CHICAGO, June 10 /PRNewswire/ — Insurance providers are reluctant to dive headfirst into the vast marketplace of social media, choosing instead to ease in, bit by bit. Mintel Comperemedia recently polled 214 independent life insurance producers. Seventy percent use at least one social media site, but only half report using their accounts for business purposes.

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“Insurance issuers tend to rely on email and face-to-face interaction because they feel personal contact with clients is a necessity,” says Daniel Hayes, VP of insurance services at Mintel Comperemedia. “As a result, social media doesn’t rank as high on their list of priorities.”

Of those surveyed, only 14% believe social networks have generated word of mouth type leads, and the same amount say social networks allow them to stay in contact with clients. A narrow 11% believe social networks give them more client opportunities. According to Daniel Hayes, these statistics could be a result of an experience gap, rather than a preference.

“Insurance companies that are actually using social media today are still experimenting,” adds Daniel Hayes. “Knowledge and talent must be developed to manage social media as it evolves into a predominant source of client interaction.”

Of insurance producers that use social media for business, 91% of Facebook subscribers are using the site to communicate with their customers, but only 22% are connected to their carriers. Mintel Comperemedia suggests this disparity is likely caused by a lack of meaningful corporate profiles with useful information to attract carriers.

“When more insurance companies cultivate a richer social network presence, complete with more attractive content, usage percentages should increase,” notes Daniel Hayes.

Since opening its social networking services to the general public in late 2006, Facebook has become one of the most used—perhaps the most used—social network in the world.  Though its primary function is to facilitate connections among friends, Facebook’s utility extends to rallying followers for whatever interest any of its users may choose to introduce.  As of 16 November, Genworth Financial has joined the ranks of Facebook devotions.

Genworth Financial is a highly-rated financial services organization which offers a range of financial products, most notably insurance products, including life insurance, mortgage insurance, and lifestyle protection insurance.

Facebook users create pages to promote the popularity of everything from Led Zeppelin (currently the focus of 17 pages and about 7,000 groups) to Not Being On Fire (currently boasting 999,598 fans).  Any Facebook user who views such a page can declare him-or-herself a “fan,” which entitles one to be notified of page updates and to be included in the page’s directory of fans.  When administered by a business, such pages serve for a quasi-viral advertising tool.  Over the past sixteen days, Genworth has mustered 567 fans.  Facebook also hosts 47 groups focused on Genworth.

Whether you’re a Facebook member or not, you can check out Genworth’s page, “Genworth Celebrates.”  If you have a Facebook account, you can become a fan of Genworth Celebrates and then leave a post on their page.  Currently, users are creating a string of posts in praise of the virtuous service of caregivers in their acquaintance.