Your IndustryJun 23 2016

Using social media to push protection

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Using social media to push protection

Many column inches were devoted at the time to Aviva’s life cover adverts which sandwiched Downton Abbey on television and marked a sea-change in the way life protection was advertised.

For the first time, ‘real life’ situations, such as the death of a parent, were brought home to a captive audience of millions who tuned in each Sunday to watch Downton Abbey.

VitalityLife strongly believes more television marketing would help drive awareness of the vital need for cover.

Kelly Thomas, head of marketing for VitalityLife, says: “It is a great channel for driving awareness and education.

“We have led a strong campaign through television advertising to promote health and wellbeing and increasing awareness of the need for protection.

“A range of Vitality adverts have been on our screens through 2015 and 2016 - involving brand ambassadors such as Jonny Wilkinson and Jessica Ennis-Hill, along with Stanley the Dachshund - and we plan to continue this.”

But despite these notable exceptions, Steve Bryan, director of intermediary at Legal & General says TV advertising is not used as much to publicise life, critical illness and income protection policies as it is for motor or pet insurance, for example.

Advertising is seen as the panacea but it is hugely expensive and we should not underestimate the power of word of mouth and social media Katharine Moxham

“However, direct advertising is just one part of what should be a co-ordinated approach to encouraging more people to think about insuring themselves”, he adds.

Such advertising does not always work when it comes to getting employers and employees on board as far as understanding employee benefits is concerned.

Nicola Mohns, head of intermediary marketing for Axa PPP, says: “TV is good to raise general category awareness but there is also a need to be in relevant spaces, such as where businesses are looking for trusted information relevant to them and their businesses.”

Better ways of promoting information, according to other respondents to this guide, include greater use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as getting better-designed, more eye-catching literature disseminated to the general public.

Source: ABI

Peter LeBeau, founder of Le Beau Visage, explains: “A modern campaign would be a mix of TV, radio and social media.

“It would need to be a broad-based campaign because it has applicability to all age groups.”

Kesh Thukaram, director of Best Insurance, is in agreement. “There is only so much one can convey in a 30-second clip. TV, in conjunction with social media advertising, YouTube and Vimeo marketing for a period of time will enhance product awareness”, he says.

According to Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Group Risk Development, “advertising is seen as the panacea but it is hugely expensive and we should not underestimate the power of word of mouth and social media, especially as we try to engage all generations in financial protection.”

Social media is the key for Phil Jeynes, head of sales and marketing for UnderwriteMe, who explains: “It is still seen as a scary world but in reality it is cheap, compared with traditional media, it is where our customers and potential clients live, and it enables interactive, tailored content to be placed directly where it can be seen by the maximum number of people.

“If we can combine the right tone with the optimum content it represents the single biggest opportunity for the protection industry to engage with the general public and achieve significant growth.

“Simply having a Facebook page and asking people to ‘like you’ isn’t enough anymore.”

Toni Smith, spokesperson for First Complete, believes “reaching out on social media platforms could also engage the younger generation”, a point with which Paul Avis, marketing director for Canada Life Group Insurance, agrees with.

He says: “You need to have various ways to engage people of all ages, in and out of the workplace.

“There is a discussion on whether gamification, creating some sort of protection-related interactive fiction could help, but at the moment, using social media such as Twitter to share the message, provide eye-catching infographics and engage with people, are good steps.

“We see Twitter as having a good consumer audience, but when it comes to the workplace, providing them with facts about cost and good news stories can help employers get their staff covered and motivated.”