Beyond Digital: Creating Personalized Insurance Platforms

Christine Burke: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Sapiens Insurance 360 podcast. I am your host today, Christine Burke, Director of Life Marketing here at Sapiens, and I’m so glad that you’re out there listening. This is where we discuss the latest news, ideas, and innovations from across the insurance technology spectrum. Today, we’re going to be talking about creating personalized insurance platforms for today’s consumers. And we’ve got a great guest with us. In case you didn’t know, September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, which was created by Life Happens. They are a nonprofit founded by insurance industry leaders whose mission is to educate the public on the importance of life insurance. They partner with organizations like NAIFA and LIMRA, and I’ll go ahead and spell those out for everybody. The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, and LIMRA is the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association. They partner with them to conduct industry research that again educates the public on life insurance and related products. And joining us today is Brian Steiner. He is the Executive Director of Life Happens. He’s got over 20 years in finance and sales leadership and is dedicated to promoting the importance of life insurance, as well as overseeing Life Happens’ Life Lessons Scholarship program, which provides support to students facing financial challenges due to the loss of a parent who had no life insurance.

And that’s just an amazing mission. Thank you for that, Brian, and thank you for joining us. Welcome to the podcast!

Brian Steiner: Thank you, Chris, it’s great to be here. Really excited to chat with you and appreciate the invitation to be part of your program.

Christine Burke: Okay. So, let’s dive right into it then. Brian, can you tell us a little bit about the importance of having a personalized, interactive digital experience, in particular in today’s world of multi-channel experience in terms of reaching customers about the need for life insurance?

Brian Steiner: Absolutely, Chris. You know, I think, we need to meet consumers where they are and how they consume information and where they do it. And it may be in multiple places, depending on the type of information they’re looking for. But it’s important to understand the, the strengths of, of media and how they’re learning and what’s best suited.

So as a nonprofit, Life Happens, our focus has always been on education and storytelling. And the conversion lies with the companies. But remember, consumers are not going to buy what they don’t understand. And, for Life Happens, we focus on social media, which we find to be an extremely effective method, mostly because it can be easily shared and amplified. And we use our website and YouTube for a longer format. And then we spend a lot of time on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, to help share information around the importance of life insurance and other protection products. And, for companies, this is going to look a little different. Because of the conversion, but we start in the same places for the majority of people. But helping them understand what life insurance is and why they need to buy it. Again, people don’t like to talk about getting sick, dying, and getting hurt. So it’s important for us to find ways through those different media outlets and social platforms to engage in story tell and get people to really understand the impact, that those products and services can have on their lives.

Christine Burke: Right. And the companies to your point, really need to be, and all of those, all of those channels as well, to while you’re educating them and then they can go to reach those companies through those various methods.

Brian Steiner: And we’ve been doing this study with LIMRA going back 16 years called the Insurance Barometer, where we’ve been, you know, doing research on consumers buying habits and perspective on the industry. And at that point in time, it was something like just under 30% of folks were spending time online or going to social platforms for their financial information. [Our] Recent report and study shows that that number is now over 60% and on the rise.

Christine Burke: Wow.

Brian Steiner: So this isn’t necessarily specific or just isolated to like Gen Z and Millennials, which is even higher. But, you know, the Baby Boomers and the older demographics, they’re playing in that sandbox, too, for their financial information. And, you know, as a, as a nonprofit organization that their focus is educating consumers. You know, we’re doing our darndest to try to meet them where they are and be visible on those platforms and be a trusted voice through those platforms, about the industry, the impact, and the need. So, you know, companies, there’s with insurance companies, there can be a little lag. Or maybe they’re a little bit more risk averse in their approach and activity on those platforms. But, you know, an organization like Life Happens, we can be, a little bit more flexible in that regard. And really, that’s where we’ve aligned our resources, you know, to kind of meet consumers where they are and be that trusted voice.

Christine Burke: You mentioned your barometer study. I know there was an interesting stat that said that people overestimate their life insurance costs by 7 to 10 times than what they actually are, which is amazing to me. How do you think this misconception really affects the impact of even the most sophisticated digital platform out there by industry or by insurance companies?

Brian Steiner: Sure. And, you know, I mean, it’s not just the pricing misconception. There’s a number of misconceptions out there. And the impact is it makes people think that they can’t afford the products or services or promise them to put it off or ignore it, it’s not for me, when really these are important conversations to be had. Again, it’s not something that people wake up in the morning and, and probably think about that regularly, like, I need more, I need my life insurance today or I have life insurance from work, and I don’t need my own individual policy. But understanding that these products are affordable and can be affordable and there’s different types and, you know, pricing can be different from the type of insurance that you decide to move forward with. But, you know, getting people to realize that taking action when they’re younger, can really make all of these products a lot more affordable and accessible. And, we’ve got some great resources off the Life Happens.org website that are needs calculators that help people understand, you know, the type of coverage that might be appropriate for them. But also, you know, how they might want to scale in the future as they’re, as they get married or have children or the family grows or they own a business or what their liabilities may be. We’re always out there trying to get people to act sooner. There’s an analogy about when’s the best time to plant a tree. And a lot of times it’s ten years ago or today. And, the same can be said for life insurance. Getting people to understand that just because, you’re, you know, a younger generation or maybe you’re not married and you’re single, going through that process and locking in your insurability when you’re when you’re young and healthy, can save you lots of dollars down the road.

