What areas of mobile technology for insurance can bring thequickest return on investment and why should insurers adoptthem?

What is the fastest ROI in mobile? Make your landing pages andWebsites mobile compatible with smart-phones and tablets;especially with the iPhone and Android devices.

Sounds obvious, right? But, apparently it's not. A recent Googlestudy shows that 79 percent of all insurance company landing pagesand Websites are not optimized for mobile. Surprised? I was. AnEquation Research report completed on behalf of Gomez, Inc., showsthat 61 percent of consumers would likely never return to a sitewith a poor mobile experience. That combination is deadly.

Years ago when Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise flippedup his communicator, he spoke to someone, even otherworldly, but hewas just talking. Think of the cell phone of just five years ago.In addition, Kirk's communicator did not have the power to doanything in a connected world except talk. He could not buyanything, make payments, combine friends and family through socialmedia, play games, or search for anything anywhere anytime. But wecan and are.

Today we can buy almost anything on our smartphones and tablets,including insurance. Of course, in fairness, the insurance industryhas not been completely idle in mobile. Besides the ability topurchase insurance or make a claim there are a variety ofexperiments going on at insurance companies.

For example, at least one company has implemented “snap a photoof your driver's license and get an auto quote.” Another companyallows you to snap a photo of your “accident” and file a FNOL froman app on your smartphone. While these are serious attempts toharness mobile technology and are important to the future of“mobile” in the insurance industry, most companies are missing thepoint.

Smartphones and tablets have become a ubiquitous part of ourworld, yet only in the last year have their numbers actually begunto surpass so called dumbphones. However, the trend is acceleratingexponentially. In theUSwe are just over halfway through thedumb-phone conversion cycle. By 2016, roughly 60 percent of the“computing” devices used to communicate, text, buy goods (includinginsurance), pay bills, play games and host a myriad of other goodsand services will be a smartphone. And another 20 percent will beon a tablet.

And another statistic that should get you thinking: In 2012 itis projected that 18 percent of all searches for personal autoinsurance will be done by a mobile phone. It is expected thatwithin five years that number will triple. But no one is reallysure. How about four times? Or even more or sooner?

As of today, smartphone penetration of all adults between ages18 and 64, at all income levels, is dramatic and climbing fast;with surprisingly large concentrations in the peak earnings years.As to current and future consumers, here's a quote from a bloggercommenting on a presentation from a recent mobile conference, “Iteach at a nearby university, and for my students, even a laptop istoo big. They want EVERYTHING to come through their smartphone, or,if necessary from their tablet.”

Clearly there are not a lot of university students buying anytype of insurance, yet. But, in a very few years, these will beconsumers of automobiles, homes, startup businesses, etc. You getthe point.

Smartphone and tablets are the mobile megatrends of today nottomorrow. You had better be on board.