Insurance Industry Scores Woefully Low in Social Media Rankings

NetProspex, an online business contact service, just released its Fall 2010 Social Business Report, which analyzed its database of 2 million participants to assess company affiliations, industry affiliations, professions and regions.

The good news is that the insurance industry made the top 50 list in terms of social networking-savvy industries. The bad news is that it was ranked number 42 on the list, behind restaurants and sports teams, and just ahead of debt collection and hair salons. For what should be a highly social industry, the insurance industry has some work to do in raising its profile among social networks.

The closest related industry to insurance, banking, ranks in third place among the top 50, right behind search engine companies and marketing firms.

The NetProspex report divulged some other interesting findings. For example, marketing managers across these industries appear to be the largest consumers of social networking, followed by human resources and IT professionals. Customer service professionals also ranked high on the social networking strata. 

Obviously, these are all key jobs in the insurance sector as well.  The question is, if this report is accurate, why is insurance so weak in overall social media engagements? 

The answer may be in the relatively conservative corporate cultures seen in the industry, which needs to fully assess and mitigate the risks of overexposure to outside communities.

Joe McKendrick is an author, consultant, blogger and frequent INN contributor specializing in information technology.

Readers are encouraged to respond to Joe using the “Add Your Comments” box below. He can also be reached at joe@mckendrickresearch.com.

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