Christine Burke: Yep. So what’s interesting too, is in your, in your study, it mentions that the Gen Zer’s, the people who out there who won’t get their phone out of their faces, even at the dinner table, they still want to, you know, once they get the insurance information, okay, they’re ready to purchase. They want to purchase with a human being, which, again, I find that fascinating. So talk a little bit about a human, how a human interaction still matters in the life insurance purchasing process.

Brian Steiner: Sure. And as you’re talking about being locked into your screens, my daughters were fighting over iPad this morning before we went to school. So, I feel like that resonates really well because, while so many people, again, are on social platforms for information, financial services, insurance and all the things, the conversation around life insurance and I think disability, long-term care, whatever it may be, these are pretty personal conversations. And I think, you know, how we educate and story tell can get people to think differently. But I think the role of an agent and advisors are incredibly impactful, because I think it can help get people across the finish line.

Christine Burke: Yeah.

Brian Steiner: There’s always going to be those folks that, you know, are going to want to, you know, go through that process virtually through an online platform. And that number probably will continue to grow. But there’s still always going to be, I think, a pretty large segment that kind of want their hand held through that process at the end.

Christine Burke: Yeah.

Brian Steiner: [To] Make sure they’re making the right decision. There’s so many different nuances and so many great products out there that yeah, you know what, a social or a needs calculator can help me say, you know what? Yeah, I need x amount of coverage or, you know, can make a recommendation. But when the rubber meets the road, I think getting people to act and again, people don’t like to talk about getting sick, dying, and getting hurt. It’s an easy thing. It’s an easy conversation to kind of dust under the rug or kick the can down the road, or whatever analogy you want to use in that moment. But the agent and advisor can help how we kind of, you know, kind of like a workout buddy, like an accountability partner in this to get people, you know, to say, hey, you’re doing the right thing. This is really important. Let’s put this in place. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. And regardless of walk of life, how much money you make or don’t make, I think everyone deserves access to professional advice if they want it.

Christine Burke: Yeah.

Brian Steiner: And there’s a lot of great resources out there, and we talk about NAIFA, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. If you want to connect with a professional, you have the ability to do that through LifeHappens.org, find an advisor and all those folks are part of the NAIFA professional association, and I think it helps get people across the finish line.

Christine Burke: Great! [I] totally agree with that one, me being a Gen Xer, so I, I will agree with that one. But, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about the social media and how you mentioned six in 10 people are using social media for, for research on insurance. And I know that Life Happens has been working with influencers and platforms like Instagram and Facebook. And I know insurance companies have a little bit of a concern balancing compliance and then how to use these platforms to reach their consumers. So what’s, how can insurance companies, you know, figure out that balance between the two, between compliance and working on these new, you know, not really new platforms for that?

Brian Steiner: Yeah. And Chris, obviously with Sapiens, in your organization, you understand the importance of, kind of digital transformation.

Christine Burke: Yep.

Brian Steiner: And we also are in an industry that, you know, isn’t always the most progressive in that regard.

Christine Burke: Exactly!

Brian Steiner: You know, there’s a lot of change that’s needed. Change in this industry takes time. You know, it is it tends to be, it is a risk-averse mentality.

Christine Burke: Yep.

Brian Steiner: And that’s not to say that we have, they have to overhaul their compliance functions in order to, to be more active in those platforms. But, you know, we’re trying to work closely with our carrier partners to be a resource to show them the impact that they can have on these social platforms and be more active. You know, sometimes when these groups post and there’s a number of insurance companies that are, have gotten really good and they put out some really great stuff. But there’s also a lot of others that, aren’t as active, aren’t as willing. And you know, we try to work in collaboration to say, hey, if you’re trying to meet consumers where they are, or target a specific demographic, you know, you need to rethink your approach a little bit. And we, from our perspective at Life Happens, we do a lot of testing with these companies. If they want to see how a message resonates in a certain space, we tend to be or can be kind of that barometer for them. And give them the feedback to say, hey, this resonated this didn’t, you know, you might want to think about, you know, being active here in this market, you know, on TikTok or Instagram Live or whatever it may be. So I don’t want to say that we’re holding hands. But we’re doing our best to collaborate and, get them to, to realize the impact that those channels and platforms can have on consumers.

Christine Burke: Great! And, you know, whether they like it or not, social media is here to stay. So we’ve all got to embrace it, even the big guys, right?

Brian Steiner: Absolutely. And there’s again, this actually kind of feeds in where at Life Happens, in coordination with LIMRA, we’re about to release our second iteration of our insurance barometer study, which really focuses in on, life insurance in the misinformation age. And establishing yourself as a trusted voice, through those platforms, is really important because there is so much misinformation out there. And we want to work with organizations like yours and all the carriers to make sure that the content and what people are you know, what’s being put in front of them or what they’re digesting is, is accurate and relevant. And is representative of the good work and impact life insurance and agents and advisors can have on, on themselves and their families and their businesses. So, we’re excited about that next wave, we’re excited to be, to serve a key role, in this industry to educate consumers and spread the good word.

Christine Burke: Excellent! Well, as you mentioned, you’ve got that new report coming out. So everyone out there, please make sure to visit the Life Happens website to learn more about all of their research and how they’re educating the public, and to donate or learn more about their scholarship program. I want to thank Brian again for joining us. 

Brian Steiner: Thank you, Chris!

Christine Burke: You’re quite welcome! As always, connect with Sapiens on our social media platforms. You can share feedback and subscribe to our podcast. If you’re not a subscriber already so you don’t miss an episode. But until next time, this is the Sapiens Insurance 360 podcast. Thanks for listening!