It’s done. You’ve gathered the team, formulated a strategy, defined objectives and allocated resources, designated relevant tools… Your digital communication strategy is finally being executed. And… it’s working. Everything is going as planned. Prospects are coming in and some are identifying with your offer. They’ve converted into customers. Some, that is. Others have opted for the competition.

  • Why this choice?
  • What digital processes will help you understand the consumer?
  • What solutions are available to you to analyze their behavior?

Here’s a concise report on the why and how of customer retention.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COMMERCIAL OFFER

First and foremost: good communication can work wonders, but the best communication strategy can never compensate for a deficient commercial offer. You sell an insurance service. This service must meet the client’s needs from subscription to compensation. There’s no point in investing colossal resources in quality communication if your product isn’t up to par.

On the other hand, understand that even if you offer the best insurance package on the market, it would be futile to rely solely on that if the client doesn’t perceive your added value.

In summary, the product sold and the communication about it are a combination that must be managed together. Otherwise, your business model won’t be sustainable.

CONVERSION IS A FIRST STEP

Conversion is a term generally used to describe the transformation of a prospect visitor into a buying customer. This simplified definition summarizes one of the main goals of your communication strategy. Again, the website and social media are tools, not ends in themselves. You aim to establish your company in the digital landscape because that’s where consumers increasingly seek information, compare, and choose what they consume.

Thus, converting a customer is a somewhat… natural process. There’s no need to overcomplicate: you capture customers if they’re aware of your existence (the role of digital communication) and you meet their needs (the role of your commercial offer). However, these same customers are fickle and disloyal: even if you satisfy them, they may still be tempted to see what the competition offers. How do you retain them?

LOYALTY IS A FULL-TIME JOB

To simplify understanding the loyalty scheme, we’ll focus on two major aspects of digital marketing: analytical and measurement tools, and loyalty techniques and processes.

You want to retain a customer. So, you need to satisfy them in a way that they continue to subscribe to your services and don’t consider switching insurers (or even consume more of your products). For this, you need to know what they like and dislike, what they seek and avoid, what grabs their attention and what doesn’t. In conclusion, you need to understand them. In marketing terms, this process of understanding is simply called “consumer behavior analysis.” What are they looking for? What are their preferred media? Which web pages do they linger on? What content do they share? Answering all these questions and many more requires technical tools.

Analysis and Measurement Tools

Digital remains to this day the only communication channel that offers perfect visibility into the impact of your communication actions. Everything is measurable, quantifiable. In other words, your return on investment can be perfectly evaluated. A significant advantage when every entrepreneur knows that money is, and has always been, the lifeblood of business.

Thus, analysis and measurement tools (as their name suggests) are devices that meet the need to calculate and measure the results of your communication strategy. Some are quantitative, others qualitative, and each has a different scope depending on what you want to measure. Several platforms automate these measurement processes and are available online.

Analysis of Results and Corrective Actions

The previously mentioned tools are methods. Naturally, we’re interested in the results obtained. What can be deduced from them? How can they be exploited?

The principle is simple. You undertook a certain “inbound marketing” action (see below). For example, you wrote two articles on your company’s blog. The first deals with “5 tips for choosing the right insurer for you,” the second explains “the different exclusion clauses in international maritime insurance.” Result: the first article generated much more conversions than the second article. Surprising? Not at all. This example demonstrates that the majority of visitors to your blog are not insurance industry professionals, but rather individuals from various socio-professional backgrounds who share a common problem: choosing a suitable insurer. Thus, your blog, which is the unifying medium, allowed you to use quantitative measurement criteria to conduct qualitative analysis (customer typology).

Once this analysis is done and this conclusion is reached, all that remains is to take corrective actions in your strategy. You had planned to alternate between an accessible article and an article aimed at insurance professionals. Now, it turns out you should write more popular articles and fewer specialized ones.

This very simple example perfectly illustrates the importance of analyzing and, above all, continuously monitoring your communication actions. You must not rest on your laurels and must adjust your strategy at all times. This principle, which applies in the business world in general, is particularly true in the digital realm.

LOYALTY MEANS CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

Loyalty means understanding the customer and adapting to their behavior. In other words, you need to establish a relationship. Customer relationship is obviously a vast field. It’s undoubtedly one of the biggest upheavals in current business models. Just a few years ago, competitors were few, and the few insurance companies that existed held power and imposed their products. Today, the balance of power has shifted, and consumers enjoy significant choice and maneuverability.

Now, companies must allocate a substantial budget to understand their clients’ desires, while maintaining their satisfaction and responding to their feedback. Obviously, customer relationship primarily serves a commercial purpose. Let’s not forget that the entire digital setup still aims at acquiring and retaining clientele. Thus, digital marketing also offers a range of tools to enhance customer satisfaction.

The first step is, above all, creating a customer space. This includes one or more sections entirely dedicated to customer expression. Whether it’s customer service or simply collecting comments and opinions, it’s important to let internet users express themselves. On one hand, this demonstrates the insurer’s confidence in their service. On the other hand, it’s now evident that consumers form a real community. They no longer refer to expert opinions and warmed-over advertisements, but to other customers who have tested the service. If someone testifies that their claim was handled and compensated promptly, rest assured they’ll bring in more clients at a lower cost than a traditional marketing campaign. Thus, once again, the quality of your service remains the primary guarantee of increased customer loyalty.

On your end, think about creating content and Inbound Marketing. The goal is to attract prospects and generate interactions; only quality content can achieve this. The idea is to offer highly interesting articles that will lead the reader to visit your site and be interested in your offers. Thus, rather than bombarding strangers with incessant advertising messages, offering interesting content will allow you to build a community more easily and automatically generate qualified leads. This strategy will therefore require expertise in your field.

The promotion of certain free services is particularly popular in the insurance industry. To this end, why not implement an online quote system on your website? A prospect interested in subscribing to fire insurance will be much more inclined to use your services if they have an idea of the services and rates you offer. Another significant advantage is that the client trusts the rigor and automation of your offer. On the other hand, take advantage of commercial rebounds. This intelligent system allows you to personalize your offers according to the user’s profile: so, if the internet user asks for a quote for fire insurance, there’s nothing stopping you from automatically offering them water damage insurance. An intelligent way to sell more while maintaining criteria for effectiveness and relevance.

As you can see, the insurance profession has a strong interest in focusing an increasing portion of its budget on new information and communication technologies. While building a website is simple, no company can now afford to ignore a true digital communication strategy supported by specific technical tools and rigorous analytical follow-up.