Three Lessons Point to What Social Is (and Isn’t)
May 15, 2012 by Rick Morgan · Leave a Comment
Thousands of main street insurance agents have now joined the early adopters in our industry’s foray into social networking. Social networking is working for some, but not so much for others. Users continue to better understand the significance and impact social networking is having on the way insurance firms connect and interact with customers and prospects. They also are taking advantages of the new opportunities an effective social networking initiative can offer.
The following three key concepts are foundational lessons that have emerged in the past couple years – that must be recognized and incorporated into any successful social networking initiative:
1. It’s not about the technology. Success with social networking isn’t just about the latest technology. Technology is transitory. It is the means to an end: Connecting with people. Social networking represents a permanent cultural transformation and a market disruption.
Many of the old ways of doing business are no longer effective. For example, traditional Yellow Page advertising is no longer effective in reaching most consumers. Read more
Learning to Adapt
March 20, 2012 by Rick Morgan · Leave a Comment
“Digital Darwinism – The evolution of consumer behavior when society and technology evolve faster than the ability to exploit it.” – Brian Solis
What a great term—Digital Darwinism—to describe the fear many agencies and carriers feel as they struggle at make sense of the many challenges they face in today’s rapidly evolving environment.
Mobile, cloud, and social technologies are evolving faster than ever. These technologies are also transforming our society and giving rise to a new empowered and connected consumer. The reference to Darwin suggests that failure to adapt eventually will lead to the demise of the business of insurance, as we know it.
I believe that the challenge facing our industry is not just about making sure agents have blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and are using Pinterest to curate relevant business information. Yes, it is important to learn how to effectively use new technology.
The Myth of 24/7
January 24, 2012 by Rick Morgan · 2 Comments
When I speak with insurance agents and brokers, I hear a common belief that in today’s world, 24/7 availability is required to be competitive. And who can blame them? In our instant gratification society there is an expectation that consumers want full access to all information whenever they want it.
But what exactly does “24/7” mean and is it really necessary?
If you believe the argument that auto insurance is a commodity, then the 24/7 expectation is justified. Yet, what your customers are buying from you, the agent, is more than a quote or a policy—they also are getting a personalized service built on a trusted relationship. Perhaps geckos don’t sleep but living, breathing insurance agents need their rest. Read more
Social Strategy: What Agents Want & What Carriers Can Do
November 15, 2011 by Rick Morgan · 1 Comment
I had a very interesting and thought-provoking conversation with Terry Golsworthy, president of The Customer Respect Group last week. We were discussing the effective use of social technologies by our industry. Specifically, we were discussing what carriers could or should be doing to be more effective in their own social initiatives but more importantly how they could be doing more to help their agents and collectively present a more compelling presence in the social universe.
What do agents want from carriers? In the many discussions I have had with agents the answer is, “It depends” and more often than not they are not really sure. Frequent answers include content, leads, and co-funded social marketing programs. Generating good content for their own blogs and social posts is a common concern voiced by many agents. But what type of content do they want from carriers? What can carriers do to really help? For example, are “white labeled” carrier-created articles that agents personalize the best we can do? Read more
Disaster Communications: We Can Do More with Social Media
October 4, 2011 by Rick Morgan · Leave a Comment
This post is a follow-up to the #Irene #Insurance blog I wrote on August 30. That post was written during Hurricane Irene and I talked about how agents, carriers and associations were leveraging social tools to effectively connect with their customers and communicate valuable information.
Since that post, much of the East Coast has suffered significant flooding from both Irene and Tropical Storm Lee—and the companies mentioned in my earlier post along with many other firms continued to make effective use of social networking to stay in touch with their customers.
They used everything from e-newsletter and blogs to Twitter and YouTube to post information on how to contact carriers, storm updates, emergency shelters locations, road closings, office hours, FEMA info, tips on cleaning, preparing a disaster supply kit, storm surge maps, “thank you’s” to emergency responders, photos of local flooding, and insurance policy coverage information. Read more
#Irene #Insurance
August 30, 2011 by Rick Morgan · 2 Comments
I had intended to write about the importance of staying true to yourself when creating an online presence. But as I write this post, Hurricane Irene is barreling down on North Carolina and then heading toward New York City. So, instead I decided to write about how our industry has been using social networking to communicate valuable disaster-related information to their customers.
