Top 4 Insurance Marketing Challenges & Solutions
Insurance is big business. In 2021, auto insurers alone spent $10 billion on advertising – and that’s just one sector of this huge industry! With that much money at stake, avoiding mistakes could hardly be more important. Here are the top 4 insurance marketing challenges and solutions.
Challenge 1: Staying compliant with regulations
By far, one of the biggest challenges when it comes to selling insurance is making sure you stay compliant with laws and regulations. As with many other products, you can’t just say whatever you want when trying to sell. You can’t guarantee, for example, that every single potential customer can save $1000 if they switch to you – and making claims like that can get you in legal hot water.
Solution: Of course it’s crucial that you stay up to date with the latest laws and regulations. But if you want to feel even more secure, make sure you’re entrusting your advertising to a company with insurance advertising experience. An agency with insurance experience won’t need as much education on what pitfalls to watch out for, saving you valuable time and giving you peace of mind.
Challenge 2: Standing out in a conceptual industry
The insurance industry is filled with companies offering more or less the same product – details will differ, but at the end of the day, they’re all selling the same type of thing. And if you’re just sticking to the dry facts…let’s face it, insurance isn’t the most exciting product around. Not only that, but insurance is also largely conceptual. People aren’t buying a physical thing they can own, and they usually don’t need to go to a physical place. So, without these tactile touchpoints, how can you stand out?
Solution: As long as it fits with your company’s voice, don’t be afraid to use humor or storytelling or recurring characters. If I were to mention the word “gecko,” you would probably think of the Geico gecko before anything else. Geckos have nothing to do with insurance whatsoever, but Geico was able to use the similarity to their name to create an ad campaign that has true staying power. Of course, this exact strategy won’t work for everyone, but the point is clear: it’s okay to think outside the norm! Especially in a conceptual industry like insurance, introducing a creative or unusual element to your ads is a great way to stand out.
Challenge 3: Building trust
For most people, insurance is a somewhat vulnerable purchase. It requires sharing personal details, and it’s something that they only have to use if something bad happens – and when it does, they want to feel protected. If they choose you over your competitors, they need to trust that you will keep their personal information safe.
Solution: In addition to promoting your company’s credentials and accolades, one simple way to build trust is to engage with your customer base. Being responsive on social media to questions, positive stories, and, yes, criticism, is an easy and effective way to help customers feel like they’ll be heard if they choose you. Insurance can feel like a faceless industry. So do everything you can to give your company a real presence and personality. Be present in your community, both on and offline, and people will be more likely to trust you.
Challenge 4: Insurance can feel serious and scary
Let’s face it: most people don’t enjoy spending time thinking about insurance. You buy insurance in case of something bad happening, and who wants to think about bad things happening? Insurance is a serious business, but if you keep your ads too grim, it could backfire. You may have set out to educate your audience, but they might end up just feeling put off.
Solution: While it’s not possible to completely avoid the implication of bad things happening when marketing insurance – after all, it’s a product you need when things go wrong – you can lean into the benefits of your insurance rather than the risks. This is another instance where humor or interesting characters can be helpful. If your ads are informative, relatable, and funny as opposed to scary, your ads will stick in peoples’ minds for the right reasons.
Like all industries, insurance comes with its own unique challenges. But with the right approach, you can turn these challenges into successes.
