Empowering the customer
Loura Joubert, Unisure’s Head of Marketing, explains why customer education is at the centre of the group’s marketing strategy
When it comes to marketing insurance and winning your customer over, the challenge is threefold: First, you need to battle numerous misconceptions and prejudices surrounding insurance. Then you need to cut through the noise and show your consumers how you’re doing it differently, and lastly, you need to gain their trust.
Empower the customer through education
As far as changing customer perception goes, Loura Joubert, Head of Marketing at The Unisure Group, is passionate about educating consumers on how insurance can be both life-saving (health insurance) and life-changing (life insurance).
“Marketing insurance is tricky, not only because it isn’t a physical, tangible item that you can see on the shelf, but also because there’s often a big knowledge gap around what type of insurance is needed and also what level of cover will be sufficient,” Loura explains.
“One of the ways we circumvent this at Unisure is by always putting ourselves in the customer’s shoes and breaking down the ‘what’s’ and the ‘why’s’ of our products in fun, easily digestible ways. Besides running regular educational marketing campaigns to this effect, we also put a lot of effort into writing and designing easy-to-understand Terms and Conditions and Member Guides, for example, so that we don’t lose our readers in legal jargon and confusing fine print.”
As Loura points out, buying insurance today has arguably never been quicker, easier, or cheaper, but buying the right type and level of insurance for an individual’s unique needs is something else entirely, and that’s often where the disconnect happens and misconceptions around insurance’s reliability and purpose arise.
ReMark’s latest 2021-2022 Global Consumer Study1, the largest global survey on life insurance customers, echoes this sentiment. According to the study, nearly three quarters (71.8%) of respondents said they feel they need additional education about life and health insurance.
“The more people understand risk, the value of insurance and what products are available, the more consumers will feel confident to decide to buy. Conversely, without a good understanding of insurance products, there’s a risk of confusion, potentially leading to the wrong products being taken out, or worse, individuals and their families not having the protection they need.”
Cut through the noise
The second challenge in marketing insurance products is cutting through the noise and standing apart from one’s competitors. The way The Unisure Group does this, however, is precisely by placing a greater focus on its customers, rather than on its competitors.
“I don’t believe in falling into the trap of competing with our competitors,” Loura explains. “Of course, it’s good to stay abreast of what our competitors are doing, but mastering how to communicate to our customers that our honesty, transparency and personalised service is what sets us apart is definitely our biggest marketing focus.”
This focus on customer needs extends to all divisions within the company. In mid-2020, we launched our very first International Private Medical Insurance (IPMI) plan called Umatter. What makes Umatter so unique is that fact that it was first conceived solely based on feedback from customers, brokers and intermediaries telling us what they thought was missing from the existing products on the market. The result? An IPMI plan that truly fills a gap in the market and that stands apart from its competitors in its dynamic and flexible structure.
Build trust first, and then the sales will come
Lastly, before any marketing efforts can achieve success, there needs to be a solid foundation of trust in place.
“Building credibility is one of the most important steps in any marketing strategy, you first have to win trust and change mindsets before you can create demand and generate leads. We’re playing in a complicated industry with products that are often misunderstood, which is why we’re so focused on customer education, personalisation and putting the customer’s needs and experience first.”
Unisure is not alone in setting these marketing priorities. Findings from the 2021 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report2 conveyed that more marketers reported success in building credibility and trust (88%) than in nurturing subscribers/audiences/leads (64%) and generating sales/revenue (57%).
The time to act is now
According to ReMark’s study, just over 40% of consumers say that living through the pandemic has changed their attitude to risk and insurance. On top of that, a third of consumers have purchased at least one life or health insurance product for themselves or a family member within the last 2 years.
What these figures tell us is that the market has never been more open to hearing from an insurance company with world-class products and an authentic customer-centric approach at the heart of everything they do.
As the American poet and activist, Maya Angelou, famously said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” At the end of the day, when you believe in your products and regularly receive feedback on the positive impact that insurance has on the individuals, families, and corporates in your membership base, the battle is already won.
“We know we’re different. And we know that our personalised approach really does set us apart, whether we’re dealing with a life insurance claim or a life-threatening medical evacuation,” Loura concludes. “In this time of real digital fatigue and information overload, I believe in the power of word of mouth and strong testimonials to drive awareness around our products and services.”
Sources:
- ReMark Global Consumer Study, 2021 – 2022, ReConnect Life
- 12th annual B2B Content Marketing: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends (Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs, ON24)
- Loura Joubert, Unisure Group Head of Marketing, Interview, 20 December 2021.