Whether powerfully good or virally bad, social media is here and it is time for plan sponsors to figure out how to use it to enthuse, educate and encourage members to boost their financial prowess.
In our fast-paced world where humans are bombarded every single day with thousands of messages, it’s no wonder that conventional communication strategies are quickly becoming obsolete. How can employers cut through the babble to encourage employees to fully leverage their benefits and retirement offerings, to maximize participation and to launch and sustain health and wellness programs?
How actively do you promote your benefits plan? Do you fire off emails reminding employees to get their annual dental check-up? Post warnings when claim deadlines are approaching? Tweet about the benefits of your massage therapy coverage?
Plan sponsors have had to make some tough decisions about their pension and benefit plans in recent years. As a result, many of them have invested considerable time and effort figuring out how best to communicate bad news to members. But they haven’t always given the same consideration to communicating good news—and missed a valuable opportunity.
Of the seven billion people on this planet, two billion are connected to the Internet, six billion use mobile technology, and one billion have smartphones. From these statistics, it’s hard to imagine a world where mobile technology won’t be a part of the way providers and plan sponsors communicate and connect with their members.
AFBS hits the mark with its social media policy
By the end of 2013, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the number of people on earth, and by 2017, there will be nearly 1.4 mobile devices per capita. If these stats—taken from Cisco’s data traffic projections—are uninspiring, consider the bottom line: if you don’t get in the game, someone else will.
How group insurers prefer to communicate with employees, clients and plan members
Sixty-three percent of DC plan sponsors in the United States are using social media to provide a regular source of information to their members, according to Cogent Research’s Retirement Planscape 2013 study.
Canada’s pension plan sponsors are focusing on their communications with members, particularly about retirement income adequacy, according to a survey.