Mobile technology has come a long way. Eighty-four percent of Americans say they can't go a single day without their cell phone, according to research from Google. And it’s now a primary channel within the insurance distribution network.
But many insurers are still struggling with getting from point A to point B. A report issued by Effective Mobile Engagement says that satisfaction with insurers’ mobile experiences declined from 60% in 2015 to 47% in 2016, the largest drop among all sectors. Insurers are literally at the bottom of the satisfaction scale when it comes to consumers’ feelings about their mobile experience. This means consumers believe any other industry is better than insurance when it comes to mobile engagement.
It’s not like insurers haven’t taken notice of the trend. A Bain survey of insurance companies conducted in 2015 projected that digital channels such as smartphones will continue to take market share from non-digital channels at a high rate through 2015. For insurers hoping to execute an effective marketing strategy, that’s pretty compelling evidence for an effective mobile strategy.
Americans check their phones at least 150 times every day, according to textrequest.com. But for insurers that are trying to capture the attention of customers and prospects, it’s important to understand that consumers now expect a fully interactive experience—easy and instant access to information on any mobile device, and the ability to have their choices confirmed in real time.
What happens when a mobile app is hard to work with? According to the Effective Mobile Engagement report, 85% of consumers are unlikely to do business again with the same organization following a bad mobile experience. Seven in 10 respondents reported abandoning a mobile experience because mobile engagement was too difficult to initiate. A 2016 survey conducted by PointSource confirms what insurers already know: Convenience is the number-one element of a good customer experience. Maybe the most important nugget here is that, thanks to brilliant lead generation technologies, customers are instantly exposed to competing offers when they ditch an insurer’s website or app.
Google believes that it’s all about the “moment,” noting that 81%of smartphone users say that the internet searches they do on their phones are more focused on information they need immediately. Let’s face it: consumers are fickle. One in three smartphone users purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended because the information they needed was there when they needed it, says Google.
Granted, the mobile channel is but one way to acquire the customer. But insurers would be well advised to pay attention to providing the customer with faster loading pages, readable text and images, and easy-to-find support options and contact information, for starters.
Since marketing is all about metrics, finding out what works and doesn’t work on a regular basis will also help. Marketing analytics or KPIs that are tied to an insurer’s broader business goals and measured regularly gives that insurer the option of changing what isn’t working.
Having a mobile-first strategy doesn’t guarantee improved business, but it’s now proven that optimizing the mobile experience will.
