Snapchat is a good thing for insurance agents.

There’s a lot of talk lately about Snapchat and its use in the insurance industry -specifically for the Millennials- and building our agency around the areas that they hang out, socialize, and network; one of those digital spaces, being Snapchat.

I was the guy who built an insurance agency, personal lines department off of Facebook. I started back in 2010 and had no idea what I was doing.

Recently I have signed up and started using Snapchat and I feel that same way again: lost. But it’s not going to stop me from learning it. Because I know…

“I need to be relevant and care where and who my consumer is, or they’re not going to find me relevant or care where or who I am.”

So to learn it I set up a “team” to teach me how to use it.  The team consists of my son, his friends, and the agents in my office who use it!

Now let’s not get overwhelmed here. Snapchat is a game changer but it’s not a necessity. Not just yet.

If you’ve got a list of 25 things that are already on your priority list, this should probably not go on that list just yet.  Those other items are more important.

Here are three reasons why you will want to start using Snapchat in the next 12 to 18 months for your agency.

#1 – Starting with the obvious.

It’s where all the Millennials hang out. Any good business knows that you’ve got to be where your customers are. You’ve got to see through your customer’s eyes. If you’re looking through the eyes of a Millennial you’re probably looking into the eyes of a mobile device staring at Snapchat. Snapchat is to the Millennials is what Saved by the Bell was to me. Advertisers knew where I was for 1 hour after school, they knew how to reach me.

#2 – There is a huge business use for Snapchat.

If you don’t know Snapchat then a lot of this may not make sense so I won’t go into too much detail. There are things called Geo filters that can be used at weddings and parties and special events to group, to signify, and to unify the pictures into a collective album. It’s somewhat similar to how hashtags work.

The difference is, if you’re a business, you can take advantage of filter feature. Let’s say you’re at a special event, or someone comes into your office. You or your customer can take a picture and use a customized filter that you’ve created that’s branded  for your agency.

This could be used in many many ways to help advertise and create a cool branding image to use through snapchat for your agency.

#3 – Be the first to learn be the first ahead of the Curve.

Back in 2010 I invented a term called social sooner. I still speak of social sooner when I speak to agents across the America. Social Sooner is being the first person to the new digital landscape and digital use of tools.

Just like the Oklahoma Sooners those who staked their claim first got the best land, with the best view and the best terrain to plant and grow crops on.

The first settlers were the people who created the towns and the name of them, not to mention the counties the state’s. There is real power in being first to something. And I don’t mean like first like you’re the first in line but being the first wave of adapters to try something out and explore with your business.

Snapchat is the new frontier.

Snapchat is for insurance agents.