Ontario brokers need to start texting Gen Y consumers

Ontario brokers need to start communicating with Generation Y consumers using the means with which they prefer to communicate – text primarily, then email – or else risk losing out on communicating with a large chunk of the province’s consumer demographic.
Jason Ryan Dorsey of the Centre for Generational Kinetics issued the clarion call during his keynote address at the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO)’s 91st Annual Convention in Toronto on Oct. 20.
Even though slightly more than two-thirds (67%) of Ontario’s home and auto insurance is sold through the broker channel, only 19% of Generation Y consumers – representing almost one-third (32%) of all of the province’s consumers – buys home and auto insurance through a broker, Dorsey noted.
Generation Y consumers are people in the age category of 16-34.
To change these statistics, brokers will need to start communicating with Gen Y consumers using the methods with which they prefer to communicate, Dorsey said. “The most important form of communication?” he said. “Text.”
And it doesn’t count as a text message if it’s so long, you have to scroll through it to read it, Dorsey joked, adding that the big difference between Gen X [35-46 years old] and Gen Y is that “Gen X uses punctuation” in text messages.
Dorsey qualified that email communication is generally more effective the closer it comes to replicating focused, quick text messages.
“Gen Y only reads the subject line of an email,” Dorsey said. “This is a key thing about email: Gen Y only reads the subject line.
“The subject line does not get us to open [Gen Ys] to open the actual email. It’s not worth sending the email if the subject line is no good or is unfocused.”
Dorsey said brokers should try sending emails using different subject headings to see which ones Gen Ys open most often. “Gen Ys like something funny, we like something unexpected, we like a call to action,” said Dorsey. “How is that part of your subject line?”
In their communications, Generation Y consumers are looking for three things, Dorsey said.
•Video clips. Dorsey added that Gen Ys are more likely to trust the source if the footage is taken with a flip cam or bad audio – i.e. something more authentic than a video with slick production values.
•Pictures. Gen Ys do like to see their brokers, and appreciate brokers including pictures embedded in their text messages.
•Bullet points. “We [Generation Ys] are conditioned not to read long blocks of text,” Dorsey said.