Many insurance professionals initially perceived social media as a risky new channel due to the complications of regulatory requirements on communications with the public and advertising. That said, the benefits of going social, allowing agents to go where their customers are and reaching the right audience at the right moment, have proven to far outweigh the risks.
LIMRA, the world’s largest association of life insurance and financial services companies, recently found that 93% of life insurance companies had social media programs in place last year. That’s up 55% from the number of companies managing social media in 2010, speaking volumes about where the industry is going. But getting on social media for such professionals was just phase one.
Increasingly, financial firms are also seeing the benefits of being on social media for business and are now actually encouraging their professionals to use social—but always in a compliant way. Agents and advisors are becoming more comfortable building their social presence with the intent of growing business instead of just connecting friends.
Still, the personal element unique to social networking remains important. Working with agents and advisors, we know that content that represents not just their business, but who the agent is, proves important for building relationships and ultimately business through social media.