Why Insurance Companies Can No Longer Rely On The Old Fashioned Handshake

What was once an industry reliant on face-to-face connections, with deals brokered in person, and agreements sealed with a handshake, the insurance industry has undergone plenty of changes.

Customers could rely on the brokers they were working with and have confidence that they were being given the best deal possible. The insurance industry was built on trust and personal relationships.

But, this has now changed.

Thanks in part to Covid-19 and the internet boom, insurance companies have had to rely on a different way to market their services to customers.

There is less of an opportunity to make connections with customers in person, and instead has been replaced with generic internet forms and automated calls.

How is it that insurance companies are able to make an impact in such an oversaturated market?

In what ways can you ensure that customers will purchase your services, over your competitors?

Marketing insurance companies can be a difficult thing to achieve, considering the constant changing of the industry and external factors affecting this.

That’s why so many insurance companies rely on the expertise of digital marketing agencies like Shape The Market.

Our digital marketing services can help your business reach its full potential and source customers for your business. If you want to see how we can help your insurance company, get in touch with us!

According to Blue Corona, 5 million people each month search online for auto insurance, life insurance, and property insurance in the US alone.

Simply looking for insurance on a search engine is one of the most common ways that people source services and explore their options.

Because of this, it’s obvious why you would need a good website.

Given how little time it takes for visitors to make a decision about your website, your website design is extremely important when it comes to marketing insurance companies.

So, what do you need to know?

Is your website ranking on search engines? No? Then you need to find out why.

Your rankings on a search engine have a direct correlation to how many people visit your website. And, as we all know, the more people who visit your website – the better your chances of converting customers are.

So how do you make sure that your website is ranking?

The most important part of SEO is that you’re using the right keywords. The keywords you’re using on your website and meta descriptions impact where on the search engine you’ll be ranking.

But, it can be difficult to know which keywords you should be using.

Generic, non-specific keywords aren’t the way to go. No one is simply typing into Google “insurance” when they’re looking for services.

When marketing insurance companies, you need to make sure that the keywords you’re using are specific and pertaining to your target demographics.

And you can do this with the help of a digital marketing company.

Finding the right keywords is something that requires a lot of research and exploration, and simply needs the experience of a professional to do so.

Not using keywords in your website is bad, but it’s not as bad as using the wrong keywords.

If you’re looking for your website to rank organically – or inorganically with Pay Per Click advertising – keyword research is vital.

Marketing insurance companies can benefit most simply from a well-optimised website.

How good does your website look?

The importance of web design goes much further beyond looking good for a customer – although that is important. Website visitors make a decision about how your site looks within only 90 seconds, and so you need to make sure that your site is attractive.

But, website design also impacts your SEO.

From loading times, to readability, and ensuring a smooth user experience, the design of your website and how it operates also impacts your search engine rankings. If you want to read more about this, click here.

What’s more, website design is extremely important when it comes to marketing insurance companies.

Given how oversaturated the industry is and the wide variety of options potential clients have, a well-designed website that clearly conveys your services and products is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd.

For some, insurance can be a bit of a dry topic. But that doesn’t mean that your website can’t be engaging or attractive too.

Yes, when it comes to marketing insurance companies, a priority of yours should be making sure that your website (that is well designed and optimised for SEO) is also compatible on mobile devices.

Why? Well, because over 50% of searches for insurance happens on a mobile device.

And, considering that Google is starting to prioritise websites with good mobile compatibility on their search engines, you’ll be missing out if your website doesn’t look good on the iPhone too.

But how do you achieve this? It’s one thing to design a great website, but how do you make sure that it looks good on the mobile? I’m sure we can all recall an instance of visiting a website on our mobile phones, only to find the formatting off and it being difficult to read.

You didn’t stick around to try and find out more, did you?

If you have a marketing agency help you design your website – a good idea if you’re no design or coding expert – then you should always make sure that they’re also working on your mobile website too.

