People and businesses are increasingly concerned about the safety of their assets and property. And yet, even though insurance is one of the most competitive and fast-growing industries out there, there are many uninsured and underinsured people who are not adequately protected or indeed protected at all. How do insurers and insurance brokers plan on acquiring new customers and retaining old ones in the future? Check out the text below for what is the future of marketing-our 5 predictions for 2030.
The Rise of eCommerce
Only around 10% of Americans do not own smartphones and the ones who do spend 3 hours and 43 minutes a day on average on their mobile devices. If insurance brokers want to communicate with their clients and prospects, the web is where they’ll find them. (kaieteurnewsonline.com) Having a user-friendly website that only takes milliseconds to load is what customers expect nowadays, no questions asked. Giants such as Google and Amazon have set the expectations, and so eCommerce-focused business models are gaining traction.
Today, around 58% of consumers claim they would be more likely to purchase a product online and even spend more money if they were offered insurance at the point of sale. With the rising relevance of eCommerce for people’s shopping habits, this has never been more true. For the insurance industry especially, creating websites and apps that facilitate a more user-friendly experience should be a priority for all brokers.
In every industry, eCommerce is thriving and purchasing experience platforms have to adapt extremely fast in order to fulfill customers’ needs. It turned out that eCommerce took over most of the traditional ways of selling goods in just 5 years. ECommerce is not only related to selling goods, a lot of companies that provide services have been switching to the online approach to its current and future customers. Today, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of doctors started communicating with patients through different channels of online communication. We predict that within the next 10 years every purchase or scheduled appointment (besides emergencies) will definitely be through eCommerce upgraded platforms.
Email Marketing Helps Agents and Companies Increase Sales
All eCommerce websites can benefit from services such as email marketing. Email marketing is not just “sending emails” to the relevant addresses. It is much more – a whole automated and researched the process of attracting shoppers.
Shopping cart abandonment, online Black Friday discounts, or just upsells and cross-sells can all be addressed via email. Sent to the right people at the right time, emails can help online retailers skyrocket their income. These recent email marketing insights show that everything from email open rates to survey responses can hit the roof when entrusted to the right company. In particular, services such as delivering policy documents electronically, allowing clients to access their proof of insurance online 24/7, and sending automated billing reminders to make sure policyholders are always protected, will build trust by demonstrating that the brokerage is proactive and has their clients best interest at heart.
Comparison Websites for Online Visibility
Customers and prospects can also pick their insurance broker and retailer, just like with any other products or services, based on the opinions they obtain from comparison websites. These lists will compare businesses based on characteristics such as website quality and design, online reviews, prices, and customer service. To obtain a better ranking on these comparison websites, insurance companies will likely have to lower their prices, expand their coverage and indeed improve all aspects of their business operations. With the rising number of brokerages that are taking their business online, and customers are increasingly going to depend on these review sites to help them filter through the noise and find a business that suits their needs best.
Digital Disruption
Strong eCommerce skills are already becoming a necessity for anyone selling anything online. In 2030, anything from making payments, to purchasing policies, and filing claims will have to be easy-to-do online, without human interaction, and the Covid pandemic has just sped up this inevitable trend. To efficiently replace non-digital processes with digital ones, insurance brokers will compete based on their success in anticipating policyholders’ needs. According to McKinsey’s 2020 report, Insurance 2030—The impact of AI on the future of insurance, the Covid-19 disruption has forced more online businesses, insurance brokers included, to significantly accelerate digitalization. The rise in eCommerce and AI coincided with the need to accommodate increasingly remote workforces and clients/customers.
Using One Agency for Multiple Policies
Because there are so many brokerages to choose from, policyholders which are faced with choice-overload are now opting for a single insurance provider to cover all of their insurance-related needs. Everything from pet insurance, home insurance, auto insurance, and health and life coverage is likely to come from a single insurer, and be handled by a single insurance agency. This trend is good news for insurance agencies, as people are encouraged to bundle their policies with unique upsell and cross-sell opportunities, VIP client privileges, and even bundle discounts. Discounted policy bundles are expected to become increasingly popular in the coming years.
Conclusion
Modern, digital consumers expect all products and services to be available online, working perfectly without any hiccups. Insurance agents will have to adjust to these user expectations and work towards providing instant online access to all the services which were conventionally completed in person. Additionally, shaken by the recent crisis, consumers are expected to purchase insurance policies in increasing numbers in a bid to stay safe and protected.
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