Electronic Word of Mouth

The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) has taken a bold new approach to connecting with its members and consumers alike using some of the fastest growing interactive technology tools available today in social media. Plenty of IBAO members are already using social media as means to connect with industry peers, existing customers and prospects. The association understands this is a brand new world for many of its brokers and would like to share a few tips on how to get involved in using online communities to market a business.

THE NEW SOCIAL SETTING

Picture yourself at a friend’s house or family get-together, where everyone is catching up and sharing stories about the past few weeks of events in their lives. Someone talks about how helpful the clerk was as the local hardware store, and suddenly that store has a new customer. Someone else shares a story about where they found a discounted rate for an oil change, and the car dealer has new work. For brokers, a relevant example might be when an insurance-related topic comes up. Your advice as a broker becomes invaluable for someone at the event, and you end up with a new client.

These are exactly the types of stories and conversations that are taking place online, simply by someone posting a tweet (a message on Twitter), updating a Facebook status or writing a short post on a blog. Because of the context in which most of these online social tools are used, it is increasingly important for brokers to be involved in some capacity. Most of these conversations involve word of mouth or referral scenarios by users simply sharing their experiences, much like the traditional get-togethers mentioned above. Perhaps your brokerage might very well already be involved in social conversations taking place online.

HOW CAN A BROKERAGE GET INVOLVED?

A brokerage can start off conservatively by being a proactive observer, reading and listening to online conversations, reading relevant blogs and getting used to the nature and context in which information is shared. This way, you won’t feel pressured to share or post something right away. You might also consider setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts, so that when you do feel compelled to participate or share a comment, you are ready to go.

Eventually, you will start making online contacts and friends. A good place to start is to follow IBAO on Twitter.com/IBAOntario, and to become a fan of our Facebook page under the same handle. Many of IBAO’s Facebook fans and Twitter followers are members, industry media and others with a vested interest in the insurance industry. It’s a great place to start making connections and begin contributing to the conversation.

As you begin to interact, your status updates and posts may include general comments about your daily experiences, or links to helpful and resourceful insurance information. If the links can be directed back to your Web site, so much the better. But you’ll want to avoid posting too much promotional material. One rule of thumb is no more than 20% of your posts should be “advertising.” People aren’t looking for a bunch of commercials: they’re looking to connect, interact and learn new things through the use of social media tools.

The world of social media can be overwhelming in the beginning. Once you start to see the value in using this new means to connect with a community, your natural appetite and desire as a broker to engage and interact with people will be paramount. You’ll start to see social media as an excellent means to grow your business. Hopefully, IBAO can help by leading by example.

CONNECTING WITH THE CONSUMER COMMUNITY USING MYINSURANCESHOPPER.CA

IBAO has recently made a number of changes to its myinsuranceshopper.ca (MIS) Web site to better suit members, and to leverage the Web site to connect with existing customers and potential customers by using social media tools.

First, the association updated its approach when it comes to how the broker directory is listed on the MIS Web site. Traditionally member brokerage offices appeared in the directory only if they specified that they would be quoting personal lines products, and if they provided us with their contracted insurers. Since February, the site has been revamped; now if a member broker hasn’t completed an MIS profile for their brokerage, they will still appear within the site, although they will not have consumer-quoting buttons on their profile page. However, the consumer will see the office’s contact details and the lines of business the brokerage has indicated it can service. This change allows the association to focus more of its MIS campaigning and advertising on commercial brokers, allowing the association to leverage the MIS site for the office’s contact details without needing a personal lines service arm in the brokerage.

Second, the association has also changed the manner in which the broker directory results are displayed. The changes include two components. First (and most importantly for the association), the brokerage now has the ability to build its own Web page as part of the association’s site. The IBAO calls this an Enhanced Broker Listing. If the brokerage wants to include its logo, some details about the brokerage (how long it’s been in business, community involvement, competitive advantages, etc.) and more specifics about the specialties of products and services it offers, it now has the space to do so. The reason behind this expansion was to provide members with a means to differentiate themselves from other member brokers also taking part in the MIS initiative. If a brokerage and another brokerage in town are both displayed in a competing search result, it allows each to explain in a few words their own unique value proposition. The consumer can then make a decision based upon more than just proximity to their home or familiarity with a particular brand. We encourage all of our members to set up an Enhanced Broker Listing page as soon as possible. It’s a way for brokerages to differentiate themselves, and increase their own branding on the association’s consumer site.

From the IBAO perspective, each Enhanced Broker Profile adds another page of insurance content to its Web site, making the MIS Web site much more likely to score higher ratings with search engines such as Google or MSN. When consumers search for “auto insurance” or “car insurance,” search engines present a listing of Web sites considered to be the most likely and relevant matches to the consumers’ requests. Thus, if the MIS Web site were to expand from its current 30 pages to 730 pages of insurance specific content, it would rank consistently higher for the majority of searches consumers use when looking for insurance information. The Enhanced Broker Listing then serves two purposes: 1) it allows members to individualize the consumer’s experience within the MIS directory with their own look and feel, and 2) it increases the traffic generated to the site by providing us with more insurance content in the site as a whole.

A third enhancement added to the MIS site is the ability for consumers to leave feedback about a broker on their profile. A consumer can submit a comment about a broker within the MIS site, and other consumers or visitors can then also see this feedback. In the spirit of developing and interacting within social media communities, the association is asking consumers to engage within the site. The association wants consumers to do more than simply use the site: it wants consumers to help build and create it. The association does have control mechanisms in place for this functionality, but the intent is to allow consumers the opportunity to describe to non-broker insurance clients what they’re missing. This means having someone other than the brokers themselves or the IBAO explain why they choose to do business with an insurance broker.

IB AO intends to launch a blog page on the MIS Web site soon. This would involve posting consumer-focused insurance tips and information, especially around the new auto regulations coming into effect on Sept. 1, 2010.The blog will offer an opportunity for consumers to post comments and questions that brokers or other consumers can answer directly on the page. The comments will remain on the blog, which might help other visitors looking for the same information.

The association is encouraging its members to get involved in social media and allow already-developed online communities to become connected with the MIS site. The long-term intention is to create electronic conversations among brokers, existing broker customers and potential customers. Media has changed, and we need to embrace the word-ofmouth advertising we all crave in the digital arena. If brokers don’t take advantage of it, we are losing opportunities to build relationships into the future. Every business will depend upon it and, most importantly, so will member brokerages.

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Most online conversations involve word-of-mouth or referral scenarios, in which users simply share their experiences much like in traditional get-togethers. Your advice as a broker may lead to new business.

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Media has changed and we need to embrace the word-ofmouth advertising we all crave in the digital arena. If brokers don’t take advantage of it, we are losing opportunities to build relationships into the future.