For carriers, the right approach to the digital journey is often the difference between winning new business or falling by the wayside, regardless of whether the small business ultimately buys insurance online or offline. Our company has studied a range of digital approaches and identified four best practices that carriers can adopt to better serve small businesses:

Ensure the small business buyer is viewing content relevant to its industry and complexity. The coverages small businesses must or should want to maintain vary widely by industry. For example, an insurance carrier will just confuse a freelance writer if it advises on protecting a large capital purchase, but this advice is critical to connecting with a restaurant owner. Coverage needs also vary widely with complexity — for instance, does the business have employees? What types of clients are served? Is professional licensing required? What types of equipment are used? Is the business domestic or international in scope?

The Hartford's business insurance landing page provides several paths to relevant content, including a three-step tool to help users "Find the right coverage for your business." The tool uses auto-suggest and a compendium of detailed options to help users identify their company's industry efficiently and accurately. Entering the first few letters of the word "restaurant," for example, yields options such as Fast-Food Restaurant, Full-Service Restaurant, and Restaurant Fixtures & Supplies Store. In the subsequent step, potentially relevant areas of risk are listed for the user to select. These areas include storing sensitive data, using vehicles within the operation, or having employees. Lastly, the business zip code is used to highlight relevant regulatory requirements and potential risks based on location. Based on the information collected, the site recommends appropriate coverage options for consideration.

Help the small business understand both the risks of their type of business and the kinds of insurance that regulators and other industry stakeholders expect the company to carry. Specific business characteristics — having full-time employees, seeing patients, repairing roofs — compel certain coverages. However, other types of coverage for items such as stolen property or workers' errors, while not typical regulatory or contractual obligations, may prove vital to properly managing risk. Small businesses are often in the market for the coverages they are obligated to maintain and may not be fully aware of how to identify and protect additional interests.

Hiscox uses storylines to advise on when and how risks can arise for certain types of small businesses. For example, on its landing page for architects and engineers, Hiscox talks about the risk that "a designer misinterprets renderings and orders costly materials that are not going to work with plans," and points to professional liability insurances as a solution. Hiscox's landing pages by industry also link to videos that illustrate common industry-relevant risks. Using stories and language relevant to unique business needs, Hiscox motivates the small business buyer to think about the risks it is assuming and how to protect against them.

Ensure educational resources, such as industry updates and explainers, are context-sensitive, easy to digest and current. Enlightened carriers put in the work to make the most relevant content highly visible on industry-focused landing pages or in other key contextual locations. This content — distilled for prospective and existing policyholders — should include current articles, research into industry and risk trends, infographics and other evolving insurance topics.

For instance, prospective customers visiting Liberty Mutual's landing page for energy companies see three of the most recent and relevant articles Liberty Mutual offers on energy trends, all including photos illustrating the topic, an estimated time to read, and a publication date. The critical consideration when presenting research and other educational content is that the information is meaningful and contextual. For example, presenting fleet management content to small businesses that are likely to operate a fleet, in conjunction with current industry-specific or fleet coverage information, will inform and engage users.

Don't lose industry-specific focus during the quoting process. The insurance needs of small business buyers vary widely, especially by industry, and the urgency to stay relevant doesn't end when the small business obtains an online quote for coverage. Rather, it is even more critical at this moment of truth, when the small business is faced with how much the insurance will cost and may debate the impact or benefit of certain coverage options. Small businesses will appreciate decision support to help them know they are getting their purchase right.

Allstate's quoting flow provides decision support by delivering education on industry-specific needs and calling out specific line items as relevant. As an example, for a dentist, this means learning that Allstate has tailored its Business Shield product especially for dentists. Several components are grouped under the heading, "Coverages especially built for Dental businesses like yours," including targeted protections for business elements such as electronic data, valuable papers and records, accounts receivable and employee dishonesty.

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Four steps carriers should use to engage small businesses

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