Amplify your message and drive engagement through promotion across multiple channels including paid social media posts, sponsored listings on traditional search engines and influencer marketing. (Photo: iStock)
The auto insurance industry has embraced new techniques to engage today's digitally-savvy consumer. But many traditional property and casualty insurance providers have been slower to prioritize digital marketing.
With the influx of new InsurTech players built for the modern consumer, however, it's critical that legacy insurers start to prioritize online marketing. Developing and executing a comprehensive strategy designed to reach and engage potential customers at multiple touchpoints is the best way to generate the greatest number of quality insurance leads this year.
Here are three ways that insurance agents and brokers can jumpstart their digital marketing game plan:
No. 3: Focus on content marketing.
Content marketing entails creating and distributing digital content such as blog posts, infographics, informational videos, podcasts and Facebook posts that are actually useful for your target customer.
Understanding the nuances of property and casualty insurance can be extremely daunting for the average person, so producing materials that help prospects understand what kind of coverage they need and how to get the most out of their plan will go a long way in terms of increasing customer loyalty. For example, a simple blog post with a title along the lines of 'Property Insurance 101: What to Know Before You Buy' would be an excellent resource for first-time buyers.
Beyond creating content that helps consumers understand how to buy and use property and casualty insurance, it's critical to highlight why it should be considered a necessity. This is especially important when trying to get millennials to convert, as they are much more budget-conscious than many people realize, so you have to convince them that buying insurance is a smart investment for long-term financial health.
Once you've put time and energy into creating great content, you'll want to make sure you reach the largest audience of potential buyers as possible. You can amplify your message and drive engagement through promotion across multiple channels including paid social media posts, sponsored listings on traditional search engines and influencer marketing.
No. 2: Engage consumers with email marketing.
Last year, there were 3.7 billion email users worldwide that collectively sent and received roughly 269 billion emails per day, and those numbers are only going to keep growing.
As long as potential customers are checking their email, insurance providers should think about getting into those inboxes.
The key to a successful email marketing campaign is maintaining carefully curated lists and being respectful of the reader's time. Not every person is going to be a fit for every email, so it's important to tailor your lists for each message. For example, distributing an email with tips on preventing hurricane damage and understanding natural disaster coverage would be great to send before the start of storm season, but only to those who live in areas prone to hurricanes.
Once you've determined the best audience for each message, make sure to fine-tune the subject line for optimal open rates. Shorter subject lines typically perform best, so aim to keep it to 10 words or less, and make every word count. For instance, with the hurricane damage prevention campaign, a subject line like "3 Ways to Protect Your Home From Hurricane Damage" would be a great place to start.
Finally, make sure you are respectful of your audience's time by being selective with the number and frequency of the emails you send. Constantly bombarding a user's inbox is not the way to foster a healthy lead. Consider your own experience as a consumer receiving emails from brands and service providers. You don't want someone blasting you multiple times per day. Nobody does. Instead, focus on quality over quantity. One well-targeted, well-written email per month is going to go a lot further than several irrelevant emails every week.
No. 1: Harness the power of vertical search advertising.
Reach potential customers while they are actively seeking a quote. Vertical search engines differ from traditional search engines like Google and Bing in that they only apply to specific industries. For instance, Zillow and Trulia are popular vertical search engines in the real estate space and Kayak.com is a vertical search engine for travel. Quotelab.com is an example of a vertical search engine for the insurance industry, as it collects rates and offers from a range of providers.
Placing a vertical search ad on Quotelab.com gives property and casualty insurance vendors the opportunity to display an offer to a customer that is actively looking for a quote, and thus is inherently more likely to convert. Vertical search advertising is particularly effective for driving sales of high-consideration products and services, and property and casualty insurance certainly fits that mold. It would be highly unusual for someone to Google "property insurance" and instantly buy a plan from the first provider that comes up.
Instead, consumers will typically compare prices and plans from a variety of insurance companies, which is most easily done through a vertical search engine such as Insure.com. This is why it's critical to invest in vertical search advertising and get in front of potential customers during the research and purchasing process.
Although revamping your digital strategy might seem like a daunting undertaking at first, if you focus on creating useful content, email marketing and vertical search advertising, you'll find yourself attracting more quality leads than ever.
Steve Yi is co-founder and CEO of MediaAlpha. To reach this contributor, send email to inboundsales@mediaalpha.com.
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