If your company isn’t harnessing the power and audience of social media outlets in your disaster plans, you are leaving a huge resource untapped. Today we will be exploring some ways that social media can help insurance agencies stay informed, provide resources and information to customers, improve customer service, and spread the knowledge and professionalism of their brand. For more information on how Social Media is used to deliver timely wildfire information, see our past blog: Social Media and Wildfire.
Passive vs. Active Uses
Passive: monitor and follow various feeds of information to remain up to date.
- Follow reliable Fire and Safety Agencies for the latest information regarding an incident. Federal, State, and Local fire agencies are getting more active on Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, and other social networks. Official accounts often offer the latest official information much faster than news reports.
Tahoe National Forest tweets a link to details regarding an upcoming prescribed burn.
- Watch livestreams of briefings or news reports from the scene. New livestreaming technology and adoption are bringing unprecedented access to official briefings and meetings in real time. Example: Canyon Fire Briefing from September 28, 2017.
Active: share information to help your followers stay informed.
- Inform followers of fire and insurance resources. Retweet information about shelters for those displaced by the fire, or make a Facebook post about how to file a claim for damaged property. Being helpful and forthcoming about what the company knows and can offer will build good faith with your customers, especially in a time of need.
FEMA tweeting resources to help with applying for disaster aid.
- Share fire information that affects your customers, such as the latest fire activity, evacuations, road closures, etc.
CalFire tweeting the final acreage and containment figures to the Nuns Fire with a link to the incident page.
- Use official media from ready.gov and weather.gov to advise followers of how to prepare their homes and family plan before a wildfire, and what to do when one occurs. These links provide excellent content intended to be shared on social media.
National Weather Association tweets a link to their wildfire safety preparedness web page.
- Respond directly to customer questions and concerns with credible information.
The official Sonoma County Sheriff twitter updates followers on the latest evacuations.
Bottom Line: Information is Valuable and People Will Appreciate the Help
Wildfires can be confusing, frustrating, emotional, and devastating for individuals and their families. Social media offers insurance agencies multiple tools to help keep themselves and their customers informed. Important information such as evacuations, shelters, and resources is not always easy for people to find. Being proactive about knowing what is going on and sharing that information adds trust with your customers and can help make a devastating event in their life a little easier to handle.
