Here’s why brokers should leverage social media to educate clients

If you venture into the digital jungle that is social media, you’ll be sure to find interesting inhabitants of all kinds. There are the internet trolls armed with Nicholas Cage memes, fitness influencers mass producing workout videos, and the Facebook moms showcasing their dine-out dinner in unflattering restaurant lighting–oftentimes all on the same social platform. Amidst all this noise, you may be surprised (and relieved?) to finally discover useful content like businesses using their social media pages as virtual classrooms to educate their customers.

Why should brokers hop on the social media bandwagon? Is it worth the time and energy?

Well, the short answer is: yes. Here’s why.

People are glued to their phones

One way to effectively build a healthy, two-way relationship is being willing to meet people where they are instead of forcing them to come to you. This is applied to businesses building trustworthy relationships with their customer base as well. So, where are people spending large chunks of their time? On their phones, interacting in the social media landscape.

It would be practical to set up an account on a popular platform (Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook are the top three in 2020) where you can reach the most people per post. In our world of fast-moving and “on demand” everything, using social media as an educational platform can engage people’s attention without wasting their time. Plus, in addition customer education having a social media presence also helps with other business goals including customer outreach, driving traffic to your website, and responding quickly to customer complaints or questions.

Millennials and Gen Z customers prefer to engage via social media

If you’re aiming to educate your customers, your target audience should be composed of mainly Millennials and Gen Z’s. Millennials especially are entering the “insurance is probably a good idea” stage in their lives, so more and more of them will be looking at property, auto, health, and small business coverage. And out of the options of email, contact forms, and social media, their preferred way of interacting with businesses is through social media comments and DM’s.

“Millennials prefer to contact a business through social media — 26% of customers ages 18 to 34 use social media to contact a company. This means it is increasingly important for businesses to monitor their social channels more diligently than ever, especially as millennials gain more purchasing power,” notes Kirsten Herhold in her 2019 article about the importance of engaging with customers on social media.

Customer education leads to customer success

If your brokerage or insurance company is invested in customer success, the best way to help old and new customers succeed is to equip them with basic insurance knowledge so that they’re prepared when they set foot in your office.

Imagine these two scenarios. Customer A recently bought his first car and needs to insure it, so he calls you to book an appointment. When you meet, you discover that he doesn’t know anything about auto insurance and hasn’t thought about the kind of coverage he needs. Customer B also has no prior experience with purchasing auto insurance but she did some research on your brokerage before meeting with you. She discovered your Facebook page and took some time to scroll through your posts that describe different types of products you offer, their policy lengths, and payment options. When Customer B walks into your meeting, she’s informed and has an idea of what she wants. Which scenario saves you time and energy?

Education is a form of empowerment, and leveraging social media is the best fit to help the modern customer. If you’re not social media-savvy, not to worry. There are online resources that teach you how to set up the right social media accounts for your company’s particular needs and ones that demonstrate how to start using them to market your business and engage with your customers.