20 Innovative Products You Didn't Know Exist but Are Too Awesome to Miss
Above must be the most worrying headline you could hope to find with your product below it. A quick check on the internet and you will find things like the ‘strong magnetic holder wristband’ – for holding screws, nails etc. if you are tradesman or the ‘the magic clean jelly cloth’ which you drop onto your keyboard and it cleans between the keys.
Why have you never heard of them? Creative, innovative designers but poor marketing!
Introduction
Marketing is a discipline that businesses employ to drive demand for their products and services. It involves the identification of your ideal customer and the definition of what distinguishes you within your market and from your competitors. Ultimately marketing is about winning the attention, and ultimately business, of your customer.
Marketing is as important for the insurance industry as it is to any other sector. You could say it's more important given how crowded the insurance market is and how highly competitive it is, fuelled by the likes of comparison sites. So how do you get started, how do you differentiate yourself and what are the key considerations?
What things should you be focusing on?
Here are 5 things to make sure you can create a competitive advantage through marketing:
Understanding your target market and the needs of your customers.
Key to any business’s marketing success is being crystal clear on who your target audience/customer is. “Someone who needs insurance” is not the answer. You should consider the market and the direction in which it is heading, the changing needs of customers concerning insurance, who your competitors are targeting and where you can gain a competitive advantage. Businesses can and have built entire strategies around their target customer; the budget customer, the conscious researcher, and the customer requiring a high level of service and support. We can witness customer consideration and centricity in our industry every day not only in how businesses approach customers but also in how they structure products to service them. For example, many companies offer reduced premiums to individuals who are happy with a self-service online insurance policy, whereas others are very traditional in their approach, offering a high-end bespoke service.
Understanding the different customer segments within your market and who you want to target is the first step in your marketing journey.
Know your point of difference and be able to articulate it concisely to your target.
Once you have defined your ideal or target customers, you need to get to know that customer, and understand their needs. How do they search for and buy insurance? What are their triggers and barriers to purchasing? and so forth. The better you understand your customers and their mindset the easier the creation of your communication plan.
Then look at who else in your marketplace is vying for their attention, how are they positioning and differentiating themselves and therefore how can you distinguish your offering or service to better serve the needs of that customer by comparison.
You should consider how your business operates and the values it holds, these can influence and drive your positioning. Once you have identified your “place to play”, you need to live that positioning at every touchpoint with the customer. A key question to ask yourself is “how does a brand/business with this positioning behave?”.
Develop a content strategy that supports your positioning and aligns with the values you are projecting as a business.
Once you have defined the customer you want to target and your positioning, you can build your marketing plan. For small to medium size businesses owned media is the dominant communication channel. Owned media includes your website, social media platforms, collateral such as brochures, building signage and so forth. The stuff you own and have 100% influence over.
Remembering the exercise you conducted on “How does a brand with this positioning behave” you can then start creating content that delivers. For example, if you want to target senior management requiring ‘management liability insurance’, you will want to be a brand that is empathetic and supportive, you will create content that demonstrates you understand the challenges faced by senior managers as they deal with running a successful business.
You might decide to post content on TikTik or Instagram demonstrating that you appreciate the frustration insurance brings these individuals but present solutions by giving information on how they can bring peace of mind to their management team, financial security in the event of any claims of wrongdoing etc.
The content you create should be delivered with a consistent look and feel and tonality that you can own and that distinguishes you and your content within the mind of your customers. This is where brand marketers will talk about having brand guidelines and sticking to them. Using the same colour palette, fonts and styles of photography or iconography.
Consider referral programs and affiliations to drive awareness of your business.
When budgets are limited referrals and contra-deals with non-competitive but associated businesses can yield a fruitful pipeline. Going back to the example above, if you provide ‘management liability insurance’ you might want to make connections with business owner groups, institutes committed to senior management roles or local small business forums via things like LinkedIn, Instagram etc.
Talking to akin businesses and identifying ways to support each other can be exceptionally fruitful and cost-effective, but the key is to ensure the business is like-minded and has needs comparable to your suite of solutions.
Maximise company reviews and testimonials to obtain competitive advantage
Insurance is to many a necessary evil, but when a consumer needs to make a claim, the consciousness shifts from compulsory requirement to emotional dependency. The emotions that result from the need to make a claim, lead to a want for reassurance. Consumers ultimately need to trust their insurers.
Trust, credibility, and accreditation are exceptionally important for consumers and businesses when selecting an insurance provider. Insurance businesses should look to demonstrate their “trust credentials”.
Platforms such as Google Business, Feefo, Trustpilot and io Reviews offer businesses an online tool that can connect to their website to show reviews and testimonials of their service, offering potential customers reassurance when choosing an insurance provider.
Insurance brokers should ask customers for reviews along the customer journey from searching and selecting a provider to making a claim, evidencing end-to-end service. How easy are you to work with, did you live up to the promises you made on your website etc? Some businesses incentivise reviews by placing reviewers into competitions to win a prize.
Insurance Support Solutions Ltd can provide specialist support to help your build brand image and marketing approach whilst ensuring your business continues to improve your customer experience, your team, and your business.
Ask us about what is involved, and we will work with you to provide a bespoke solution that gives you the confidence that your brand and approach is pointing in the right direction.
And Finally…
Our marketing manager has secured the licensing the rights to “Turn Back Time,” “Believe,” and “I’ve Got You Babe” for our next brand awareness campaign.
We are trying to make sure we secure a large CHER of the market.