The use of social media by short term insurance in South Africa

Abstract

The evolution of social media has allowed companies to connect with individuals on an online platform in real time. Short term insurance has been around for centuries and insurance companies have been accessing their customers through word of mouth, door-to-door and call centre agents. Social media has opened a new avenue for insurance companies to access new clients and the ability to address current customer needs and concerns. There appears to be little published research on the use of social media by insurance companies in South Africa. This study investigated the use of social media by insurance companies to sell, address complaints and to educate their customers in South Africa. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews with individuals who are responsible for running social media platforms. The data was analysed based on themes to gain an understanding of how social media is used by insurance companies to interact with their customers. The research findings indicate that insurance companies are using social media to address complaints and educate their customers on insurance terms and changes in legislation. Social media has the potential to build an organisation’s reputation, however, it can also destroy it at the same time because of disgruntled clients. The research, however, found participants were split in their view of whether social media should be used as a tool to sell insurance products. Social media should be seen as an interactive platform to engage with clients and it can be used to grow an organisation’s brand. Short term insurance companies can derive benefits from using social media platforms to connect and interact with new and current customer bases which will allow them to extend their presence in the market.