Updated on 06/12/2022
Why content marketing insurance?
Insurance content marketing is taking on an increasingly decisive role within the sector. But on which pillars should we build the best strategies? That’s what we’ll focus on in this post.
The insurance sector is experiencing a phase of great changes where everything is accelerated, especially in this unprecedented and complex period. As a result, it has never been more important for industry players to keep their eyes on the future, one that will be increasingly digital.
These are topics that we’ve already examined on our blog. In this post, we analyzed the 10 trends to keep in mind for the next year. In another post, we narrowed the focus on insurance web marketing, how it has changed and how it is changing. Now we want to focus on an even more specific, but crucial aspect of the industry: insurance content marketing.
We’ll start by quickly explaining what content marketing means and why it is so important and so effective that it has become indispensable for operators. In the following paragraphs, we’ll go into even greater detail and identify the 5 most important pillars on which to build the best content marketing strategy for players in the insurance sector.
Why is content so important? And what are the objectives of content marketing?
Content marketing aims to win new customers and, above all, to retain existing customers with an approach based on the creation, sharing, and distribution of content. This content can be of very different types: from corporate blogs to social media; from workshops to podcasts, interviews, video-documentaries, and much more. The formats can be very different and it is important to find the right mix according to the characteristics of your business and your objectives (we’ll look at the most effective “mixtures” later).
It’s important to note from the outset, however, that all types of content marketing have this in common: the sale of a product or service is not the primary and immediate goal. Sure, it’s still the ultimate goal. But it’s important to create a “path” to get there, the so-called Customer Journey. And the production of content is fundamental for doing so, and also for maintaining a constant and “close” relationship with one’s customers or users. This is especially true in the Insurance sector where this is even more delicate and decisive.
Hubspot’s latest report on content marketing shows that:
- 90% of marketers use a content marketing plan to continue investing the same amount in 2022;
- 66% of marketers expect the content marketing budget to increase in 2022 compared to the 2021 budget;
- Over 60% of marketers measure the success of their content marketing strategy through sales;
- The three goals that marketers achieve through content marketing are the generation of brand awareness and engagement and the education of the public.
- Let’s move to the other side of the “barricade”, that of the customers themselves. According to the Havas Groups’ Meaningful Brands report, 84% of consumers expect brands to create valuable content.
In short: customers want content; and content production is one of the most valuable marketing tools for brands. The “match” is perfect. However, going more concretely, how to put on track the best strategy of insurance content marketing? There is no universal recipe that applies to everyone. But there are some fundamental pillars that cannot be overlooked. Here are the 5 pillars that we think are indispensable.
1. The starting point: the target audience
The starting point of the best insurance content marketing strategies? It’s about having the end point, the destination, in mind. This is not a play on words, but the first rule of any effective action. To put it another way, before creating content, you must know your objectives and, above all, your target audience.
Today, this decisive operation is made possible by the most advanced digital tools. In particular, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of Big Data. It’s a question, therefore, of collecting as much information as possible about one’s own audience, both actual and potential. Personal and geographical data. Habits, jobs, interests, preferences, and much more. Today, all of this can be reconstructed with very high precision thanks to the “digital traces” that we all disseminate online.
But why? Because you can’t create an effective message for all recipients, without distinction. But you can create many slightly different messages that are more effective than ever for the “segments” they are aimed at. This is the data-driven marketing revolution; which, of course, can and should be applied to insurance content marketing as well. And here, you can even go as far as personalization.
2. The next step? Personalization (which leads to loyalty)
There’s no doubt about it: the main challenge for all players in the Insurance Industry is retention. This is for many reasons, typical of this business. But also because – in the last few years – the insurance market has become more open; new players have multiplied (often with a very strong digital approach). And it has become easier than ever for customers to leave one company and move on to another.
In addition, we should never forget a figure that emerged from a highly cited study by Bain & Company: acquiring a new customer costs 6 to 7 times more than retaining one. So, what is the most effective strategy to increase loyalty? There’s no doubt about it: personalization.
In essence, it’s about going beyond data-driven and producing content that is tailored to individuals, from a one-to-one perspective. It can be done (even if we’re talking about endless audiences of customers) and the most dynamic companies in the industry are already doing it, relying on specialized companies like Doxee.
The real objective of all companies in the insurance sector is, therefore, to learn to address individuals, to establish a one-to-one, dynamic and interactive dialog with their customers. This is the path that leads to loyalty.
The French insurance giant, AXA, turned to Doxee precisely with these objectives in mind. And so did Alleanza Assicurazioni.
3. Finding the right mix of content
We underlined it above: there is no perfect message for everyone, but there are many perfect messages depending on the different targets. Now let’s go even further, and focus on the type of messages themselves, on the “means” and “channels” by which they are conveyed. Hint: there are many!
There’s the creation of constantly updated blogs (fundamental for everything SEO-related); there are infographics, white papers, podcasts, webinars, interviews, Q&A sessions. And then there’s video, the tool that has proven to be effective, for one simple reason: when viewing a video, the average user retains 95% of the message it contains; when it comes to text, that percentage drops to 10%.
A suggestion? Try implementing personalization in your video campaigns, the results will be striking: “the marketing breakthrough that brands need,” Forbes defined it in one of its articles. And that’s exactly what AXA has done in its collaboration with Doxee.
The bottom line is this: it’s important to get an insurance content marketing strategy on track that leverages as broad a mix of tools and channels as possible, with a focus on video. Again, it all depends on your goals and target audience. Warning: it’s almost impossible to get the right mix right immediately. The key thing is to keep adjusting and optimizing your strategy. We’ll look at that in the next point.
4. Measure, adjust, optimize
In addition to everything we’ve seen above, digital tools offer another huge possibility: measuring and verifying the results of your marketing campaigns in a precise and in-depth way, as has never been possible before.
Again, Big Data comes to our aid. So it’s about doing some real testing. Assessing what works and what doesn’t. Calibrating your analytics tools and interpreting the results. Understanding how customers react to your content and the actions you’ve put in place. Once you have all this data in hand, you can recalibrate your strategies, making them increasingly surgical and high-performing.
Leverage SEO to make yourself more visible, in the “right place at the right time.” Evaluate the engagement generated by your content; try to understand why some have “worked” more than others. Analyze the sentiment of your audience, and how it varies over time. Try to understand why some calls-to-action were more effective than others. And by cross-referencing all this data, keep your campaigns and content production constantly updated, aiming for continuous improvement.
With digital, all of this can and should be done.
5. Go beyond your business
We conclude this article with one last piece of advice for insurance content marketing.
Today it is increasingly important to go beyond your business, products and services. Why?
Because, above all, it’s a matter of establishing a 360-degree relationship with your customers, paying attention to their needs and requirements. It’s about maintaining a lively and constantly updated dialog, one that is fresh, direct, useful, and not mono-directional, nor closed in specialized and sectorial topics.
The real turning point of Digital Transformation in the industry, in fact, is to bring the insured to the center of the business: it is the individual, with their interests, the real added value for companies. This should never be forgotten!
