Insurers are considering it extremely critical to monitor all social media activity relating to business, products and brands. Though return on investment for social media initiatives can be difficult to measure, the benefits of communicating with clients regularly creates a consistent message. This whitepaper examines the areas where social media has a significant impact.

1. www.niit-tech.com
Social Media: A Platform to Increase
Sales and Visibility
Prachee Gupta
NIIT Technologies White Paper

2. CONTENTS
Introduction
3
What is Social Media for Insurers
3
Engaging on Social Media
4
Social Media Implications
4
Social Media Opportunities in the Insurance Value Chain
4
Conclusion
5
References
6
About The Author
7
About NIIT
7

3. Introduction
The power of social media offers a transformational opportunity for
This whitepape r examines the areas where social media has a
significant impact.
companies , making a significan t impact on the way they do
business. Social media supplements traditional sources with a
wealth of information, providing a significant value proposition.
Blogging, networking, and instant messaging facilitate meaningful
dialogue between individuals and businesses.
Typically, social media allow users to create, distribute and receive
specialized content. It also gives control to the end users, where
they can provide feedback, participate in discussions and in turn
What is Social Media for Insurers
Social media is considered as the most influential marketing tool that
allows customers post their experiences, blog and tweet across a
range of topics, from their interactions with customer etc. Insurance
companies are investing significantly to develop social media
capabilities that provide insurers with the opportunity to understand
how customers feel about the products and what they can do in
order to improve customer satisfaction.
companies can form deeper relationship s with customers and
increase brand awareness.
Many companies have recognized the potential of social media
and are slowly waking up to its role in a business context. In May
2012, Facebook alone crossed 850+ million (1) registered users
C
u
s
t
o
m
e
r
s
and Twitter over 500 million (1) users. Facebook and Twitter are the
Ease of doing
Business
Anytime,
Anywhere.
Convenience
Better Service
and
understanding
of products and
options
Collaboration
Outlet to
opinions,
Risk Prevention
advice and self
expression
Interaction
most popular and fastest growing social sites with 39% (2) of the
American companies having corporate Twitter accounts and 61%
(2) of these companies on Facebook.
Insurers are increasingly adapting and leveraging social media
I
n
s
u
r
e
r
s
Customer
Satisfaction,
Loyalty,
reduced costs
Build
Relationships,
get immediate
feedback and
gain Loyalty
Visibility into
Trends, opinions
and problems.
A chance to
influence.
platforms for business purposes. Social media is seen as a tool
that complement s the insuranc e company ’s busines s and
In the insurance industry the immediate impact of social media is felt
marketing strategies. The reach of social media is extending every
among the following key areas:
day and insurers have realized the importance of adapting to social
media platforms and significantly increasing their online presence.
Insurers are considering it extremely critical to monitor all social
Marketing: Social Media platforms can act as a very strong
medium for the marketing of a company’s insurance products. It not
only reduces the cost of transactions, but also gives insurance
companies the opportunity to reach out to prospective buyers.
media activity relating to business, products and brands. Though
return on investment for social media initiatives can be difficult to
measure, the benefits of communicating with clients regularly creates
a consistent message.
3

4. • Acquire This is an easy and cost-efficient route, when
compared to conventional channels like agents, tele-callers and
sales representatives. Blogs and interactive sessions can help
companies reach prospective buyers very easily.
Strategic
Transactional
Informational
Infrastructural
• Educate: It is a strong medium for educating customers about the
importance of insurance and the suitability of different types and
ranges of insurance policies for them. Besides this, the informal
style of communication, supported by active content on risk
prevention measures (for example, good lifestyle for health, effective
self-maintenance for vehicles, and industry best practices for safety)
generates the scope for enhanced interaction with customers,
which is not possible through conventional channels.
• Collaborate: Providing active customer support through Facebook
pages, Twitter and You Tube to existing customers can help
companies develop good long-term relationships with them.
Transactional: Social Media platforms help insurance companies
cut the transactional costs involved in acquiring customers and
Analytics: Not only do social media platforms give companies easy
selling insurance products.
access to customers, it also gives them an opportunity to look into
trends in the industry. Insurance companies often rely on past data to
Informational: The platforms help in building a strong database of
understand their risk exposure through their insurance products.
prospective and actual customers, along with demographic and
Gaining insights into future trends is one of the most powerful opportu-
behavioral information.
nities to be gained from social media. The experiences and expectations revealed by customers using social media is an unprecedented
Strategic: It is a strategic investment in the long run, considering
resource for insurance companies seeking to make decisions.
the changing industry landscape.
For example, in the health insurance sector, information about the
Infrastructural: It helps insurance companies build an infrastruc-
lifestyles of customers can help companies gain good insight into
ture for the shared services offered by the companies.
upcoming trends. With the profile information of the existing and
prospective consumers, companies can also design a ‘Dynamic
Premium’ for their customers and gain customer loyalty.
Social Media Implications
Knowledge sharing: These platforms allow knowledge and
Even as social media brings a world of opportunities, it also comes
information sharing within the insurance fraternity. Portals designed
with its own set of challenges for companies. Some of the key
for the exclusive use of insurers and agents can help companies
challenges while implementing social media include:
share information with each other discreetly, and thrive in the
• With customers sharing a lot of their personal information on the
constantly evolving industry landscape.
web, it is extremely important to take care of the security of the
information stored online.
Engaging on Social Media
Social media is leveraged within and outside the insurance industry.
The key to a successful social media roll-out is to have a road map
• Define and roll-out a comprehensive social media road map to
educate and train individuals
• High cost of developing a new insurance product and brand
required tweaking of social media strategy
on where these technologies can be used. At a high level, some
focus areas where social media engagements prove beneficial are:
4