Often, I hear agents who are not yet actively participating in social networking question its value and/or its return on investment (ROI).Clearly, the use of social networking by our industry during the past couple of weeks has demonstrated that “social” is not just about ROI. During the earthquake and now the hurricane many East Coast agents, carriers and associations effectively used social networking to connect with their followers and communicate valuable information. Some examples include:
- New York agent, Ryan Hanley who created a video blog offering, “6 Hurricane Preparedness Tips for Homeowners”
- Connecticut agency The Founders Group blog posting, “Hurricane Irene is on her way – Tips for protecting your home!”
- Many Facebook posts and status updates by Connecticut agent V.F. McNeil Insurance including links to the town’s emergency preparation and a request by the governor to sign up for CT Alert Emergency Notification.
Innovation vs. Improvement
August 8, 2011 by Rick Morgan · Leave a Comment
I have been thinking a lot lately about a blog post I read a couple of months ago. The post was by Amber Naslund and she clearly articulated the distinction between improvement and innovation and makes the case for needing both. She states, “Some things we do will be rooted in long time, sound practice, but will need to be modernized or reworked a bit to adapt to the speed, culture, and communication realities that are implied by a more social business. But because social media and social business aren’t just “better marketing,” (this applies to other technologies as well) some things we do will need to be utterly and completely abandoned, reinvented, or established anew.”
To help drive home the importance of innovation, she quoted Henry Ford as saying, “If he’d asked the American people what they really wanted, they’d have said faster horses.”
I have been thinking a lot about it lately because I think our industry has a tough time making the distinction—let alone acting—on situations when innovation rather than improvement is needed. Sometimes, improvement simply is not good enough. We fail if we apply new technology to old processes. New technologies give us the chance to innovate and create new processes. Read more
Social Networking – Its Impact on Your Brand
June 21, 2011 by Rick Morgan · Leave a Comment
While it is common for people to think of their logo as their brand – it is so much more than that. Brand is everything and everything is brand. Your brand is the impression or feeling someone has about your firm and is formed and evolves from every customer touch point or interaction with your company. Brand is your storefront, your reception area, your employees, and your voicemail system. Brand includes all of your communication tools. In the digital age your brand is the user interface, content, and functionality of your website. Brand is also your Linkedin profile, your Twitter activity, and your Facebook page.
Today more than ever brand is being defined by consumers and what they think is more important or has more influence than your brand messaging. Interestingly enough, even if you are not engaged in social networking it is having an impact on your brand. In fact, not engaging in social networking may be doing great harm to your brand. Read more
Social Media and A Level Playing Field
May 3, 2011 by Rick Morgan · 7 Comments
According to the Small Business Administration, “Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all firms, they create more than half of the private nonfarm gross domestic product, and they create 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs.”
It wasn’t that long ago that the Internet was expected to be the great equalizer. That is, the Internet would provide independent agents with the ability to expand their reach and the give them the tools necessary to compete with the big boys.
As it turned out large well-funded direct writers applied slick technology and even slicker ad campaigns to buy attention and garner consumer trust. The end result was that most online sales went to a relatively small number of sites controlled by large insurance companies. Small business was simply out spent and outgunned by big business.
Being Social – What Many Insurance Agents Do Best
April 4, 2011 by Rick Morgan · Leave a Comment
Two years ago, I was enjoying life traveling around the US with my wife and dog in our RV and playing lots of golf. Working with branding firm Aartrijk was not on my radar. Then along came the “social” revolution and I got hooked by what I perceived as the next great cultural transformation that would impact the insurance industry. I wanted to be involved.
I got excited about the opportunity social web offers independent agents to strengthen if not regain their brand position as the “trusted choice” of consumers. In my experience, independent agents have always been good at building relationships built on trust. Yet, they have struggled to be heard and to communicate their value.
Large national brands had the expertise and budgets to dominate traditional media with their price centric message. In fact, I remember when many predicted the disintermediation of the independent agent. The assumption was that personal lines and small commercial lines were commodities and could be sold and purchased online. Read more