By Mike Wise, VP IdeaStar Insurance Technologies

Social networks - Possibly the next frontier of affinity and association marketing… Some interesting stats:

• MySpace – 1 billion visits/month (did not even exist 5 years ago)
• Facebook – Traffic ranking among all websites increased from 60th to 7th from 09/06 to 09/07 (source: Alexa)
• Linkedin – 700% growth in 2007, 11 million visits/mo as of 04/08
• misc –
  • 91% of consumer use social network for information
  • Social networks are 21st Century word-of-mouth
  • Considered “most reliable source of information”
  • 67% of purchases influenced by word-of-mouth
  • Real people, real lives, high level of trust
  • Promotes exceptional ‘virality’

Source: Building Your Brand in the World of Social Networking
Webinar by American Marketing Association and Ramius Corp.

Did you get your copy of Groundswell yet? Some more stats from the book… I only wish it showed associated growth percentages for the last couple years - and sheer numbers of users. Might be an eye-opener.

Some recent pictures:

If any Boomers can identify this house, I’d be impressed. Hint: it’s from an after-school TV show in the late 60’s, very scary… located in Oradel, NJ.

Zach Wise, my son, playing volleyball..

Latest soccer favorite…

Postlude to the Social Networks series: Interesting article on Corporate Blogging and how it can lead to NEW BUSINESS! I’ll go further than that. I got a call this week from a major player in a major insurance category who found me via a Google search on ‘online insurance quoting’. I came up in third place on his natural results. I was happy to get that call.

FTJ.com

We had a major launch three weeks ago now. (Been busy!) Check it out. I’m in the process of writing a white paper on the underpinnings of the site because it seems to be ground-breaking. It really seems like we have moved a category to a higher ground with this site. I could be out in left field, but I haven’t run across anything quite like it yet.

Here are some stats:

30+ carriers
80+ associations
100+ products
thousands of members

All of this complexity is being administered through the site. Online, e-signature enrollments are available in core products. Other products have links to fillable pdf’s, standard pdf’s, brochures, or external links - with tracking for commissions. Of course, best-practices were used for high-conversion rates on the e-signature workflows. Almost everything seems to be in place. And Phase Two has some very interesting ideas. I must say that even though this site took almost a year to develop, test, and launch (with adversity of course), I’m not sure there’s another company out there that could have pulled it off in the timeframe and budget we did, especially not the IT department, no disrespect intended, just candid observations.

On a personal note, saw my youngest graduate from High School last weekend. Been working on a music video, a collection of accumulated pictures set to three sound-tracks. It’s a bittersweet time.

But first… Why are Friday’s SO much better than Monday’s?!?! …

Been a while since I posted. Been working on the underpinnings of this Blog. Switched from blogspot to WordPress, hosted on my insurance technologies site. From a visitor standpoint, everything is the same. But now I have a little more control of site technology and content histories. Might be a better long-term strategy. Took a little longer than I wanted, but..you know…cobbler’s children. Had a hard time getting IT resources!!! Pesky clients taking up all the bandwidth. LOL.

Also been focused on setting the agenda and speakers for PIMA MarkeTTech 2008 in November in Baltimore at the Marriott Inner Harbor. (Btw, check out the new PIMA site!! Very cool new design! YES!) Got what I hope to be an innovative opening keynote - Kristin Brewe, the creator of Erin Esurance. You’ve probably seen Erin on TV commercials - cartoon action hero, fighting crime, and rep’ing Esurance - Quote, Buy, Print. Should be a terrific story. Erin Esurance is one of the top icon properties in MySpace and Facebook. For a budget way under G-co and Prog, they’ve accomplished similar results in the viral marketing space. Also looks like we have a rep coming from MySpace and potentially one of the authors of Groundswell - awesome book. Should be a GREAT program.

Part Four: Viral Marketing and Referrals

Please comment on any of this.

Aren’t referrals the Holy Grail of sales and marketing? (By the way, speaking of Holy Grail, saw the new Indiana Jones movie. Einhh. Shia LaBoef saved the movie - my opinion of course. I also think he might have done wonders for Harley sales to the next gen…)

So what better way to generate leads and sales than by getting current customers to recommend their friends (who are also likely to be in the same life-stage) to your product??? And how easy is that with email and links? I think, again my opinion, that we haven’t even begun to tap into this awesome power.

