While much of the news around social media and insurance hasfocused on direct writers and major-branded agency forces, newresearch from Novarica shows more than 70 percent of insurers thatdistribute through independent agents also use Facebook, Twitter,or LinkedIn as a part of their communications strategies.

The report, “Insurer Social Media Strategies for IndependentAgent Distribution,” also found that over 40 percent of insurerssurveyed have no official social media policy in place—settinginsurers up for compliance risk and a limited ability to capitalizeon the technology.

A significant number of insurers with independent distributionare using social media for one-to-one contact with their agents,suggesting that some of the communication with agents that used totake place by telephone or email is migrating to social mediaplatforms, according to Matt Josefowicz, managing director andpartner for Novarica. Agent usage of social media in this arena issharply split by age, with 25 percent of agents below the age of 40using LinkedIn to communicate with specific underwriters at theirinsurers—double the percentage of those over 40.

“Social media is playing a growing role in the communicationsstrategies of insurers across the board,” says Josefowicz,co-author of the report. “This is a fact of life that will onlyincrease as boomers retire and are replaced by GenX and Millenialagents.”

The report surveyed 82 insurers that write through independentagents, and 150 independent agents, on the rates of social mediausage and preferred platforms for different uses and actions. Thereport found significant rates of social media usage by theseinsurers to find prospects and enhance customer relationships, aswell as to communicate with their distributors. It also foundsignificant rates of usage by agents themselves to find prospectsand manage customer relationships.

The report also presents six ways insurers are supporting theiragents' social media efforts, and concludes with four recommendedsteps for insurers to consider social media a part of theirproducer relationship management strategy and bring marketing,underwriting, and compliance into the formulation of social mediastrategies and policies.

“Too many insurers that rely on independent agents are stilltreating social media the way they treated the Web in 1999,”Josefowicz says. “Changes in communication platforms and behaviorswill affect these insurers' crucial abilities to managerelationships and communicate effectively with their distributionpartners.”

A free preview of the report, including a discussion of keyfindings, isavailable online here.