Today, there are more than 7 billion mobile subscriptionsworldwide, up from 738 million in 2000. 3.2 billion people now usethe Internet for virtually, everything. The consumers’ world israpidly shifting to a digital-centric experience, and the insuranceindustry cannot afford to be left in the dust.

To stay relevant in an increasingly digital world, insurancecompanies need to make data-driven marketing decisions that willconnect them to the always-connected consumer. And these decisionsmust be agile, direct, and — above all — personal, inorder to truly capture the attention they deserve.

Digital technologies: Shifting power to theconsumer

One of the fundamental changes occurring in most industriesacross the board is power shifting to the consumer. Digitaltechnologies equip consumers with the ability to researchon-the-go, share recommendations and get instant answers to theirquestions, all resulting in a disruption to traditional businessmodels and creating a significant change in consumers’ expectationsand behaviors.

Regardless of the industry, consumers encounter digital media atevery turn. And this media is full of content that is targeted totheir lifestyle, rich features that encourage engagement and thepotential for interaction with each other and digitally-savvybusinesses at any time. Digital customer experiences are often morerewarding and engaging than traditional experiences. This newlandscape has shaped customer expectations in such a way that anycompany without a strong social and digital presence runs the riskof missing out on new and returning customers.

The consumer decision-making process haschanged

To remain competitive and gain an edge amidst this change,insurance companies must understand the decision-making process oftoday’s consumer.

The plethora of information and connections at their fingertipsmeans that consumers do not typically take a straight line toward apurchase. Instead, they travel through various stages of thebuyer’s journey – sometimes going back and forth between stages— before landing on a decision.

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The buyer’s journey typically begins with a consumer becomingaware of a need, and then moving onto considering his or heroptions. The consumer will then evaluate the various options thatmost closely fit that need. Next, a purchase is made. And followingthat purchase, a consumer will engage in post-purchase activities,many of which occur on social media, like sharing word-of-mouthexperiences or strengthening their relationship with a company.

This buyer’s journey is the framework within which consumersmake purchases, and it can be tapped into and influenced usingsocial media.

The new decision-making process and the insuranceindustry

One of the key triggers of any consumer entering the awarenessstage for life, house, car or other insurance is life events. A newbaby, closing on a house or an upcoming wedding are all triggerevents that propel consumers to consider purchasing insurance— and these triggers can be captured in real-time byleveraging social data.

Insurance companies must learn how to reach out to the consumerwhen he or she is going to be most receptive to their message.Using social media, insurance companies can listen for and act onlife event triggers, reaching the right customer at the right timewith the right message.

Three quarters of consumers rely on social media as part oftheir purchase decision, and 22% of Twitter users have made apurchase after interacting with a brand. These consumers are primedfor social media messages from insurance companies offeringproducts that align with their life events.

Companies can use the data they gather via social channels tobolster old-school marketing tactics as well, which — despitethe decline in effectiveness they have experienced in recent years— can benefit from insights gleaned from social media.

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The power of social data for insurance companies:Unlocking life events

Consumers talk about all aspects of their lives on socialmedia. They take to Twitter to share the news of their housepurchase, and Instagram to share photos of their graduation. Theyare not shy about posting their most intimate and momentous lifeevents publicly on social media.

A study performed by IBM Impactthat looked at 100 million social profiles discovered that morethan 150,000 people shared information about a job loss or gain,23,000 shared news about a business start-up or expansion, 20,000shared their graduation details, and more than 2 million sharedtravel events.

Insurance companies have an unprecedented opportunity to listento, analyze and unlock these life events.

Using listening and data platforms, insurance companies candevelop a deep understanding of their target market’s needs basedon what life events they share, when they share them, and whatplatforms and devices they use.

On Twitter, for instance, there are upwards of 3.7 milliontweets per month in Canada alone that contain mentions of lifeevents. These can be gathered and used to understand the market asa whole for better targeting and messaging, or they can be exploredindividually and responded to for more direct sales.

Social media enables insurance companies to listen in real-timeto what life events consumers are sharing right now, and also totrack the life events of a single consumer or consumer cohort overtime. Following a consumer from their graduation to their first carpurchase to the start of their family is made possible throughsocial data.

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The power of social data for insurance companies:Sparking purchases

Currently, less than 1% of the customers who tweet about theirlife events get a response or engagement from a relevant insurancecompany.

One of the most under-used aspects of social media in theinsurance industry is the direct connection between consumer andcompany. Social media, paired with well-executed social data,enables insurance companies to target individual consumers at theirtime of need and offer them the products and services best suitedto their situation.

A recent LIMRA study found that lifeevents triggered insurance shopping in nearly half of all consumers(45%). Those consumers who are experiencing life events are morelikely to purchase insurance, which makes a direct sale easier toattain.

Social data can point insurance companies to these consumersprimed to make a purchase. The data can be explored on anindividual level, making it easy to identify the exact consumers totarget.

Reaching out to these individuals with a personalized message,tailored to their life event trigger, can be an effective method ofsparking a purchase. Even a single tweet can bring a consumer fromthe awareness stage of the buyer’s journey to the considerationstage, and it can place that particular insurance companytop-of-mind when they are ready to make a purchase.

The power of social data for insurance companies:Optimizing advertising

Insurance keywords are the most expensive cost-per-click(CPC) keywords to purchase. As a category, insurance keywords makeup 24% of the top 10,000 keywords on Google Adwords, and see a topCPC of $54.91.

This high CPC translates to a high cost-per-acquisition (CPA),which means that insurance companies are forced to overspend inorder compete and to acquire new customers.

However, this prohibitively expensive and competitiveadvertising landscape can be easier to traverse for insurancecompanies that leverage social data.

By developing a deep knowledge of the behaviors and traits oftheir audiences, insurance companies can produce smarter ads thatwill bypass the higher-cost CPC keywords and generate results frommore targeted, long-tail keywords. So, rather than pay $55 totarget “insurance,” they can target longer, related phrases for afraction of the cost.

Social data can also be used to improve insurance companies’ adretargeting. By analyzing the life event triggers of its audiencevia social channels, a company can create ad campaigns that promotespecific products to consumers already looking for those products,and that appear on the websites and platforms that these consumersfrequent.

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The power of social data for insurance companies:Enhancing the human touch

Many companies, upon seeing the benefits of social media and thedata they can tap into, move away from traditional marketingactivities altogether. However, social data can be used to bolstertraditional efforts, rather than replace them.

Abandoning what is already being done well in the insuranceindustry — namely, providing one-on-one advice to consumers— would be a mistake. Instead, insurance companies must findthe balance between data-fueled, strategic marketing and the humanelement.

Consumers ultimately want to feel like they made the rightpurchase decision, and by empowering individual insurance agentswith social insights about individual consumers, companies can finda better fit between their products and their customers’ needs.This will create more loyalty and trust between customers and thecompanies they purchase from.

Social data can shed light on what motivates consumers, andstrengthen the in-person relationships developed on an individuallevel.

From offering insight into life events to encouraging purchases,from reducing advertising costs to improving traditional marketingtactics, social data can provide a host of opportunities forinsurance companies. Those companies that can harness social dataand incorporate it into their marketing strategy will be moreconnected to, and influential with, their customers in this digitalage.