Social media a key vehicle to drive broker services to younger consumers

The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) is seeing encouraging signs, including those around technology and the use of social media, that bode well for the health of the broker channel moving forward.

There are a number of exciting efforts coming out of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC), commented Rick Orr, president of IBAO, who was among those attending IBAC’s AGM on Sept. 22 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Orr pointed to IBAC president Stephen Halsall’s mandate on perpetuation and succession for brokerages, the Broker Identity Program never being larger, and the development of guidance and principles related to social media.

New thinking and approaches will help deliver online what the younger generation of consumers needs and expects, Orr suggested. It is essential, however, that consumers and brokers alike “understand the broker needs to be involved in that transaction every step of the way.”

Beyond younger consumers are younger brokers. “They’re the ones who are often driving social media advertising and communication with their clients through social media,” Orr said.

For younger brokers hoping to start brokerages, social media may serve as a vehicle. “I think a new start-up brokerage would be able to adopt very different business practices than a traditional brokerage. And that may be their success.”

See the September 2012 issue of Canadian Underwriter for Stephen Halsall’s profile on pages 12-13 at http://bit.ly/cusep12