1. Our Insurance
    1. Car & Vehicle
      1. Get a car quote
      2. Compare all products Start your research here
      3. Comprehensive
      4. Third Party, Fire & Theft
      5. Third Party
      6. Caravan Insurance
      7. Motorcycle Insurance
      8. Motorhome Insurance
      9. Classic Vehicle Insurance
      10. Trailer Insurance
    2. Home & Contents
      1. Home Insurance
      2. Compare Contents Products Start your research here
      3. Home & Contents With Multi Policy Discount
      4. Landlord Insurance
      5. Renters Insurance
    3. Small Business Insurance
      1. Small Business Insurance
      2. Tradies Cover
      3. Retail Cover
      4. All Industries
    4. More Insurance
      1. Health Insurance Partner product
      2. Pet Insurance Partner product
      3. Travel Insurance Partner product
      4. Life Insurance Partner product
  2. Manage Policy
    1. Login / register My AA Insurance
    2. Pay / renew policy
    3. Policy documents
    4. Change your details
  3. Claim
    1. Start a claim
      1. Comprehensive Car
      2. Third Party Car / Third Party Fire & Theft
      3. Home / Contents
      4. Landlord
      5. Caravan / Trailer
      6. Motorcycle
      7. Motorhome
      8. Classic Vehicle
      9. Small Business
    2. Claim FAQs
    3. Learn more
Get a quote
  • Home Insurance
  • Contents Insurance
  • Home and Contents Insurance
  • Car Insurance
  • Motorcycle Insurance
  • Landlord Insurance
  1. Help & Contact
  2. Login / register
Home /
Newsroom /
Our Blog /
Social Media

Who's sexy enough for social media?

18/07/2018

I’m not sure if you’ve looked at your social media accounts this morning, but if you’re awake and are within arm’s length of your device, then you probably have.

As I scroll through my feed I see cats in graceless positions, a few holiday snaps, lots of carefully curated food set-ups, and a tonne of ads I’m not interested in. After tagging my co-workers in my favourite morning memes and waiting for a response acknowledging how funny I am, I settle into the job I’m paid to do – strategic social media communications.

Following the 2011 and 2012 Canterbury earthquakes, conversations on social media about AA Insurance significantly increased. These events put the insurance industry at the forefront of people’s minds; New Zealanders were asking questions, and customers wanted to provide us with feedback.

During this time, we listened and we learnt, but by 2016 we knew we needed to be part of the conversation, and it needed to be now.

Understandably, we are risk adverse. Insurance is unlike most businesses. We sell a promise – a promise that, when you need us, we will be there for you. But unless you’re looking at a new house after a fire, or a new phone after you’ve dropped it, our promise is intangible.  As a financial institution, we are also held to higher standards of service than other businesses and bound by legislation such as the Privacy Act to keep personal and confidential information out of the public eye.

So, with this in mind and seemingly nothing to photograph or talk about, our thinking had to be beyond the box. To some, insurance is not overly interesting or exciting. Would it be sexy enough for social media?  Would people follow us?

The answer is no. And yes.

No.  We are not sexy enough for social media, but we don’t have to be. Wherever there is a market for something, there’s an audience with problems to be solved and needs to be met.

Yes. Two years later I can confirm that we did find things to post on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and yes people do follow us – more than 13,000 in fact. 

For us, success on social media is about building meaningful relationships with our customers through transparent, authentic and consistent content and conversations. The key to this is to anticipate and respond to customer needs in a timely fashion.

We post about a variety things from major event information during a storm, to community groups we support. We want to be useful, but to also show that we are human and care about the same things our customers do.

To finish, I thought I’d share a few rules I regularly fall back on:

Move quickly. You need lean sign-off processes that move as quickly as social media does.

Be agile. Don’t waste time planning what you’ll be posting in 6 months – I guarantee you won’t be using it.

Resource up.You wouldn’t under-staff your contact centre, so don’t under-staff the teams responsible for responding to your followers.

Lizzie Johnston

Corporate Communications Specialist, AA Insurance

Share:

About AA Insurance

AA Insurance is an independently operated, New Zealand-based joint venture between the New Zealand Automobile Association (NZAA) and Vero Insurance New Zealand Limited (VINZL). Since 1994 we have demonstrated trusted expertise in home, contents and car insurance in New Zealand, and in 2018 introduced commercial small business insurance. We underwrite our own policies and sell direct to New Zealanders. Our 930+ staff look after over 480,000 customers with 970,000 policies.

We proudly partner with Variety NZ and Eden Park and have been consistently recognised by: Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands (since 2011) and Quality Service Awards for Car, and Home and Contents Insurance (since 2015), Kantar Customer Leadership Index (since 2019), Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers (2011-2018), and the Colmar Brunton Corporate Reputation Index (since 2015) that recognises New Zealand’s most successful companies. AA Insurance was also named Consumer NZ People’s Choice award winner for car, home and contents (2019 and 2020).

AA Insurance has an AA- (Very Strong) Insurer Financial Strength Rating given by Standard and Poor’s (Australia) Pty Ltd. For further information visit aainsurance.co.nz.

For more information please contact:

Rachael Joel, Botica Butler Raudon Partners, (09) 303 3862, 021 403 504 or rachaelJ@botica.co.nz

Amanda Fifield, AA Insurance, 027 406 1787, amanda_fifield@aainsurance.co.nz

Related Articles

  • 04/10/2017

    Crystal ball gazing: what will insurance look like in the future?
  • 06/06/2017

    Giving people a reason to care…about insurance
  • 28/03/2017

    Money can’t buy a good reputation, you earn it

Stay up to date with our latest news

Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
YouTube

Our Policies

Find out more about...

Home Insurance
Contents Insurance
Car Insurance
Landlord Insurance
Get a Quote

Media contacts

Customer enquiries

Call us on 0800 500 231 or contact us


Journalist only enquiries

Mobile: 027 406 1787 Email: mediacontact@aainsurance.co.nz

Rachael Joel

Group Account Director, Botica Butler Raudon

DDI: (09) 303 3862 Mobile: 021 403 504 Email: rachaelj@botica.co.nz

Marketing and sponsorship enquiries

Email: brandteam@aainsurance.co.nz

  1. Insurance
    1. Car Insurance
    2. Home Insurance
    3. Landlord Insurance
    4. Contents Insurance
    5. Small Business Insurance
    6. Renters Insurance
    7. Motorcycle Insurance
    8. Classic Vehicle Insurance
    9. Caravan Insurance
    10. Motorhome Insurance
    11. Trailer Insurance
    12. Life Insurance
  2. Tools and Guidance
    1. Insurance Calculator
    2. Help Centre
    3. Glossary
    4. Further Assistance
    5. Living Room Blog
    6. Report Insurance Fraud
  3. Manage your policy
    1. Make a Claim
    2. Retrieve a quote
    3. Pay for your Policy
    4. Change your Details
    5. Cancel your policy
    6. Policy documents
    7. AA Membership
    8. AA Home Response
    9. Make a complaint
    10. Send us a compliment
  4. About AA Insurance
    1. About us
    2. Why insure with us?
    3. Newsroom
    4. Careers
    5. Contact us
    6. Covid-19
  • Whatsapp
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Email
  • Shielded Site
  • Financial Strength Rating
  • Terms of Use
  • Quote Process Terms of Use
  • Discount Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Fair Insurance Code
  • FAP Disclosure Statement
  • Sitemap
  • ©AA Insurance 2022