In today’s world, a brand’s ability to personalize the customer experience is more critical than ever, perhaps nowhere so much as in the insurance industry. When buyers are busy or stressed and products seem complicated — that’s when personalization comes to the rescue. It makes next steps clear and adds a human touch to each interaction.
Video takes this a step further. It simplifies the message, it’s engaging and, quite frankly, it’s more fun than reading endless paragraphs of legalese.
Gen Z has already discovered this. If you want to reach this newest cohort of consumers, it’s “video or vanish,” as Forbes notes. Video is by far their favorite form of media (twice as important as gaming, Google and music). But it’s not just Gen Z that likes watching video. Already, the medium accounts for over 80% of consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco.
The rise of both video and personalization has only accelerated during COVID-19 as consumers turn to digital tools to replace or enhance in-person interactions. The good news is that personalizing digital communications — including through video — for your insurance customers is easier than ever before.
For one, consumers are increasingly willing to share data. According to a recent global study by Accenture, 66% would share data on their habits to enable personalized services. Indeed, Accenture included personalization as one of its three pillars for the future of insurance.
Luckily, video has advanced in recent years and is no longer the one-size-fits-all medium of generations ago. It can be dynamic and data-driven, unique for every customer who watches it, even if you have millions of customers around the globe, speaking different languages and living vastly different lives.
The challenge, then, isn’t the technology or even getting the data. It’s how to personalize the customer journey in a way that supports loyalty and retention, and that means more than just adding a first name to an otherwise generic message. When do you reach out? What do you say? What gets results? Answers to all this and more below.
Upgrade Your Quote Follow-Ups
Typically, acquisition efforts are the most difficult to personalize. This is when you have the least data on your prospective customer.
But think about the quote request process. Here, you do have meaningful data about your future customer, so what do you do with it if they don’t convert? This is an important opportunity to remind them how you can help meet their needs and to do it in a way that’s memorable and personal. It’s good for the customer experience and your bottom line.
See also: Why Cyber Strategies Need Personalization
A quote follow-up video does exactly that. It greets people by name and explains their recommended coverage with easy-to-understand language and visuals. This kind of personalized video has increased policies sold by a whopping 40%. You can even add a clickable call-to-action directly in the video, making it easier for viewers to convert.
Tip: If you don’t have data on what potential customers are looking for, let them tell you. The latest video technology lets users input their requirements directly into the video to generate a personalized quote in real time.
Make a Good First Impression
Let’s talk about the onboarding process. Hello, paperwork.
Getting started with a new insurance carrier or plan can be confusing for many people. A personalized welcome starts the relationship off right and is a great way to introduce them to the details of their specific coverage. Here are some important things to include at this stage:
- A personal welcome
- An overview of coverage details
- Outlining benefits
- Steps to set up their online account
Here’s an example from SelectHealth that shows this in action.
And it works. We’ve seen lifts in customer satisfaction of 30% to 50% following personalized onboarding videos.
Take the Pressure Off Your Call Centers
In its road map to digital transformation, McKinsey identified customer service as one of the critical activities to tackle first. The right digital touch here can increase cost savings by 40% and lift ROI by five percentage points.
The key is letting customers self-serve in a way that’s seamless and boosts satisfaction. Enter personalized video. It can be a lifeline to a customer in crisis mode, especially when they’re going through the notoriously complicated claims process. (That’s the other area McKinsey labeled a top candidate for digital transformation).
A video personalized for the customer’s unique situation is human, relevant and cuts through complexity. By providing next steps in an accessible digital format, you’re letting customers get what they need right away, reducing calls to call centers by as much as 73%.
Tip: Try a personalized follow-up after someone contacts support. You can summarize the call and what the customer needs to do now in a personalized video that’s automatically generated and sent to the customer.
Remember — the secret to personalized customer care is being proactive.
See also: 6 Ways to Transform Customer Experience
Using Personalized Video to Wow Customers
Only 28% of insurance customers report being happy with their level of personalization. That’s a lot of room for improvement.
Fortunately, there are many more opportunities to connect personally — yet digitally — with your customers. Offer related insurance products you know will benefit them. Get in touch to remind them of the value you bring, increasing retention for the long term. You might even reach out with a personalized GIF on your customer’s anniversary to let them know you haven’t forgotten the special day. Ultimately, the greater care you put into treating your customer as a valued individual, the greater the impact.
This strategy has certainly produced results for brands we’ve worked with, including over 20 of the world’s leading insurance companies. MetLife, for example, saw a 12-point NPS increase as a result of their policy renewal personalized video campaign. AXA reported an 8X increase in conversion rates and 20% churn reduction.
Brands can launch their data-driven video campaigns in a matter of days, doing it themselves with Idomoo’s self-serve platform or letting us handle the details. To see how other companies are leveraging dynamic video, check out some of our favorite personalized insurance campaigns.
