Insurers Can Harness Social Media as Marketing Tool -- Scene Genesis's Bailey Tells How in Best's Review Article

PITTSFORD, NY--(Marketwire - August 6, 2008) - In the August issue of Best's Review, Beth Bailey of technology vendor Scene Genesis provides pointers to insurers struggling to harness the social media as a marketing tool.

"Insurance marketing executives often find it difficult to feel confident about how to integrate social media into their marketing mix. They're concerned about finding ways to measure and integrate new technologies and interactions and deal with this new world," she writes in her article, "Join the Revolution."

The key is to start listening. Blogs and social networking sites can serve as free ongoing focus groups: "It changes your marketing from one that speaks at audiences to one that fosters bringing people and brands together," she writes. "Once insurance marketers have learned what their customers desire, they can use that knowledge to create specific content that is tailored to their wants and needs."

Social marketing tactics progress from customer identification to association (online gathering places) to user-initiated conversation to provider-initiated conversation and in-person interaction, Bailey says.

Branding Beyond Insurance

"One of the basic questions to ask when developing strategies and tactics concerning social media is: How can we make our brand more than just talking about insurance?" she writes.

One company that has successfully used social media to broaden its brand is H&R Block, provider of the online Tango tax service. Block markets it using a Wikipedia entry and YouTube videos, and even lets denizens of the virtual world, Second Life, get free tax advice.

Best's Review and BestWeek subscribers can read the article online at http://www3.ambest.com/Frames/FrameServer.asp?Site=bestreview&Tab=1&RefNum=145473.

Bailey's firm, Scene Genesis, practices what she preaches.

Its new service, SceneExchange, uses the Web to link insurance company customers who've gotten into a car crash with local autobody shops that are ready to fix their vehicles. After the repair has been completed, customers can leave comments about just how well they were treated by the shop.

Based in Pittsford, near Rochester, N.Y., Scene Genesis is a technology company serving the insurance and auto-collision-repair industries. For more information, visit www.scenegenesis.com and www.sceneexchange.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Beth Bailey Scene Genesis 585-387-9883 bbailey@scenegenesis.com Henry Stimpson Stimpson Communications 508-647-0705 Henry@StimpsonCommunications.com