Insurers plan to invest $84 million, on average, over the next three years to improve their multi-channel distribution strategies, according to findings of a global survey of 125 insurers by Accenture.

The survey also indicates that insurers will shift investment priorities to mobile technologies, digital marketing–including social media such as Facebook–and channel integration over the next three years. While a limited number of insurers report their current investments are focused on creating mobile capabilities, improving digital marketing, and integrating channels (19 percent, 34 percent and 36 percent, respectively), a higher percentage of insurers are planning or considering investments in these areas for the near future (62 percent, 49 percent and 44 percent, respectively).

"Increasing investment in mobile capabilities–to take advantage of the growing use of smartphones–and in digital marketing, to create new opportunities to influence customer choice, is necessary, but not sufficient in today's environment," says Serge Callet, global managing director of Accenture's insurance practice. "Consumers are not simply replacing one channel with another, but are diversifying and using more channels than ever for all of their needs. The challenge facing insurers is to develop a distribution strategy that capitalizes on the strengths of each respective channel and that will allow them to match the right customers with the right products and services, at the right price, through the right channels."