ANZIIF’s social and digital expert has warned the industry that failure to adapt to digital changes could leave them vulnerable to disruptors and given key advice to brokers looking to get online.
Dr
Amy Gibbs, digital communications and content strategy manager, spoke at the Finity Niche Insurer Conference in Sydney last week, and told
Insurance Business how important digital changes could be to the industry.
“It is imperative that insurers embrace digital and social now as they have a limited amount of time before new disruptors to the industry get past regulators and are able to take customers away from them,” Gibbs said.
“I think they have a small window between where these new disruptors are able to navigate the regulatory landscape in Australia and it has buffered Australian insurer somewhat so far, but as soon as the first or second lot of disrupters do that they will really take off and they will take off very quickly.
“It’ll be incredibly hard for insurers to catch up because it is not just about adding digital to your business, it is really about disrupting your own business and that takes time.”
For those businesses not fully embracing digital, Gibbs had simple advice to start and noted one particular channel that could be influential for brokers.
“My number one step is just get online,” Gibbs continued.
“It doesn’t matter how you do it or what order you do it but just get on there and then there is a lot of trial and error involved but once you are a little more comfortable then look at setting up your strategy and risk management and so forth.
“For brokers I think LinkedIn is an immensely powerful tool, more so than the big insurers will find it.
“It sort of depends on where the brokerage wants to go, if they want brand recognition and they want growth then they have to be on social, across the gamut of channels.”
Gibbs stressed that digital and social worries are not just for the major players in the industry as smaller businesses stand to reap greater rewards from an early adoption of these changing trends.
“I think small businesses are much more agile and are therefore able to compete much more easily with the disruptors that come from outside the industry,” Gibbs noted.
“They don’t have huge big companies they have to completely overhaul to put the customer first; they are already set-up that way.
“If they embrace digital and social, which so far they haven’t, they have a huge advantage and essentially can put themselves in the position of a disruptor.”