That’s why I think it’s critically important to start using things like “Email this page to a friend” messaging in Web page design templates, Facebook sites, MySpace sites, etc.. Simple but useful stuff, perhaps even cool new tools ’sponsored’ by the insurance company (Al Drowne’s idea). It seems to also make sense to give people some sort of offer for referring friends. Understanding that State DOI’s have rules against - I forget the word - comment if you know it - engaging in too much of this kind of incentive, but a free bumper sticker, some cool $2 chotchkie, anything like that is probably OK. The point is, as with any sales effort, when someone makes a purchase, at the point of sale, ask for referrals. Hey, give it a try and track the results. Do A/B tests, etc. Seems like it might be good.

So we’ve talked about the growing trend and perhaps a new ‘affinity’. Then we discussed some of the public social networks, and lastly, some ideas on sources of software for private networks that you control. The point of all this, again my opinion, is to GET IN THE GAME. The more I read and learn about social networks and the Web, the more passionate I become about the fact that we need to understand and leverage. As affinity and association insurance marketers, as well as agent-driven marketers of insurance, we all need to ENGAGE in this medium. Last one there is a rotten egg.

Pictures…

Hey, shot some rugby this week. Got some BLOOD! (click to enlarge)

Part Three:

Private Networks –

Please comment on any of this.

Embedded – customizable, plug-and-play utilities

Some possible sources of SN software to plug into your site…
http://www.smallworldlabs.com/blog/calling-all-competitors
http://www.alstrasoft.com/efriends.htm
http://www.onesite.com/
http://www.kickapps.com/

Lots of others…some open-source

Starting conversations, seeding conversations — What are some do’s and don’t’s?

Moderating — should the good, the bad, and the ugly all remain on the site? Will users see through it if only the positive comments are left in view?

Didn’t SN’s used to be called Forums?

Not everything goes nuts right away. The activity ebbs and flows — that’s OK, right?

Some comments are out in left field, some aren’t. Some Social Networks rate content and the subject matter experts so that different SME’s are more highly valued than others. Interesting concept that makes sense.

Common Objections I’ve heard:

What about negative comments if we did something bad/wrong? We don’t want people slamming us on our own site?!!?! Any thoughts?

What about compliance — user-generated content on company-sponsored pages? Are Disclaimers enough to keep the lawyers at bay?

What about “Profile Burnout” — will people be constantly creating profiles in order to play in the game? If it’s important, yes! I’ve heard there is an increasing volume on the need for standards within Social Networks so that people can maintain one profile and link-in the data into the various networks they join.

Btw, LinkedIn — I just read: more than 20 million registered users. (source: Wikipedia)

A book recommendation from Bill Tyson, Ampac. Scroll down the search results to see others.

Unrelated:

I sat on a panel discussion here in Cleveland last week. All about the evolution of Web content. See more here…(PPT slides coming soon to the Web Association site)

http://www.webassociation.org/eventDetails.cfm/eventid/27

Please comment on any of this.

We are in the middle of a conversation on Social Networks and insurance marketing. Again, I could be all crossed up, but from an affinity marketing point of view, Social Networks seem to show promise as insurance direct mail response rates decline and keyword inflation enters stage-left on the search engine marketing scene.

• Last week - Part One: General Ideas
• Now - Part Two: Public Networks

Someone asked me yesterday, “What’s a social network, anyway?” My answer… Have you ever been to an industry conference? Sure. There’s people you want to meet there, right? Do some business, make some contacts, get some ideas, share stories. That’s a social network… on the professional side.

But how do you keep the relationship going in between the face-to-face events? Phone calls, now emails, newsletters, etc. Well, now we have online social networks — same thing, just a different medium, a little easier to keep people in your network connected to you.

Just to kind of lay the foundation, here are what seem to be the most visible social networks. (Btw, if anyone has a contact at anyone of these companies, I’m looking for a speaker for PIMA MarkeTTech next November. Need to lock them in by the end of May.)

1. MySpace – got to be a member to be in the game, to search, to post
2. Facebook – started out as a college network (so create a group for your classmates while you’re in college), then expanded to high school, now opening up to adults. But definitely more of a personal space. But isn’t insurance often… personal???
3. Linkedin – brilliant! These guys have web-enabled the old concept of Six Degrees of Separation, aka the game of Makin’ Bacon. Want to get connected to someone? Isn’t it better to get a referral from a friend of a friend? Absolutely.

Here’s a link to my Profile in Linkedin. Linkedin provided this widget. Cool. If you’re not on, do. The sooner you get started, the better. Seriously.

