How big data insights translate to personal connections

Let’s follow the process as a consumer “likes” an agent’s Facebook page. First, the consumer has to be aware of the agent and his/her presence on Facebook, either through online or offline interaction, a referral from a client or an ad. The agent then has insight into the types of consumers that visit the page, from age range to most common hometown. While the latest incarnation of Facebook is focused on the timeline and life events, agents still do not have insight into who their fans truly are and where they are in life.

While there’s a degree of interaction with any successful Facebook page, most of the information about fans remains a mystery to carriers. Facebook holds the keys, but doesn’t readily share the life event information that life and health advisors thrive on. However, if an agent is a little more proactive, and works to earn a client’s trust to receive “friend status,” then the agent has a direct pipeline into life events that are the backbone of financial services. A client reporting on Facebook on the birth of a new grandchild, or the purchase of a new home, or kids graduating from college has presented the advisor with some excellent information to cement the personal relationship and perhaps sell additional products or services to that client.

Enter big data

Big data is just that, and the burden of pulling and analyzing the vast amount of social information falls to the carriers. At a granular level, social data is about relationship building, but doing so on a large scale requires investment and forethought. The goal is a more targeted approach to sales that will benefit both carrier and agent, as well as the customer. It’s no longer efficient or effective to rely solely on age and basic demographic information to determine what a customer’s needs are. Modern life has too many variables and too many choices for consumers. That choice also includes a choice of insurance agents, and if carriers and advisors aren’t careful and intent on taking advantage of the wealth of social data available to provide better, more targeted communications, consumers will make another life choice in selecting different insurance.

According to a recent Celent report, 80 percent of insurance companies are using social media at a corporate level for branding purposes. Life and health sales have always been a two-pronged effort, building national awareness and local relationships. If carriers are only using social and social insights at the national level, the whole effort seems disingenuous and will be ineffective. Revamp your analytics processes to hear what consumers are telling you – and the world – via social media.