Report: Only 7% of Policyholders Interact with Insurers on Social Media

It may seem like people are always on social media in some form -- Facebooking at work, Instagramming a meal, Tweeting from a sporting event -- but they're likely not interacting with their auto insurers while doing so. That's according to a Phoenix Marketing study, which found that out of 2,000 surveyed insurance policyholders, only 7% have interacted with their auto insurer on a social media site.

Phoenix defined interaction as including "liking" the insurer's Facebook page, posting to the insurance provider's wall or liking a post on the provider's wall, among other things. Of the respondents who do interact with insurers, most interactions are on Facebook: 41% "liked" an insurer's page, with a further 29% saying they had interacted with content on that page in some way as well. Twenty-three percent said they watched an ad on YouTube, 17% said they followed on Google Plus and 13% say they followed on Twitter.

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"Despite a heavy presence by major insurers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, the majority of consumers have yet to embrace these platforms as a way to actually interact with their insurance provider," said Anne-Marie Duffy, president of the communications and brand analytics practice at Phoenix Marketing International, in a statement. "However, certain groups are more likely to use social media as a means of communicating with their insurer -- consumers 25-34, and men, as opposed to women, are more likely to incorporate social media usage into their insurer relationship. We also found that women are more likely than men to follow their insurance provider on Twitter or watch an ad on YouTube. The data shows that there is an opportunity for smart insurance marketers to develop customized social media campaigns to further engage their various target audiences."

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio