The document discusses leveraging the power of social media in insurance business. It notes that 60% of Facebook friends and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy brands recommended by their friends or followers on social media. It emphasizes that insurance professionals must learn to use social media effectively to connect with customers. The document then provides a 10-step approach to leveraging social media: 1) define goals and mission; 2) understand customer demographics; 3) listen to customer concerns; 4) build relationships with influencers; 5) collaborate with partners; 6) engage and entertain customers; 7) gather customer feedback; 8) empower customers; 9) evaluate metrics; and 10) create a social media plan. The overall approach
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Presented by:
Gideon F. Mukwai, CEM, MA
XtraMile Solutions
Leveraging the Power of
Social Media in Insurance Business
2. Leveraging the Power of
Social Media in Insurance Business
Introduction
Research shows that 60% of Facebook friends and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy a
brand recommended by their friends or followers after their virtual relationship than before. This is an
indication of the depth of what is in store for you if you sharpen your understanding of how to leverage
social media.
Social media is no longer a fad. 62.2% of Singaporeans use Facebook. Given its growing significance in
our lives, insurance business owners and professionals must learn to use this language of the masses
better. As you may know, without a good command of a language, you can’t fully connect with its users.
You owe it to yourself as a business person to learn this new language, just like a missionary does before
traveling to work with a foreign tribe. Success depends on how well you can master and use this
language which by the way is a favorite with “Digital Natives or Milenials” entering the workforce today.
Part I - Define Your Tribe
# 1 ! Know your Mission (What are your Goals)
The first critical step is to determine the mission of your journey. In other words, what are the goals of
your missionary work in somewhat quantifiable terms. This is a vital because when you know your
mission, you can sharpen your vision. Without this, you may wander about in despair.
Ideas:
1. ..... ...................................................................................................................................................
2. ...................................................................................................................................................
3. ....................................................................................................................................................
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3. # 2 ! Know your Tribe (Finding the Social Technographics Profile of your Clients)
Before going on a missionary journey, you must understand the tribe you are going to work with. It is
important to know if they are compliant or non-compliant. Who are the opinion leaders, critics and other
influential members of the community? By knowing their profile, you ‘d better dial into their needs.
Ideas:
1. ..........................................................................................................................................
2. .....................................................................................................................................
3. .........................................................................................................................................
# 3 ! Listen & Learn about your Tribe (What are the issues within the Marketplace?)
Do not assume that you know them well enough until you understand their fears, issues and aspirations.
You can do this by joining their groups and listening carefully to learn more about their concerns and
fears. Leaning their aspirations, gives you legitimacy to sell them life solutions.
Ideas:
1. ..........................................................................................................................................
2. .....................................................................................................................................
3. .......................................................................................................................
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4. Part II - Engage Your Tribe
# 4 ! Build Bonds and Bridges (Who are the Key Influencers?)
In order to be ready for duty, you must build social bonds and bridges that will breed trust. Without trust
and social goodwill, you will be unable to accomplish your mission, not withstanding how noble your goals
may be. In the virtual world, your trust is the bridges that allows you to sell your products.
Ideas:
1. ............................................................................................................................................
2. ..................................................................................................................................................
3. ...............................................................................................................................................
# 5 ! Collaborate (What partnerships and Groups can you Join?)
One way to build trust with your tribe is to collaborate with some members of the community in donating
of your time to causes that matter to them. This earns you goodwill. It allows them to know you cherish
their aspirations. Collaboration builds goodwill and goodwill yields social capital.
Ideas:
1. .................................................................................................................................................
2. .................................................................................................................................................
3. ...................................................................................................................................................
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5. # 6 ! Engage and Edutain (Can you Offer Something of Value in a Fun & Quirky Way?)
In your quest to bring the “good news or the gospel” to the people, don’t forget that you are competing for
their attention. If you want to win their attention, mix education with entertainment. By doing this,
you engage and connect in ways that congenial and if you are lucky, you could go viral.
Ideas:
1. .......................................................................................................................................................
2. ...............................................................................................................................................
3. .....................................................................................................................................................
# 7 ! Reach-Out (Crowdsource ideas and Opportunities)
Reaching out to your tribe or groundswell, enables you can tap into their fears and concerns to craft a
more relevant or captivating message that meets their needs. In the virtual world, you can tap into your
tribe ‘s mind, by mining their feedback through the use of Web 2.0 tools.
Ideas:
1. ...............................................................................................................................................
2. ..........................................................................................................................................
3. .......................................................................................................................................
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6. Part III - Develop Your Tribe
# 8 ! Empower & Energise Them (Give them the Power to Help your Cause)
Another way to empower your tribe, is to give them tools, so they they can give you leads. By so
doing, you empower and energise your community members not only to be beneficiaries, but also to be
promoters. This can earn them recognition or rewards that multiply your influence.
Ideas:
1. ..........................................................................................................................................
2. ......................................................................................................................................
3. ...................................................................................................................................
# 9 ! Take Stock of your Work (Benchmarking and Metrics)
How far you go, depends on where you start. Before setting your sights on a new destination or goals
for your mission, it is important that you take stock of where you are today in terms of resources,
strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.
Ideas:
1. ............................................................................................................................................
2. ..............................................................................................................................................
3. .......................................................................................................................................................
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7. # 10 ! Getting Started (Do you Have a Social Media Plan?)
You are now at crossroads. If you are going to succeed in your mission as a missionary, you must come
up with a plan that reflects your goals, current position, current resources and the strategies that will
enable you to reach your desired destination. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Ideas:
1. ........................................................................................................................................................
2. ........................................................................................................................................................
3. ................................................................................................................................................
Conclusion
If you are willing to embrace social media as a missionary embraces a new language, the chances are,
you will do very well in growing your business because millions of Singaporeans are already using these
tools daily to connect with one another.
To boost your business, learn these new language, edutain, empower and energise your followers, fans,
and connections to become your clients or at worse to be conduits or promoters of your good name and
good work. Every single connection matters because it adds to your reservoir of social capital.
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8. References:
1. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh
Bernoff.
2. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky.
3. Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, !Science
! and Everyday Life.
4. Take Charge of Tomorrow and Change it by John Thomas.
5. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organising by Clay Shirky.
6. Social Capital and Information Technology by Huysman and Wulf.
7. The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Small Businesses by Tom Antion.
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11. About the Trainer and Facilitator - Gideon F. Mukwai, MA, CEM
Gideon is an award-winning speaker with over a decade of both local and international
experience from Asia, Middle East, Africa and North America. He has
presented training programmes to over 13,500 executives from
organisations such as Oracle, Siemens, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Dell
Computers, Shell Eastern Petroleum, National University of Singapore,
DBS Bank, Gillette and many professional associations and institutions
of learning.
In 2004, he founded XtraMile Solutions in Singapore as a dedicated training company that
specialises in providing training solutions for both corporate and community organisations. A
former Senior Officer and Instructor with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), Gideon
recently earned an Masters of Art Degree in Social Media Communication from the Reynolds
School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno.
Gideon ‘s forte is his ability to communicate complex issues with practical narratives and
examples, without compromising on his ability to inform, influence and inspire action. He
combines his journalistic storytelling skills with rigorous academic and professional insights in
helping participants understand new concepts.
In his spare time, he writes non-fiction. He is the author of Facing Adversity with Audacity and a
self-taught musical flute player who cannot even read a single musical note.
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