Connectivity is key. As the internet of things takes over the world, businesses need to find a way to get their voices heard in the messy web of digital noise.
Media is a platform that insurance businesses and brokerages can use to reach clients and potential customers. However, you need to be creative in your output in order to stand out from the crowd, according to Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and former director of market development at Facebook.
“Social media and technology are allowing our businesses to reach more people for free and go broader,” Zuckerberg said at the 2017 Wholesale Specialty Insurance Association conference in San Diego. “We have access to millions of customers at the click of a button – but so does the competition. It’s going to force companies to get more creative and put more effort into marketing to really stand out.
“You have incredible platforms to put your story out there, whether that’s the history of the business or the bios of the executive team. [These days] we’re all a media company. In addition to the insurance business that you’re doing, you have to be thinking about how you’re putting thought-leadership pieces out there, how you’re sharing expertise, and how you’re using new platforms to position yourselves as both insurance providers AND a content business.”
The media and tech world is a “volume game,” according to Zuckerberg. As the digital world becomes more and more crowded, the way that you sell yourself becomes ever more important. It requires “different skill sets” and a willingness to adopt trial and error, accepting that some ideas will result in failure.
“You’re probably thinking - ‘We’re stretched enough as it is and now we have to be a media company?’ – but you’ve been given this incredible megaphone [in social media and digital technology] and you have an opportunity to use it to really broadcast your expertise,” commented Zuckerberg.
But media can also be a “double-edged sword,” Zuckerberg admitted. The positive gains in connectivity can also have negative impacts. It opens up a channel for two-way dialogue that doesn’t always result in sunshine and rainbows.
“Some of the best things about media and tech are also going to be the most challenging in the coming years,” he noted. “You have to be OK with whatever feedback you get and you don’t always get to control everything you hear back.
“None of us really know what’s working [in the tech disruptive game]. The landscape changes so quickly that you have to be willing to try a lot of things, be OK with failure and immediately double down on what’s working.”
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