Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

Copy here copy here.

The Evolution ofSocial Media for Insurance

IASA 2010 Mid-South Chapter Annual MeetingNovember 10, 2010Louisville, KY

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Jennifer Overhulse-King, Principal Owner – St. Nick Media ServicesJennifer Overhulse-King is the principal owner and founder of St. Nick Media Services. She is a writer, as well as a marketing and public relations expert, with more than 20 years of journalism background and expertise. Jennifer began working in the insurance industry as a copywriter for The National Underwriter Company, and she subsequently held various marketing leadership positions with National Underwriter, Tech Decisions, Claims Magazine, and Florida Underwriter. As principal owner of St. Nick Media Services, Jennifer works with clients to tailor marketing, PR, advertising and sales messages/efforts specifically for constituent groups important to the insurance industry. She has recently published expert articles in Insurance & Technology, Tech Decisions, Best’s Review, National Underwriter, Insurance Networking News, IASA’s Interpreter and the Journal of Insurance Operations. She is a member of the Insurance Marketing Communications Association (IMCA), the Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA) and is editor of IASA’s Interpreter.

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

IntroductionQ&A at the end of the session Today’s Topic The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Why has the insurance industry begun to embrace social media?Keep in mind…there is not only safety, but POWER in numbers.

Facebook Founded in February 2004, Facebook has gone from 0 to 500 million [users] in a little over six years People spend over 700 million minutes per month on Facebook Average user is connected to more than 80 community pages, groups and events

Twitter Launched in March 2006, Twitter has seen explosive growth and today more than 106 million active accounts producing approximately 65 million tweets each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second Approximately 190 million individuals visit the site monthly. Recent estimates say the number of Twitter users increases by 300,000 each day

LinkedIn Launched in May 2003, today LinkedIn users include more than 75 million professionals in more than 200 countries According to LinkedIn’s own reports, a new user joins the network every second Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

What is it?

Social media is…

…user-generated content distributed through social interactions facilitated on an almost real-time basis by the Internet or other forms of electronic distribution.

What’s next? Communities, a combination of wikis, blogs and forums…

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

What else is it? It’s a vehicle for electronic advertising It’s a market research tool It’s a customer feedback mechanism It’s a networking platform It’s a thought leadership forum It’s a way to stay in touch with remote

offices or workers It’s a relationship builder It’s a way to stay relevant It’s a way for smaller companies to

compete on a level playing field

It can also be… …a great waste of

time, money and resources!

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

If we are willing to admit it can be a waste of time, money and resources, what is the point of social media for my company?

Do we really need it? The short answer is…YES!

Keep in mind… It’s the way the next generation of consumers prefers to communicate. Your competition is using it… Your prospects and current customers are using it…

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The insurance industry is finding new uses for social media every day…

Lead GenerationMarket ResearchBrand RecognitionProduct AnnouncementsPromotionsService ChannelTech SupportHR/Pre-Employment ScreeningFraud Detection/PreventionRecruiting

How is your company using social media?How should you be using social media?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Different strokes for different folks…

Agents Community involvement Lead generation SALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carriers More effective underwriting Pre-employment screening Fraud detection Product information/documentation

Vendors/Service Providers News portal User groups/forums Advertising/marketing channel

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

How Are Your Competitors Using It?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

How Are Your Competitors Using It?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

How Are Your Competitors Using It?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

OK, OK…so social media is obviously the greatest thing since sliced bread…

Why isn’t everybody using it?

It’s the nature of the beast…the insurance industry is inherently risk-averse and conservative.

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

A Fall 2010 survey by NetProspex, an online business contact service, found that insurance made the list of the Top 50 Industries in terms of social media savvy.

And that’s the good news…

The bad news is that insurance ranks 42nd out of 50. Banking, the “kissing cousin” to insurance, is #3. We’re just ahead of debt collectors and hair salons.

Oh boy…

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

“Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. Nobody knows how. When it’s finally done, there is surprise it’s not better.”

-Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist – Google

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Where do I start?

Develop a policy. Communicate it, implement it, and adapt it along the way.

Resources:1. Agents Council on Technology or ACT (www.iiaba.net/act) 2. Insurance Marketplace Standards Association or IMSA (www.imsaethics.org) 3. (Insert shameless self promotion here.) St. Nick Media Services

Many companies believe a policy is not necessary. If you think your company doesn’t need a specific social media policy, consider this…

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

If you “legalize” it…you can regulate it!

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Where do I start?

Take time to gather competitive intelligence Listen. Lurk. Learn. Examine available options

Determine your comfort level “Before jumping into the deep end of the pool, always dip a toe in to

test the water. If we’re talking about having children, that means get a dog. If we’re talking about involvement in social media, that means get a blog.”

Define your purpose and goals Why do you want to participate in social media? Are there hard dollar targets tied to your goals?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Where do I start? (continued) Identify internal resources

Employees/SMEs Partners Industry Analysts

Collaboratively set strategy Involve the right internal groups or individuals Decide what vehicles will you use Decide which tools will be most effective in helping you achieve your

goals

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

How do I manage/maintain it? Reinforce/Reuse Content & Messaging

Make it consistent Take an outside in approach Deconstruct long complicated messages Repurpose content

Implement an integrated plan Tie new social media efforts back to

existing tools Pick a single starting place and own it Build a content calendar Recruit contributors

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

How do I manage/maintain it?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

How do I manage/maintain it?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Can I measure it? Common measurements

# of followers # of friends # of fans Positive feedback provided Customer interactions

Oft-overlooked measurements Upsell opportunities Click-throughs to website or link Referrals Conversions Activity/engagement level Brand mentions Virality (retweets, sharing

content, etc.)

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

What do I do with the information I gather?

Analyze your measurements Test new strategies and

ideas against benchmarks

Set new goals on a regular basis

Keep adding to your mix

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

What is the downside? The Dangers of Social Media

The Dangers of Social Media

Social media can result in… Legal implications/liability – Consult counsel (either internal or external)

for advice/insights/requirements. Regulatory concerns/privacy – Create a review and approval process. Unwanted friends/followers – You are pushing information out into a

public forum. You have to be prepared for even your competitors to check you out.

Negative comments/feedback – You have to have an internal mechanism for dealing with this quickly and effectively.

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Dangers of Social Media

…but perhaps the biggest danger is inaction or lack of participation.

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Dangers of Social Media

The official Progressive Facebook page……with 18,439 “friends.”

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

The Dangers of Social Media

The unofficial Facebook page for “Flo the Progressive Girl”……with 889,365 “friends.”

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Q&A on Social Media

Jennifer Overhulse-King, Principal Owner – St. Nick Media Services

What else would you like to know?

The Evolution of Social Media for Insurance

Thank you for your time!

Jennifer Overhulse-KingPrincipal OwnerSt. Nick Media Services15695 Glencoe-Verona RoadVerona, KY 41092

Phone: 859-803-6597Email: jen@stnickmedia.com

www.twitter.com/stnickmediawww.facebook.com/stnickmediawww.linkedin.com/in/stnickmedia