People are very rarely away from their phones, so it would make sense that so many of us use them to search up important things like insurance.

When marketing insurance companies, a website that is engaging and easily navigable on mobile should be as important as a good website on a laptop too.

One of the benefits that old-fashioned marketing for insurance companies brought was an opportunity to get to know the people you were working with.

You could meet an insurance broker in person, communicate with them directly about your needs, and gain an understanding of their expertise and why you should choose them.

But with the move away from in-person meetings and communication, and a preference for business happening online, how do you achieve this still?

This is where a well-written blog comes in.

A blog allows you to show off that you’re an expert in the industry and that you’re someone to be trusted. Through carefully crafted content that is optimised for SEO and written on topics that will interest your consumers, you can show that you know your stuff.

As well as this, blogs can also help with generating website traffic, fleshing out your website, and establishing yourself as a leader in the insurance industry.

Given that 77% of internet users regularly read blogs, combined with the fact that many consumers want to get to know a company before they purchase from it – a blog has multiple benefits for marketing insurance companies.

When it comes to marketing insurance companies, you need to think about what it is your audience wants.

And firstly, who your audience is.

One of the greatest markets for people looking for insurance are those aged 18-25, who have just graduated out of their parent’s plans.

People within this demographic will likely be in need of their own insurance, with very little knowledge about how to acquire it and what is best.

This is a great market to target as you can benefit from their lack of knowledge and expertise and make sure that you’re the first business they see.

So, how do you do this?

When it comes to targeting emerging demographics and a younger audience, social media is a great way to reach them.

Marketing insurance companies through social media advertising allows you to reach this desired demographic when they’re making a buying decision.

Social media ads, particularly Facebook ads, are still relatively affordable. Meaning, it’s an excellent way to showcase your business and your services.

Speaking of audiences, the younger generation isn’t the only market you should be going after.

Working in the insurance industry, you should be aware of the changing demographics and how this affects the product that you are selling.

Old fashioned marketing would often target men as they were the primary member of the household, and would often be the ones making this decision.

But, in 2021, this decision is being made by different people.

According to the ONS, almost a quarter of women in the UK are the primary breadwinners in their households. And whilst this may not necessarily mean that they are the ones making the household decisions, it would be naïve not to target women as a primary demographic.

In fact, the World Bank states that they are many benefits to targeting insurance at women: “In case of divorce, the woman may end up losing their home to her husband. An insurance policy with investments under her name will give her some financial independence and security.”

As women become more financially independent and take on more responsibility in their households, the way you target insurance should reflect this.

As well as this, with people cohabiting rather than being married, you should be adopting policies and the way you market your services to represent the different family makeups.

Show your demographics that your business suits the modern family dynamic, and shake off the preconception that insurance companies have outdated policies.

Thanks in part to Covid-19 as well as the internet boom, technology has begun to have a huge impact on how you should market insurance companies.

Old insurance brokers and companies may be reluctant or unwilling to embrace the new technological advances, and thus the new techniques of bringing in new clients.

It’s one thing to be running a TV advert, but it’s another thing to be relying on artificial intelligence to source potential clients.

In fact, AI has had a huge uptake within the insurance industry. 84% of insurers believe that AI will either “significantly change or completely transform” the industry.

What’s more, 95% of insurers believe that AI will grow in usage when it comes to analytics.

So, how does AI impact the world of insurance?

Firstly, an increasing amount of people are searching for insurance companies through voice searches. This is entirely dependent on the use of AI to pick up on what is being said and source the results. If you want to find out more about how AI is changing the future of marketing, click here.

Secondly, AI is also impacting the types of policies and claims insurance companies will need to cater to.

With the rise of self-driving cars and other automated vehicles, how does this change the way insurance claims are made in case of an accident?

And it’s not just the car insurance industry either. AI and technology are having a direct influence on the types of policies customers are after, and you have to make sure that your business is receptive to this.