From social media marketing disaster to finding more clients

What started out as a marketing disaster for five-year MDRT member Nguyen Thi Thu Dung, of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, became an opportunity to educate the public about insurance and find new clients.

It began when Nguyen posted a video supporting life insurance on her TikTok account. It received almost 800,000 views as well as a lot of negative comments about insurance. Many of the comments repeated outdated and incorrect industry misperceptions.

Will I get my premiums back?

Undaunted, Nguyen selected the most frequent comments to answer. For example, for the question, “Is it possible to get back the contribution and be compensated for the purchased insurance contract?” Her response was, “To know the truth, please visit our company to see people who receive compensation with your own eyes. Then, you will have the best answer for yourself.”

Why doesn’t insurance cover COVID deaths?

For the comment, “Why does insurance not cover death from COVID? Has anyone received the insured amount?” her answer provided her analysis. She replied, “Most clients who receive money from insurance do not brag about it on social media because it’s money from the death of their beloved. And no insurance company allows public marketing about clients’ pain. That is why you don’t see people talking about it on social media, and then people can think families aren’t often compensated.”

Insurance is cheating

For the incorrect comment that “Insurance is cheating. It’s easy to buy but difficult to claim,” Nguyen strongly responded, writing, “The money you put in your insurance is not lost. Should everything be good, you will get it back in full plus interest. Should you be hit with a risk event, you will be compensated with an amount valued multiple times what you paid. What matters is you contribute for a long time and that you don’t withdraw the money early.”

Helping to educate

Nguyen isn’t upset when she’s challenged with incorrect and unfriendly comments because she knows they have misunderstood the purpose of insurance. To her, this is an opportunity to educate by providing clear information about what a standard insurance contract looks like, how important honest declarations are, how to select a reliable advisor and how to validate information about an insurance company. Based on her straightforward and honest answers, several people’s opinions about insurance improved and they requested more information from Nguyen.

Furthermore, Nguyen plans to keep using social media to calm insurance aversion by slowly spreading information about the meaning and importance of insurance.

“After two decades of development, the perception of Vietnamese people about insurance greatly improved, but their prejudice and aversion are still there. However, the insurance market in Vietnam has seen positive changes from both the seller and buyer sides. When clients have sufficient understanding of their benefits and acquire the policies that fit their needs, then misunderstandings will be cleared away,” she explained.

Nguyễn Thị Minh Nguyệt writes for Team Lewis. This article first appeared in Vietnamese. You’ll also find this article in an upcoming issue of Round the Table, which you can find on mdrt.org.

For more about how to use social media to find clients, read:

• “MDRT social media guide”
• “How to effectively leverage social media”
• “How to use social media for referrals”