The Internet has changed how we buy things, and insurance policies are not much different from regular grocery shopping. Industry advancements have prompted that it will take more time and research to find the policy or insurance quote you need. But the core process will remain the same for marketers and publishers, which can only mean one thing: growth.
While the possibility of growth is a lucrative aspect of multichannel marketing, insurance carriers need to understand the entirety of what multiple marketing channels entail.
What is Multichannel Marketing?
Using several channels means that your brand will utilize two or more marketing methods to share your content and messaging across several platforms. In simple terms, multichannel marketing makes it easier for consumers to complete their sale transactions and interact with brands through the most suitable platforms.
The central aspect that distinguishes multichannel marketing from omnichannel is that the messaging across all platforms in the multichannel approach is more consistent.
Although many insurance agents and publishers know that multichannel marketing is essential, few agencies regularly employ cross-channel marketing techniques since they don’t have enough resources or time.
Today’s consumers use a wide variety of channels, and it so happens that they also interact with businesses while doing something else, like checking their feed on Instagram, for example. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that an average Internet user had 5.54 social media accounts just five years ago. The trick to utilizing multiple channels is keeping posts and messages balanced. If these channels are not working in tandem for your brand to generate new leads, your marketing plan will require additional tweaking.
What Are the Multichannel Options for Insurance?
Adding more than two channels to your marketing campaign can become complicated quickly. To better understand your options and combine them, you may have to tailor a strategy involving one of the following channels and use the acquired data on your customers to figure out which marketing avenues work best for your brand.
Direct Mail & Email Marketing for Contacting Prospects
Despite being one of the oldest channels for marketing, direct mail is still one of the integral parts of multichannel strategies for many brands. Although it is only a way to reach specific audiences, it is still possible to drive prospects online by using direct mail. For example, you can use personalized URLs or attach QR codes to redirect potential customers to your online platform.
Email is one of the primary channels for any marketing campaign involving insurance or similar services. It is a simple yet efficient way to engage with prospects and existing customers. It doesn’t require a huge budget and can have a relatively high ROI. It’s also easy to integrate a mailing list with other channels, given that you have contact forms that gather data about your leads.
Push Notifications to Keep Users Updated
Although not as popular as email or direct mail, push notifications can also be implemented in multichannel campaigns that revolve around insurance. The best thing about push alerts is that they can be integrated pretty much anywhere, starting with mobile in-app notifications and ending with alerts in web browsers.
Likewise, push notifications can be tweaked to work in specific channels that users opted for. For instance, you can use push notification settings to allow your campaign to run as localized, promotional, engaging, or informational.
SMS for Cross-Channel Notifications
The central aspect of SMS that makes it an efficient marketing channel is that most marketing text messages are read within minutes of receiving them. Adding SMS to your cross-channel strategy as your secondary messaging tool can be crucial in improving your conversion rates.
For example, you can implement limited-time offers or automate follow-up messages on important transactions via SMS to ensure that the message reaches a customer.
Social Media for Increasing Your Online Presence
Targeting audiences on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other platforms allows you to keep constant with how you circulate your brand’s awareness. Social media can be beneficial after customers have engaged with your brand’s posts and messages on other marketing channels or when they’ve clicked on one of your ads and landed on your website.
Additionally, social media marketing makes it easier to understand how many users have interacted with your ads to gain a picture of your customer’s behavior. Of course, there are other more niche channels that can be used to promote your brand and its services, but let’s take a glance at what these primary channels can do for you.
Benefits Of Multichannel Marketing Strategies
The main goal of any multichannel marketing campaign is to expand the existing reach of your brand. The advantage of using multiple channels is expanding the reach without using content tailored for any specific channel.
- Channel Preference: Perhaps one of the most overlooked benefits of multichannel strategies is the ease of use for the customer. With multiple channels to choose from, your brand can reach users on the platforms they prefer the most.Additionally, multichannel marketing makes it easier to reach potential customers whenever and wherever they want it. Although it won’t necessarily push them toward purchasing a policy, it can increase the conversion rate significantly.
- More Data: More channels mean more contact points to gather data on leads and prospects. Having a better insight makes it easier to determine your target audience and, subsequently, build your buyer personas.Consequently, knowing your buyer personas will help you understand your customers’ behavior and tweak marketing campaigns accordingly. It is also worth noting that the data about the channel itself can give you more information about your customers’ behavior than customers themselves. You can also use this data to tweak your campaign at any point to achieve better results.
- Improved Conversions: Using multiple channels to reach out to prospects can benefit insurance companies in the long run. When you send the right messages across to the customer, you can instantly increase conversion rates.Multichannel marketing is also an excellent method to reactivate campaigns that are intended to drive brand loyalty, as well as customer retention.
- Brand Consistency: Lastly, multichannel marketing brings about a more consistent brand image. Being consistent in multichannel involves both messaging and customer support. The trick here is to select enough channels before your campaign starts to struggle with messaging and consistency across the platforms.It is relatively easy to do with just a handful of channels since multichannel marketing allows you to get a fully aligned campaign that is personalized for individual users.
Including multichannel distribution and tools can ease the work of insurance carriers. Simple calculators and interactive forms are great for customers since they can calculate premiums and bonuses.
Besides, even an additional option to communicate with an insurance agent can go a long way in the insurance business. When you simplify the process in which a customer can connect with your agents, you can improve your brand’s image and prove to your clients that you care about them.
Creating Opportunities by Choosing Multichannel
The insurance industry is filled to the brim with competitive services and products. As a result, agencies and brokers are no longer the one-way users who acquire new insurance policies.
That said, multichannel marketing provides insurance agencies with an extensive toolset that makes it easier to build and maintain the engagement between your brand and customers at all stages of their customer journey. As for the consumers, multichannel marketing will ensure that they find the policies that are right for them on the platform of their preference.
At Profitise, we provide our clients with a sophisticated LMS system that they can use to stay informed about all of their lead flows across all integrated platforms.