Some general common-sense stuff:

• Content or comments must add value, be transparent and real,
• Must be persistence relative to the natural flow of a lifestyle. Pick a network and stick with it for the long haul. Like anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it.
• Need to be extremely careful not to see everyone as a prospect, not to be selling 24/7, use guerrilla selling tactics, invading friends’ personal spaces with your work.
• Since Linkedin is more of a professional network, it definitely seems suitable for professional and trade insurance approaches, but remember…
• Hard sell is dead. Got to PULL them along. Takes longer to fill the pipeline of business, but if you do it right, it should open the door to referrals, and as we all know, one referral is better than 10 cold calls.
• SN’s are a perfect place to be educational, provide tips and tools, links to the best sources of information, the best deals, products with the richest benefits, companies that are the easiest to do business, even how to handle claim events. What better source of information than the actual policy holders who already went through the process. Powerful stuff..

That’s it for now. Next week: Private Networks. Careful now, especially with independent agents.

Hey, I’m in Omaha right now. I felt the earthquake in the midwest last night/this morning. It also sounded like thunder. Man, all I gotta’ say is… Glad I know where I’m going when the you-know-what hits the fan.

Check out the shot of the week from last Sunday. My weekend gig - Cleveland City Stars pro soccer photog. Got lucky on this one….click to enlarge.

Columbus Crew backup keeper just missed the save…
Which made for a sweet goal picture!

Click here to see more….

Over the next couple weeks, let’s consider Social Networks and insurance marketing. I could be way out in left field, but from an affinity marketing point of view, as I’ve said in the past, I think Social Networks show promise as insurance direct mail response rates decline. There’s a lot to cover, so I’m going to break it up into a few parts.

• Part One: General Ideas
• Part Two: Public Networks
• Part Three: Private Networks
• Part Four: Viral Marketing and Referrals

Part One: I’m catching a similarity to Affinity Groups and Associations. The concept first caught my attention when I saw my son’s Facebook page. As a graduating senior from High School, he had joined a group for his high school class year — CVCA2007. He had then joined a group for his college class year – before he had even started!!! (By the way, this was at the promotion of the college orientation team.) So apparently while the school will continue to support the traditional Alumni Association, his class has an informal Alumni Association that might have even more relevance over time. Then there’s the phenomenon of Classmates.com…

Next… We all know the power of search engines like Google, but what about networking? However, keyword inflation is rampant, it’s impossible to compete against mega-branding budgets, and rising in the natural listing for competitive keywords like health insurance is played out, literally. And yet Networking has been around forever and will always be around as long as we continue to do business the way we do. no doubt Affinity groups are a significant force in networking – trusted sources of information to help overcome “stranger danger” (something that is programmed deep into our cultural make-up). I go to conferences every year to connect with peers, share ideas, find experts in areas I’m not, etc. Works great!

Now it seems that online networks are forming not to replace but to add value, to keep the conversation going between events, etc… But we still want face time –- reunions, gatherings, meetings, conferences, symposiums. And once we are embedded in the conversation, as insurance marketers, the point is to be at the right place with the right message at the right time. The concepts in play seem to be:

• Pull versus Push
• Engaging in the conversation
• Real-time current contact with on-the-scene subject matter experts (SME’s)
• Helping educate on more topics then just the main thing
• Sponsorship of conversations and tools, new thoughts and approaches
• Branding

Here’s a novel idea perhaps: What about leveraging home office employees, creating informal advocates, generating and directing subsequent leads, perhaps sharing commissions and bonuses — call ‘em TIPS, and staying in touch with new clients more locally. hmmmm.

Some pictures from vacation (click to enlarge): Click here to see more…

Pictures from a business trip this week: Click here to see more….

Life is good!

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a very cool thing. What is it? As with most innovations, it’s a way of looking at an old concept in a new way. What first was known as a “Web Portal”, now becoming known as a “Mash Up”, is SOA personified. A ’service’ is a way to get information into the hands of the user. So if you are using Google Maps and want to get a listing of hotels in the vicinity of your location, the ’service’ would be the hotel-finder integrated with the mapping software. Those two things combined makes the resulting content relevant to you, the searcher.

