We are informed constantly that social media will change the way companies do business, yet at the same time we are witnessing some initial buyer’s remorse and disappointment with social media due to the lack of tangible results. Both apply, but the lack of success is partly because we have not changed enough. All too often, we apply traditional thinking to social media, building up ever-larger fan and follower counts to increase message reach. This approach is natural, born from years of measuring call-to-action responses in low, single-digit percentages but social media actually works best in the opposite way. It is far more effective to have a more meaningful connection with a smaller group who will in turn propagate and share the message with people in their networks. Shareability – an ugly term, I know – is fast becoming the buzzword du jour, using advocates as conduits (I hesitate to use the word channel here). Reaching new audiences through advocates – if studies claiming...

We are constantly told about how social media will force companies to respond much faster than ever before – that was never more evident than at Superbowl 47 when the lights went out. Brands quickly pushed ads out on the social platforms, taking advantage of the lull in the action and the millions of tweeters desperately trying to be witty. Tweeters quickly picked up the ads further spreading them  while also applauding the quickness. Examples included Oreo, Tide, Audi and Walgreens with examples below.

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With most of the life insurance industry struggling to provide sufficient online self-research tools and content without diminishing the influence exerted on

decisions by an agent, MetLife is tossing another monkey wrench into the works. Recently, the company announced “Life Insurance in a Box,” and it literally is a box, placed on the shelves of 200 Walmart stores in North Carolina and Georgia.

Is the consumer ready to load up their carts with life insurance alongside their groceries and Taylor Swift T-shirts? I doubt whether life insurance will become a Walmart best seller anytime soon, but it is a bold step aimed to further demystify the product and expand market penetration. Life insurance ownership is at record low levels, yet many consumers remain hesitant to invite an agent into their homes with the industry is struggling with an image and trust issue. According to Woody Allen, “There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an ...

According to Bob Thacker, Gravitytank strategic advisor and former CMO of OfficeMax, “Engagement with the customer today isn’t just pouring a message down on their head and hoping they get wet. It really is understanding that you must be present in a conversation when they want to have it, not when you want to.”

This might indeed be true, but it does present insurers with a dilemma: Who should have this conversation? Most insurers have a well-developed channel to the customer, in the form of the local agent. But social media is throwing a monkey wrench spanner into the mix by opening up a direct line. This is a classic clash between sales and marketing. Should insurers reach out to customers and prospects and engage them in conversation on a corporate Facebook page (marketing votes YES)? Or should they use social media to bolster the consumer-agent relationship (sales votes YES)?

So far, insurers have mostly chosen to concentrate on their own social media presence,...