Would You Insure Your Company Against Social Media Crises?

“Can you imagine if insurance policies existed to protect companies against negative viral videos, and companies were buying them? To be insurable, they would have to sustain a certain level of quality and service with their products.” – Dave Carroll, United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media

Dave brings up an interesting notion here, one that I have begun to see take shape as insurance companies subscribe to my blog and contact me to help them develop the framework around what their clients should be developing as a social media crisis plan if they were to consider insuring them against social media crises.

It’s interesting isn’t it?! Social media crises are being seen as both a risk and a reality that insurance companies are looking to insure their clients against if they protect themselves accordingly.

So what would this mean for the brands who realize the risk involved with their social media marketing efforts and wish to be insured against online crises?

For one it would mean that they need to protect themselves with a thorough and solid social media crisis plan. It would also entail a high level of customer service and social media monitoring in order to prevent, detect, respond to and resolve a potential social media crisis before it escalates and begins to go viral.

Can you imagine what kind of advantages this would mean for everybody involved? Advantages that would redefine the standards of customer service and quality production.

It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved, let’s take a look:

• The brand who positions them self as having excellent customer service skills and top quality products and services.
• The customer who is receiving this top of the line care and attention (which in turn has a direct impact on the brand’s reputation and bottom line)
• The insurance company who is helping to protect their clients, yet protecting themselves at the same time against out of pocket insurance funding for crises that could have been prevented.

The fact that this notion is beginning to take shape and be acted upon shows the clear impact that social media and individual customers have on the brands for which they do business. The world of business has really taken on a new direction of high standards where our customers have a more powerful and direct impact on our business and quality of service and production than ever before.

The fact that insurance companies are beginning to see both the risk and value of being prepared for a crisis, and willing to take the necessary steps to insure their clients against them, is helping to make it a reality that is getting harder and harder for brands to ignore.

What about you?

If your insurance company recommended and offered to insure your company or organization against social media crises, would you take the measures to properly protect your brand in order to be insured? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject! Leave me your comments below in the comments section.