Millennials, people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s (also known as “Generation Y”), are now the largest living generation in the United States and many other places in the world. This fact should increase insurance carriers’ desire to tailor products to this influential demographic and communicate with them via their preferred channels, especially considering their growing economic influence.Lemonade blog post

But despite a combined global spending power of $2.45 trillion in 2015 for Gen Y, insurers have struggled to win over these young adults.

Millennials are the most underinsured generation, according to Nielsen. This can be explained in part by a shaky economy during some of their crucial development years that delayed major milestones, such as buying a home or car. Insurers’ failure to maximize the millennial opportunity is also partially due to not speaking Gen Y’s language. Today’s digital natives (people who grew up online with social media) demand a social media presence, and not just a token one. Insurers should offer customers (as well as users and agents) a full digital experience enriched by social media channels and with real-time, accurate data-flow through any channel or device.

A failure to communicate effectively with millennials risks prolonging this important segment’s alienation from insurers.

“Millennials hate traditional channels. They hate getting mail, talking to CSRs, and meeting agents in person. Failure to provide millennials an online resource for both information and interaction precludes an insurer from the opportunity of doing business,” stated research firm Novarica.

To counteract this dissatisfaction, insurers would be wise to obtain a quality policy administration system and full digital suite that will enable them to offer a branded portal and personalized communications.

And by posting the right types of content on social media sites, insurers can interest millennials. These sites of course include traditional favorites, such as Facebook and Twitter, but also more visual sites, such as Instagram and Pinterest. Insurers can act quickly to limit and possibly eliminate damage to their brands (brand advocacy) by using scanning software to find negative comments on social media. This type of approach depends upon a reliable big data and analytics solution, and personnel that is empowered to act quickly.

My NEW white paper explains how to harness social media to win over millennials (and all other segments). Click here to get the white paper now.

And Sapiens’ eBook, Winning Over Y, offers our insights and strategies for helping insurers transform this demographic into loyal and long term insurance customers.

  • digital suite
  • digitalization
  • Generation Y
  • insurance carriers
  • insurers
  • millennials
  • social media channels
  • social media content
  • social media presence
Yaffa Cohen-Ifrah

Yaffa Cohen-Ifrah Yaffa Cohen-Ifrah is Sapiens Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Investor Relations. She is responsible for formulating Sapiens’ global marketing efforts, including marketing strategy, demand generation, branding, and communications. She is also responsible for all aspects of investor relations. Most recently, Yaffa was Vitech Systems Group’s CMO. Before that, she was the Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Corporate Communications of Sapiens. Previously, she held several other senior positions at large global companies, including Strauss Group, ADAMA, Victoria’s Secret, and Saks Fifth Avenue.