In the first post about millennia’s working in the insurance industry, I spoke with two friends who recently graduated and took jobs at large insurance companies, here is my follow-up to that post.

I have been using social media for insurance marketing for about two months now and I still get the same questions from the same friends, “So you work in insurance, that wasn’t your major?” or “So you go online and do stuff that has things to do with insurance?” but my favorite is “Wait you work for insurance, isn’t that really really boring for you?” My answer, no, no, and no.

Yes, their questions are not out of the ordinary, but I work with insurance not for insurance. Representing Astonish Results, I’m helping to oversee and interact with 300+ insurance agencies all in various stages of learning how to leverage digital marketing and social media. It’s funny because, even in my wildest dreams, I never thought my PR degree would have me working with insurance agencies that are blogging and tweeting and might just want to be your friend on Facebook.

I have even learned about the insurance industry. I now know that an annuity is an agreement to make periodic payments over a set period of time and that a premium is the price of insurance coverage to mitigate a certain risk over a certain amount of time. I know the difference between a captive and an independent and I even know how to go about getting my license if the itch ever comes necessary. It’s cool that at the same time many of our clients are learning social media and marketing lessons, I’m learning about the insurance industry, and we’re feeding off each other. And since everyone needs insurance, this knowledge will only help me in the future

Since a large number of agencies are utilizing social media for marketing campaigns, many will hire someone, usually a millennial, to help them best utilize the tools. Millennials understand the Internet, most of us have been using a computer since we could walk, so younger talent being attracted to a seemingly boring industry is not at all out of the ordinary, and will continue trending upwards.

In the previous millennial post, my insurance industry friends explained to me how it was not always where you worked but the people you work with that determines workplace contentment. I caught up with one of them over the weekend and asked how it was going.

My friend working at The Hartford maintains her position on enjoying her job. She explained to me that it is a business that will never go away, and since her work helps Americans, why not stay with the industry?

I then asked her the same question as the last time. Are there not a lot of older people in the office, don’t you feel out of place? She laughed and responded saying her company hires X amount of graduates every year so there are always fresh young faces, and having room to grow when someone new is hired is always a plus.

Then of course, still slightly having that college-minded like mentality, we ended up talking about money. I had to ask her what she was making. This was the college basketball player who I thought only enjoyed eating and going to the beach, so I figured she must be making a ton to be working in insurance.

“I like my salary but it’s probably not what you are thinking,” she said. “I really enjoy working where I do because of the people I work with and my main job satisfaction comes from my boss, he is always helpful and around for questions, and is open to hearing ideas and suggestions even though he is 30 years my senior.”

After she said that, it made sense. I feel the same way. I do not mind insurance marketing and speaking with clients from different agencies. The other day, while I was in the conference room, two employees stuck their heads in just to tell me I was doing a good job. The president of the company said he appreciates the work I do, and gets back to me directly when I have a question.

So the answer is still “No” to all the previous questions when my friends ask me about my job. Work is interesting, the people are cool, and like what I do – and that’s my recipe for success.

Let the bankers and librarians be bored, insurance is fun!

It’s an exciting day for IMHQ as we announce a new “Changing Faces of the Industry” video series aimed at showing how the insurance industry is evolving by introducing a new breed of agency employee.

The topic of attracting young talent to the insurance industry has been a popular one on this blog with multiple posts on the topic including:

• Millennial Mentality Keeps Insurance Agencies from Aging to Irrelevancy
• A Millennial’s Perspective on Attracting Youth to the Insurance Industry

The new video series takes it a step further by actually putting young or non-traditional insurance agency employees front and center to explain what attracted them to the industry. Furthermore, the brief interviews will focus on educational and work experience to document the different paths and skill sets being introduced at agencies throughout the country.

For the first several segments, all interview subjects will be clients of Astonish Results (the company that supports this blog), but we’d like to spotlight other agents and producers with unique work histories  in the future.

The first segment comes courtesy of Provider Insurance Group in Needham, MA who recently hired Julie Wetherbee as a marketing manager to handle some of the social media and partner building responsibilities. Ms. Wetherbee also happens to be a TV reporter for NESN’s (New England Sports Network) Dirty Water TV.

Changing Faces of the Insurance Industry videos can also be viewed on the Astonish Results agency Youtube channel.

Ad spending by insurance providers hit an all time high in 2008, approaching $3.5 billion! While ad spending figures for 2009 are not readily available, the big two of Geico and Progressive combined spent close to $1.9 Billion in 2008, roughly the GDP of a small country.

 2008 Ad Spending By The Numbers:

Geico – $622.7 million – Adweek.com

Progressive – $470.4 million: Adage.com

 Ad spending is a part of any solid insurance marketing plan. It’s a necessary (and costly) line item that requires creative resources and well-conceived strategy to be successful, especially in a Goliath versus Goliath battlefield. Nielsen makes a case for why so much is spent (especially on TV) with a report issued earlier last year. Nielsen IAG reports:

 When asked about their own banks, insurance companies and investment firms, 55% of respondents who said they had seen more advertising for their financial institution reported having “complete confidence” in the financial health and soundness of their company and only 18% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company. However, among those who said they had seen less advertising, only 18% had “complete confidence” in their financial company and 45% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company.

Richard Khaleel, EVP of Nielsen IAG’s Financial practice explains the figures

 “This research shows that ‘out of sight’ can mean ‘out of business. The current economic climate makes it more important than ever for financial institutions to bolster confidence among their clients and this study clearly demonstrates the link between advertising and confidence levels.”

 Mr. Khaleel draws a clear line between “advertising” and “confidence levels,” but what are we really learning about our insurance providers from the commercials we see on TV? If you consider, both basically promise the same thing:

 So who’s telling the truth?

 More importantly, if the insurance providers are spending so many billions just to retain customers and develop the next reptilian, prehistoric or perplexingly sexy fauxsperson, something is being sacrificed. Considering the amount Americans pay for their insurance and the state of the economy you’d think insurers would want to scale back or reallocate some of those dollars into more tangible projects, say reducing premiums/deductibles, customer service or technology infrastructure.

Fortunately for agents, the Internet is an equalizer and the heaps of money Geico and Progressive are spending to drive people to their websites can be leveraged by creating an effective online presence and strategy. While independents will never compete with the ad spending of insurance Goliaths, the social web, insurance marketing programs and a customer-driven business model are a prescription for long-term growth. Furthermore, agents have an inherent advantage because customers are retained when they are serviced with personalized policy and claims support, not entertaining ad campaigns.

I love talking lizards as much as the next couch potato. But spending hundreds of millions of dollars to reiterate the same value propositions as the competition and convince existing clients of viability? The time is coming when “confidence levels” will have more to do with efficient and helpful insurance support and less to do with slick, saturated ad campaigns.