can get a quick snapshot of demographics. There are some inherent parts of social media that allow us to focus accurately and quickly on a target audience when it comes to how we promote and advertise our brand and products. If we could take this narrow focus and fold it into how we market today, would it give us a better ROI on our efforts? Maybe, maybe not.
- #13 If you can reach out to 5 people rather than just one when you share an industry specific news item, and establish yourself as a knowledgeable person in that area, would that allow you to build solid relationships more quickly?
- #14 As an insurance professional, there is often not much of a chance to share selected personal items that will help strengthen the relationships you have with your clients. As you know, when you have that personal bond, it is much easier to maintain and build that professional relationship – and get to the “client for life” stage.
- #15 When we fail to provide value to those that are connected with us online, we will lose their interest and our connection will suffer. Insurance should actually be the thing we talk about the least. There are a lot of other topics (or even insurance ones that can be disguised as something else) that you target audience will want to read – think tips, reminders, how to save $$, etc.
- #16 They have PDAs that they can use to get onto Facebook or Twitter, they talk about work outside of work in public, they have Sudoku. Of course guidelines and the expectations for the use of social media inside the agency, if the agency decides to utilize them, does need to be clearly stated in an agency social media policy, which all employees receive training on. And then, if people violate the agency policy, that is something management can use to make subsequent decisions. Of course personal vs. agency use can sometimes be a fine line and needs to be clearly defined in your agency policy.
- #17 Just as you use disclosures on your voicemail and at the bottom of your emails, you should do something similar on social media. While by default we can communicate valuable items to many people all at once online, there are also direct messages on these platforms that are just like an email to a specific person. In addition, as you get set up there are security settings and practices you will want to implement to make sure you are using things properly (as you intend).
- #18 Facebook places, Facebook Ads (not free), Twitter searches based on a geographic area.
- #19 Again, social media platforms are, at their core, a new way to communicate. There is no magic solution here, but if you look at what works for you now and effectively implement a social media strategy that enhances your networking, your marketing and your relationship building, you will do much more in a shorter time than you were previously able to do.
- #20 One of the things I want to make clear is that this topic is something that could very easily be discussed for several days. We are just going to be looking at the tip of the iceberg. And in the same way, once we do get down below the “water level” we will see that there is so much more – potential at least – to the topic of social media and how insurance agencies can utilize it effectively. I do want to leave plenty of time at the end as well to discuss any questions you may have at this point.
- #21 It is going in the direction that agency websites are at now. We are all serious business people – and as you know at BHBCo we consider ourselves to be serious business advisors. And in an objective evaluation of the trends we are seeing (and from some of the data that we saw on the video), it would be rather short-sighted to not dig a little deeper into what is going on. It is undeniable that the insurance consumers of tomorrow are already approaching the research, decision-making, and validation of purchasing decisions in a manner that is different than your own generation. MY EXAMPLE? You can make the call on what you want to do about it. Leave this for questions and answers.
- #22 One of the things I want to make clear is that this topic is something that could very easily be discussed for several days. We are just going to be looking at the tip of the iceberg. And in the same way, once we do get down below the “water level” we will see that there is so much more – potential at least – to the topic of social media and how insurance agencies can utilize it effectively. I do want to leave plenty of time at the end as well to discuss any questions you may have at this point.
- #23 We will have sessions on how agencies can effectively use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. We will also have a special webinar for producers and how they can take advantage of all that these platforms offer and give them an advantage over other sales agents.