Social Media Marketing For The Insurance Industry
With the increase in the number of internet users in the Insurance industry to around 658 million, the scope of social media marketing has also increased. An average Indian spends around 2.36 hours per day on Social Media. As per a recent Nielson report, the internet users in the rural population are 20% more than the urban population, and the falling prices of the internet and smartphones, have made these changes possible in country like India.
Social media marketing uses social media channels to engage with its customers. With the new features and platforms emerging every day, social media marketing is constantly evolving. Insurance companies can also leverage the usage of social media in various different ways:
Understanding the Target Audience
Even if the content produced is of the best quality but it is of no use unless and until it reaches the target audience. Through social media, companies may target senior citizens for annuity products or women-specific insurance plans to working women groups available on social media. Once the target audience is decided, insurance companies can choose the creative social media strategies to target the different segments of the market and can propose profitable propositions to them.
Insurance Literacy Campaigns
As per the survey conducted by National Centre for Financial Education in 2019, only 24 per cent of Indians are financially literate compared to 55 per cent in developed countries. Amongst the BRICS countries, financial literacy in India is the lowest. Insurance companies can create awareness about insurance products using social media as it can help reach the masses in a very economical way. Insurance companies can focus on different segments of the market using vernacular languages and explain the products in simple non-technical words. This would help the customers in understanding the importance of insurance products and, they can buy the right product and avoid misselling.
Customer Engagement
Social media can be used to engage with the customers and can help companies in maintaining long term relationships with them. Insurers can put contests and quizzes on social media and get to know their customers better. And as per the preferences of the customers, customised products and portfolios can be offered. They can also solve their queries instantly and this can help in reducing the turnaround times of different insurance processes like underwriting, claim settlements etc. This can also help in reducing customer grievances. Imagine the customers can now reach the CEOs of the insurance companies available on social media by just tagging them there and can now communicate with them.
Influencer marketing
The influencer market in India was 9 billion in the year 2021 and is projected to be around 22 billion INR by 2025. Influencers are the people who are experts in their areas and have a massive fan following on social media platforms. People trust influencers more than celebrities and companies are using this trust factor to endorse their products and services through them. For example, companies now prefer endorsing the usage of acne cream by a social media influencer who has suffered from acne problems in her life than by a model who has never faced this problem. Insurance companies can also use influencer marketing to spread awareness about their products, sell and market their products and focus on small towns, tier-ii cities and rural areas as influencers would be using the local language of that region.
Social media analytics involves gathering and analysing data from various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Insurance companies can use predictive analytics by mining customer data for pricing and risk selection. Insurers can understand customers' preferences and inclinations, they can formulate service policies. Insurers are using predictive analytics for fraud detection by analysing social media accounts.
Insurers should now tighten their belts and gear up to make strategies to utilise the social media platforms to make their brand image, and social conversations and deliver the right products to the right customers. Just having a presence on social media is not enough, it is more important to be active on these platforms and make the best out of this virtual world's magic.
