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By: Ronny Kerr

How technology has transformed life insurance: Recap from day one of the LIMRA Annual Conference

Marketing to the masses is no longer effective. In the social media era, insurance companies need to be personal and authentic, and they need to engage customers at the local level.

Bob Kerzner (President and CEO LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global, Inc.) kicks off the 2013 LIMRA Annual Conference.

That was the overarching theme from the LIMRA Annual Conference in New York this week, where Hearsay Social mingled and traded social business stories with customers, regulators, and partners. Additionally, as LIMRA’s Elite Strategic Partner, we were honored to support the event!

Bob Kerzner (President and CEO LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global, Inc.) kicked things off on Monday morning by jumping right into the theme of disruption. From AT&T to Netflix, every sector has been transformed by the rise of technology and big data analytics.

The life insurance industry is no different. Up to and during WWII, death was a daily fear, but that’s not the case anymore. People don’t have an inherent understanding of the value of life insurance like past generations did. That’s not to say, however, that people no longer need life insurance. “Our customers still need our products,” said Kerzner–that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that we need to figure out a way to reach the new generation in the way that they want to buy.

Large companies in other industries, like Coke and NFL, have experimented with technology to approach their customer differently. Insurance companies need to do the same.

Kerzner pointed out that 41% of life insurance sales happen in tandem with a life event (getting married, buying a home, or having a baby). Why not tap into technology to surface those life events, so you can reach out to customers and prospects at the right time? Big data can help in a myriad of ways to help spur sales.

Thankfully, as Kerzner concluded, many companies in the life insurance industry have begun diving into mobile and social platforms, and many are already seeing the benefits of those efforts today.

Mobile and social go together like hand in glove

Another big moment at the conference on Monday arrived when Greg Bailey (conference chair and VP Marketing at Pacific Life, @bigtimemarketer) announced Pacific Life’s new mobile app for producers. Bailey, citing a Forbes study that found 91% of people had a mobile device within arms reach 24/7, said that his organization wanted to capitalize on overwhelming trends that point to the growth of mobile. Pacific Life’s new mobile strategy will help life insurance producers tap into mobile for sales and service.

Hearsay Social COO Michael Lock and Jim Kerley, president of LIMRA Services, at the 2013 LIMRA Annual Conference.

Dipayan Gupta (Director of Social Media Marketing, New York Life Insurance Company), Hearsay Social CEO Clara Shih, Maurice Springer (Assistant Vice President, Management Development, Agency, New York Life), and Stephen Selby (AVP Social Media, Audit, Govt. Relations, LIMRA) at the 2013 LIMRA Annual Conference.

Jim Kerley, president of LIMRA Services, and the Hearsay Social team at the 2013 LIMRA Annual Conference.

Hearsay Social CEO Clara Shih and Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics at the 2013 LIMRA Annual Conference.

Ronny Kerr

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