Australians have become a nation of electronically connected people using social media, but the insurance industry hasn’t yet embraced the concept and is lagging behind other industry sectors.

“The industry is a long way behind compared to other sectors, but there is an opportunity to catch up,” Blue Chip Communications Group MD Carden Calder told the Financial Services Council conference on the Gold Coast last week.

“But it is hard to see the big picture for social media; it is still evolving and there are not really any experts out there to help.”

Figures show 94% of Australian are now connected to the internet and last year e-commerce was valued at $37 million, with 53% of users buying locally produced goods and services online.

Ms Calder says research commissioned by her company found 88% of social media users go to websites when they want to find out about insurance.

Surprisingly the next best source is “motherhood” sites, favoured by 80% of users.

“Babies have the effect of making mothers want to seek protection for the family,” Ms Calder said.

She says social media could become a new distribution channel for the insurance industry because users talk about products to their friends and other online contacts and make recommendations.

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