Historically, large and traditional firms have monopolized the centuries-old insurance industry, with insurer-client relationships spanning decades. However, this industry now finds itself amid a digital upheaval, and there's no turning back.
The hot, new phrase "Insurtech" (much like what fintech is to banking) has begun to disrupt the way insurers acquire and conduct business. It has also introduced several new technology-first insurance providers and aggregators, such as Acko insurance and policy bazaar.
With the dawn of insurtech, customers have become increasingly informed about their options and savvy about comparison shopping.
Why is customer engagement important
Insurance isn't a one-time purchase. There is an entire slew of products with renewals or upgrades offered at frequencies of 6 months to a year. So, it isn't just enough to onboard customers; it is also critical to keep them engaged. After all, fostering customer engagement is the only way insurers can build loyalty, trust and encourage advocacy among their customers.
Data, personalization and interactivity are the three key factors in delivering excellent customer engagement. Data helps you know your customer well so that all your communication is relevant and memorable. Personalization nurtures faith in your customer that you understand their needs and see them as individuals. And finally, interactivity makes your customers feel involved and ensures that your communication isn't just one-sided.
Let's take a look at some ideas on how personalized & interactive media can help enhance your customer engagement efforts
Personalized welcome
Congratulations! After days of deliberation, conversation, and research, your prospect has finally decided to purchase a policy. Instead of a barrage of technical emails and documents, what if you sent them a short video guide that they could access at any time?
Interactivity in videos results in 3x-4x greater viewer engagement and conversion than traditional videos. A personalized & interactive welcome video will not only make your customers feel special, but this small initiative would result in a mini-AHA moment and contribute to a higher brand recall.
Renewal Reminders
Customers usually begin comparison shopping around the time of their policy renewal, and they are at a high risk of switching insurance providers. Many insurance companies wait until the customers' policy is up for renewal to reach out and try to engage them. But by then, it's often too late. The customer has already decided whether or not to renew, and if they've made up their mind to leave, no amount of engagement will change that.
Forrester-led research on the insurance industry found that of the customers who felt valued, 87% would advocate for their provider, and 74% would stay with their current insurer.
It's, therefore, far better to reach out to customers before their renewal date to address any issues they may have and build a relationship with them before they make their final decision. Additionally, it allows you to proactively target those customers who are most likely to lapse on their policy. By engaging with them early, you can increase their likelihood of remaining loyal, long-term customers.
At the renewal stage, you can leverage personalized & interactive media to communicate the upcoming renewal date to your customers through a personalized video.
The run-of-the-mill and automated reminders that customers currently receive could occasionally feel alienating. A personalized video will make them feel valued and encourage them to consider renewing or upgrading with you.
You can also use this video to communicate any benefits your customers would be entitled to and add a personalized CTA to Buy or upgrade instantly!
Cross-selling and Upselling opportunity
As an insurer that values customer engagement, you will ensure that you have a deep understanding of what your customers need by the time the policy renewal date comes along.
You can then leverage your relationship and knowledge about your customers to recommend relevant upgrades to their current policy (upsell) or sell them other policy segments (cross-sell)
Personalized landing pages are a great tool to demonstrate & offer personalized recommendations for upselling and cross-selling to your customers.
Nexweave powered landing pages can contain personalized images, GIFs, and videos. You can also personalize the text on these landing pages without any code!
Hyperlink this personalized landing page to your renewal reminder email or video to create an entire personalized upselling journey for your customers!
Empowering your financial agents
Insurance agents play a critical role in customer engagement. They are the ones who meet with potential customers and learn about their needs. They also work with existing customers to review their policies and ensure they get the coverage they need. In addition, insurance agents often serve as a resource for customers who have questions or need help understanding their options.
According to a McKinsey study in China, 69% of customers believe virtual interactions with insurance agents are more efficient than in-person. So it is fair to conclude that even insurance agents aren't exempt from digitizing their customer outreach and communications.
Here are a few ways they can use personalized and interactive media to build a rapport with their customers and make them feel special.
- Event-Based engagement
Nexweave can be used along with automation platforms to share trigger-based messages that contain personalized and interactive content.
You can create and share personalized GIFs to greet your customers on birthdays, anniversaries, and major holidays! This small gesture can go a long way in solidifying your customer relationships and encouraging their loyalty
You can also get creative and record an event greeting video! Just upload it to Nexweave and add personalization elements to it
- Non-policy related engagement
Insurance agents know that to establish an honest personal relationship with clients, they must not only contact them during renewal or for upselling. It is critical to maintaining an ongoing relationship where insurance agents can also position themselves as gurus or guides to their customers on their insurance journey.
Content on relevant topics is an excellent avenue for insurance advisors to stay in touch with their customers. Relevant content ideas include financial literacy newsletters or blogs, information on tax planning, milestone planning, information about changes in regulations, etc.
You can enhance this engagement by incorporating personalized GIFs and images in emails or sharing personalized infomercial videos on these topics! Personalized and interactive media has already proven to boost email open rates and click-through rates!
Referrals & testimonials
Referrals and testimonials can be powerful marketing tools for insurance providers and aggregators. They help bring in customers at possibly the lowest acquisition cost and highest conversion rates.
When a satisfied customer tells their friends and family about their positive experience with an insurer, it can generate a lot of goodwill and encourage others to do business with the company.
You can use Nexweave to create personalized media templates to incorporate into your referral requests. Acting as an instant ice breaker, personalized images and GIFs will reinforce the positive experience they've had dealing with you and will encourage them to become an advocate!
Insurance agents can also record and share video testimonial requests! For the added human and personal touch!
The insurance industry is rapidly evolving. To stay ahead of the curve, businesses within this industry need to embrace new technologies that will help them stand out to their customers.
Go ahead, give Nexweave a shot and tell us what you think!