Brokers missing out on using social media to talk to clients during lockdown – Ecclesiastical | News

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Brokers are missing out on a key opportunity by not using social media

More than three quarters (79%) of brokers admitted to not using social media to liaise with clients during lockdown, and therefore brokers are missing out on an opportunity to connect with existing and potential clients.

This is according to an Ecclesiastical Insurance survey of 200 brokers which found that only one in ten managed to communicate effectively using social media channels during the lockdown.

Adrian Saunders, commercial director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, said: “For everyone working in the insurance industry, the Covid-19 pandemic has created communication challenges. Brokers in particular have lost that valuable face-to-face interaction with customers.”

The insurer has now published a new set of guides in a bid to expand its Social Club programme.

It is aimed at helping brokers grow their social media presence, engage customers, and convert through social selling.

Ecclesiastical has also produced a set of content cards, explaining when and how to use the right content on social media, including video content, blogs, polls and paid content.

It follows Ecclesiastical launching a guide in April for brokers on how to stay social and keep connected with customers on social media during the pandemic.

Missing a trick

Saunders continued: “Our research shows that brokers have found alternative ways to communicate effectively with their customers, preferring more traditional methods such as phone and email.

“However, many are missing a trick by not harnessing social media to reach more customers.

”When used right, social media is an important part of a broker’s toolkit to support existing activity and reach more people in a cost-effective way. We have used our unique position as market specialists to produce this latest guidance, to help brokers meet this challenge.”

The telephone was the most effective communication method used by brokers (93%) and email (80%).

Video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, and Microsoft Teams were seen as effective by one in three (29%) brokers.

And 59% admitted to not using these at all during the pandemic.

The Social Club Programme was launched in October 2019 after Ecclesiastical’s research found that many brokers did not have the skills, knowledge or confidence to use social media effectively.

It teamed up with digital agency – Factor 3 to publish videos and guidance to enable brokers to fit the into their work week.