5. Social Media Opportunities in
the Insurance Value Chain
The marketing team invites Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to write
Social Media platforms will allow customers to
educate customers . Insuranc e companie s structu re content
blogs or publish their video interviews on the products to create
awareness and generate interest. This can help support and
effectively to make every player adopt these forums.
Research
products
Employee and agent portals: Employee and agent portals are
catalyst s for collaboration , enablin g effective and meaningfu l
communicatio n amongs t employees , as well as betwee n
Renew or
terminate
policy
Obtain
quote
employees and agents for knowledge management. It provides a
platform where employees can share and discuss suggestions for
a product released and bring relevant changes to improve
customer satisfaction . It helps integrat e innovativ e insights in
real-time improving the overall productivity of the workforce.
Lodge
claim
Buy policy
Customer self-service: Customers are demanding exemplary
customer service, low cost and tailored products. Social media has
opened alternate channels for educating customers and reducing
Social media platforms can be used for
the overall marketing cost of the company. As customers rely more
on social network s to find out about products and services ,
Insurance related public forums
Public website
Client Self Service
Public Collaboration
enterprises have to form a holistic relationship and encourage
customers to use their portals and products.
Client
Insurer
Agent
Conclusion
Social media is a very important marketing tool that can help
insuranc e companie s not only in marketin g their products to
Employee Portal
Agent-Client collaboration
customer s at reduced costs, but also in gaining visibilit y into
Employee collaboration
Agent Portal
market trends and influencing them. However, for its successful
implementation and use by a company, it is extremely important to
Blogs and public forums: It provides a strong foundation for all
encourage , educate and empower employee s to share their
the companies to actively discuss insurance products and policies.
opinions and advice on social media.
5

6. As customer s go online , social media platform s enhanc e
customer experience, build brand loyalty and increase customer
base. Social media is not only a tool that complements business
and marketing strategies but has changed not how the insurer
sells but how the customer buys. By being part of the social
influence network insurers start conversations which focus on
References
1
Talent HQ
2
http://www.telecomtiger.com/Corporate_fullstory.aspx?passfrom=
topstory&storyid=14752&section=S162
consumer concerns and not product features. Insurers need to
realign their conversation s on social media platform s without
being too intrusive.
6

7. About NIIT Technologies
NIIT Technologies is a leading IT solutions organization, servicing customers in North America,
Europe, Asia and Australia. It offers services in Application Development and Maintenance,
Enterpris e Solution s includin g Managed Service s and Busines s Process Outsourcing to
organisations in the Financial Services, Travel & Transportation, Manufacturing/Distribution, and
Government sectors. With employees over 7,000 professionals, NIIT Technologies follows global
standards of software development processes.
Over the years the Company has forged extremely rewarding relationships with global majors, a
testimony to mutual commitment and its ability to retain marquee clients, drawing repeat
business from them. NIIT Technologies has been able to scale its interactions with marquee
clients in the BFSI sector, the Travel Transport & Logistics and Manufacturing & Distribution, into
extremely meaningful, multi-year "collaborations.
NIIT Technologie s follows global standards of development , which include ISO9001:200 0
Certification, assessment at Level 5 for SEI-CMMi version 1.2 and ISO 27001 information
security management certification. Its data centre operations are assessed at the international
ISO 20000IT management standards.
India
NIIT Technologies Ltd.
Corporate Heights (Tapasya)
Plot No. 5, EFGH, Sector 126
Noida-Greater Noida Expressway
Noida – 201301, U.P., India
Ph: + 91 120 7119100
Fax: + 91 120 7119150
Americas
NIIT Technologies Inc.,
1050 Crown Pointe Parkway
5th Floor, Atlanta, GA 30338, USA
Ph: +1 770 551 9494
Toll Free: +1 888 454 NIIT
Fax: +1 770 551 9229
Europe
NIIT Technologies Limited
2nd Floor, 47 Mark Lane
London - EC3R 7QQ, U.K.
Ph: +44 20 70020700
Fax: +44 20 70020701
Singapore
NIIT Technologies Pte. Limited
31 Kaki Bukit Road 3
#05-13 Techlink
Singapore 417818
Ph: +65 68488300
Fax: +65 68488322
Write to us at marketing@niit-tech.com
www.niit-tech.com
D_24_120413
A leading IT solutions organization | 21 locations and 16 countries | 8000 professionals | Level 5 of SEI-CMMi, ver1.2
ISO 27001 certified | Level 5 of People CMM Framework