The same concept applies to insurance architecture. The key is knowing the purpose of the Web page, as defined by the target audience. (So be careful not to try to serve too many audiences with the same content, right? Instead create multiple pages or sites.) Once you have a clear audience, then you can clearly define the ’services’ that audience might appreciate. For example, an agent portal. What services do agents want? Easy contracting for new states, new products, new lines of business? News? Training and Certification? Business Status? Commissions for sure. Hierarchy production reports - absolutely. These are all services. So a site designed to serve agents should leverage SOA all over the place, as much as possible, linking to the policy admin legacy back-end, commission-tracking system, perhaps a Learning Management System. The same concepts apply to affinity marketing sites, direct-to-consumer sites, etc…

But here’s the thing. Make one place the “source of truth” for agents or consumers. With i-frames and single-sign-on, the user should never have to ‘leave’ the portal/mash up/resource center. Browsing is tough enough without the distraction of jumping from site to site, even if the branding and look-and-feel are consistent. “Just bring the data into one place and let me do my thing.” It’s fairly simple to do, but it takes a rare combination of design and usability, technical know-how, and nimbility (speed-to-market, speed-to-change).

Geee, where can you find that rare mix ….

Some recent pic’s from the crazy weather up here… Click the image to see a larger version.

Ice Storm in Northeast Ohio
Then a school bus pulled up!

18 inches at once in Northeast Ohio
The morning after…
Click to see more

Next - Spring Break with the fam!

Terrific article about Agent Portals in Insurance Marketing magazine

Titled “Improving Your Agents’ Online Experience,” the article makes some key points. (Wish I could link to it, but the magazine doesn’t have a Web site — doh!).

“Independent agents, especially, view online capabilities as a key factor in deciding who to work with. Often the availability of online services can reflect on the reputation of the insurer and their ability to attract and retain independent agents.” That’s saying it like it is. I’ll just add a key word — “producing.” Attract and retain top producers — those savvy agents that can handle technology and maximize opportunity in a “Channel of Choice” era (John Kelly, Pru).

“What agents are not always able to from insurer-provided portals is better integration of the agent portal with the back-end policy administration and claims systems.” Can’t you just hear the IT department when marketing comes to them and asks to push business-status data to the portal for agent view and productivity purposes? “Sure thing. 2 years and $15k. But we need the $15k now in order for you to get on the waiting list.” Geez.

“…most agent portals suffer from poor usability, non-intuitive navigation, and poor ease of use for even the basic functions that are provided.” I’d be interested to know just how low the percentage is of how many agent portals have been put through usability testing. (By the way, IdeaStar now has a Usability Lab environment. So even though with our experience, we usually hit pretty close to the usability mark, we are still using a usability lab.)

“95 percent of your agents say they rely on email professionally.”
“66 percent rely on the company Web site.”

“Online access outranked sales training and product training as the most important service brokerages provide to agents.”

Interesting stuff. And these trends putting more pressure on the Web channel aren’t going down. See WellCarePro.com Get it done by a professional, not by IT guys trained for 20 years on back-end administration. Come on!

At the 2008 PIMA Annual Meeting in Cancun, I also had the chance to connect with Jim Gallagher. Jim is one of the top guys with AIA, an Agency in Columbus (last year we heard from Jeff Roedel from the same Agency at the 07 Annual Meeting) focused on the Alumni insurance affinity market.

I find Jim’s comments interesting in that Alumni Associations seem to be a great affinity group, but I’m also seeing alumni groups forming in Facebook and MySpace, only more specific to graduation class years. I’m also seeing the rise of independent alumni sites like classmates.com , as well as corporate alumni sites like ADPAlumni.com. So it’s interesting what’s happening.

Listen in to Jim’s comments about Social networks, trusted advisors, and user-generated content. The cool thing is that we can look back to this conversation in 24 months as Jim takes the helm of PIMA and see where some of these issues stand at that point. Thanks Jim.

Click here to hear a few insights from Jim Gallagher, SVP, AIA.

The 2008 PIMA Annual Meeting was outstanding. At the meeting, in the blur of activity, I found the time to do a podcast with Chris Burke. To give you a little background, Chris runs AMA Insurance Agency, the insurance brokerage for the AMA, American Medical Association. As a tech savvy guy, Chris stepped into a great opportunity a couple years ago - a solid brokerage that hadn’t aggressively gone after technology in its business processes and marketing.

Chris has done some amazing things since then. At the conference, Chris gave a presentation on Kaizen and process improvement (see picture). Based on side conversations, the content was very well-received. And Chris has some outstanding ideas for a digital strategy that might possibly serve as great case studies for other PIMA members looking to leverage technology to reach the new consumer.

Click here to hear a few insights from Chris Burke, President, AMA Insurance Agency.

Chris talking about how competitive pressures and the market drives pricing today.

So we need to manage costs - thus technology!

Action shot!
Photo: David Olsen

Poolside conversation about what’s happening in the market. Nice spot - click to enlarge.
Photo: Kelle Wise

Click here to see more Cancun pictures.