Brokers keen on mastering social media need to remember who their audience is, according to insurance industry bloggers.
Many brokers experimenting with social media may be casting their nets too widely, indiscriminately using all social media channels when just a few may bring them more profitable business, experts say. The key is choosing the same social media that their target markets use.
“This might seem obvious, but in the rush to have a place ‘everywhere’ [on social media] many brokers forget where their target market spend their time online,” blogger ‘NICKK’ writes for RiskHeads. “Pinterest, for example, is one of the big success stories of the last few years.
“However, the demographic of users is skewed. Who are the main users of Pinterest? Professional women aged under 35 who live in the United States. Perfect if your product is targeted at that space – but not really worth your effort if it’s not.”
Carey-Ann Oestreicher, CEO of Potential Unlimited, a company that trains professionals in business skills such as networking, advises insurance industry professionals to establish a presence in particular social media as opposed to “having a presence everywhere and not really reaching anyone.”
“You have to fish where your fish are,” Oestreicher said. “I personally think that LinkedIn is a great resource for building professional connections and increasing business. For me, my audience is largely professional executives and entrepreneurs, so LinkedIn makes sense for me. Evaluate your audience and do your research.”
