Tens of millions of Facebook users play FarmVille, a real-time farm simulation game where users build virtual farms, taking care of crops and animals while interacting with friends. Soon Farmers Insurance Group will take advantage of this trend by offering these make-believe “farmers” free protection against the devastation of virtual crop loss.

This is just the beginning of how insurance companies are tapping social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to develop brand awareness and gather feedback from customers.

“Right now I'd say insurers are in the crawl stage,” said Kevin Kraft, a managing director for consulting firm Accenture. “They are thinking about getting friends online and asking, 'How do I get them to think about me? How do I establish an emotional connection?'”

Marc Zeitlin, vice president of eBusiness for Farmers Insurance, said FarmVille users get the 10-day “wither protection” after players put a likeness of the Farmers airship (a zeppelin) in their farm. Farmers is the first insurer to integrate with a social media game, he added.

The FarmVille audience is huge–about 60 million users, mostly female, ages 35-45, Mr. Zeitlin said.

“We want to have users engage with the brand and think of us differently,” stated Mr. Zeitlin. “Once we have your attention, maybe you'll think of us when you need us. We can explain how we can be there.”

The Farmers zeppelin on FarmVille will be available Oct. 18. The insurer is already running a Facebook-related sweepstakes for a trip on the real thing. Logging on Farmers' Facebook page www.facebook.com/farmersinsurance and clicking to “like” the company will automatically give you a chance at riding the Farmers airship.

This is where brand awareness meets new business. Contact information Facebook users are required to give when they chose to “like” the company are leads for Farmers' 15,000 agents.

“It's a new networking tool,” Mr. Kraft said. “The industry has ironically always been the leaders of networking. Now they have some catching up to do.”

The possibilities are endless–even as insurers and regulators hash out what exactly is permissible.

“It's a Swiss army knife,” observed Kelly Thul, director of enterprise Internet solutions for State Farm, which first saw the value in social networking when it used it to communicate among employees during the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Social media outlets can be used to gather information on customers, act as a professional network among agents, an internal communication system among employees, an information center for wind mitigation, a tool to communicate with policyholders immediately following a catastrophe, a recruiting tool, establish brand recognition and they can be a place for customers to gripe.

“We realized this could be a place where we could get important feedback that helps us get better,” said David Beigie, assistant vice president of external relations for State Farm, which, like many insurers, has its own YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“If someone is struggling with an issue and posts to one of our social media sites, we direct them, offline, to a State Farm agent to see if we can work on it,” Mr. Beigie said.

While this explanation leaves out uses of the mobile environment, insurers like Nationwide and GEICO have mobile applications policyholders can use to file a claim after an accident or to find a tow truck.

Internet guidelines are established to ensure the open dialogue on social networking sites remains tasteful and productive. Most sites have these guidelines posted, outlining proper etiquette.

“If there are no guidelines then it does not serve as a rich experience for anyone,” Mr. Beigie added. “People can tend to just want to out-rant each other. That isn't thoughtful or useful.”

Mr. Zeitlin of Farmers admitted there have been inappropriate posts he's deleted within seconds, but the insurer has chosen “not to hide its head in the sand.”

“We have Rules for Sharing posted,” he explained. “We monitor our sites closely, but that doesn't mean we take down feedback from disgruntled customers. We leave it up, use it as a way to learn about ourselves and try to solve the problem.”

Other than posting its commercials on YouTube (There are chances here that spots will “go viral.” Search for some of Nationwide Insurance's “Life Comes at You Fast” commercials), State Farm posts public service announcements about the dangers of texting while driving, videos about the company for applicants and interns and even a music video by the group, OK Go. http://www.youtube.com/user/statefarm#p/a/f/0/qybUFnY7Y8w. One of the band members is a policyholder, in fact.

“They were trying to create the ability to imbed their video. It costs money to do that,” Mr. Beigie said. “We supported that from our site. It is very popular. Now you associate State Farm with something a little different; it's a different interaction.”

The video has nearly 18 million views. And, it's considered cool.

“This is creating new avenues to make insurance cool, which isn't what a lot of people think about insurance,” Mr. Kraft said. “It is really an amazing opportunity.”

Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and distinguished analyst at technology research and advisory firm Gartner Research, said she has been “flooded” with questions from clients about using social media.

“Each has a different attitude and approach,” she said. “Each value what the Internet can do very differently and they have different concerns.”

After all, posts to the Internet are but a Google search away–harsh comments and commercial spoofs included. Ask Progressive's famous spokeswoman Flo, who also happens to have her own Facebook page, which is currently alerting users that they can impersonate her for Halloween. http://www.facebook.com/flotheprogressivegirl

“You have to decide how you will respond, if you will respond,” Ms. Harris-Ferrante said.

“There are no barriers to entry,” said Mr. Thul of State Farm. “It stays out there forever. You have to keep that in mind. And you need to keep your facts straight.”

There is also some confusion. Insurers have yet to get clear guidance from regulators on certain issues. For example, are “likes” of an agent on Facebook or recommendations on LinkedIn considered an endorsement, which would violate insurance law?

Financial services regulators have issued notices. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said static material on a site like Facebook is advertising, and therefore subject to prior approval. But interaction on these social sites is not thought to be advertising, explained Anand Rao, partner at Diamond Consultants.

“I think insurers are being conservative right now until some things get ironed out,” Mr. Rao said. “It is a part of their online strategy to work very closely with their legal departments.”

While privacy issues surround the use of social media, most users are voluntarily giving insurers some valuable information, including marital status, residence and children. And insurers can glean much more information about a customer or shopper through the sites.

“[Social networking site users] are telling the world these things,” said Mr. Kraft of Accenture. “But each company must establish the boundaries they will push and develop a social media policy.”

By the way, it's also not a good idea for someone with a workers' compensation claim to post pictures competing in a marathon on Facebook–insurers use social media for investigative purposes as well.

Special Reports /

Insurance Industry Looking To Engage Customers Via Social Media

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