Swiss insurance companies: Behaviour in social media
Many Swiss insurance companies are hardly active on social media platforms. This is shown in a study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which analysed the technology trends in the industry.
For the Swiss insurance industry, which tends to be more traditional, advancing digitalisation poses a number of challenges - particularly in dealing with younger customer groups who have grown up in the digitalised world. Their needs differ significantly from those of the existing group of insureds. One important aspect here is communication on social networks.
With the IFZ Social Media Barometer, a research team from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts shows for the first time how well Swiss insurers are doing on social media platforms. The Social Media Barometer is part of the IFZ Insurance Study 2020, which sheds light on the insurance market in Switzerland.
Different platforms are used
On average, the insurance companies surveyed use four platforms for their social media activities. They are most present on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram. Measured by the number of followers, Facebook and LinkedIn are the most important channels for insurers. The companies' social media efforts result in an average of 28 posts per month across all platforms, which generate 413 likes and are commented on 1.6 times. The average Swiss insurer has 42,540 followers.
"We were surprised to see that most companies were posting exactly the same messages on the different platforms," says Florian Schreiber, author of the study and lecturer at the Institute of Financial Services at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. According to Schreiber, target-group-specific communication on the various channels is important in order to appeal to younger customer groups in particular.
Less than half of all insurers present on social media
The evaluation of social media activities showed that no insurance company succeeded in achieving above-average performance in all the criteria examined. A total of 29 insurance groups are present with their own profiles in social media - that is less than half of all companies in the industry. And which insurance companies performed best in the ranking? Ahead are the health insurers.
"Due to their large presence in the retail business, they probably have a stronger focus on younger target groups than life and non-life insurers," says Florian Schreiber. The size of the insurer, on the other hand, has no significant influence on the ranking. "Companies with lower premium income tend to be even more successful in achieving comparatively high reach with their posts," says the study author.
SWICA and Zurich swing out on top
In the area of health insurers, SWICA performs best. In the life and
General insurers, Zurich had the best social media performance during the study period at the end of 2019.
Top 5 among health insurers:
1. SWICA Health Organisation
2 Helsana AG
3. ÖKK Holding AG
4 Sympany Foundation
5 Groupe Mutuel Holding Ltd
Top-5 among life and non-life insurers:
1 Zurich Insurance Group
2. alliance Suisse
3rd SC, Swisscaution SA
4 AXA Switzerland
5 Generali (Switzerland) Holding Ltd.
IFZ Insurance Summit 2020
On 24 September 2020, starting at 12:45 p.m., the IFZ Insurance Summit 2020 will take place in the state-of-the-art
Campus Zug-Rotkreuz of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In addition to the presentation of the IFZ
Insurance Study 2020, respected industry experts will present their
Provide assessments of current developments in the insurance sector.
Participation in the conference costs CHF 560 (on-site) or CHF 460 (online). All
Participants will receive the approximately 300-page IFZ Insurance Study 2020 in the
Value of CHF 290.
Further information to the program there is HERE
