When thinking about the insurance industry, most people think traditional and

boring they dont typically associate insurance with the words digital or
innovative.
consumers embracing digital avenues to search for, buy, and manage their
insurance policies, but marketers are following suit, with digital spend in the
financial services industry jumping from $4.03 billion in 2011 to an expected
$7.38 billion in 2017 an increase of 83%!
Financial services (which includes insurance) is the second biggest sector for
digital spend, only second to retail.
Consumers are much more likely to search for non-branded keywords such as
car insurance or home insurance rather than branded keywords because they
may be unaware of all insurance brand names, making the likelihood that they
will search for those specific brand keywords very slim.
As the millennial generation matures and enters into its peak buying power,
digital and more-automated ways of doing business will become a fundamental
part of day-to-day workflows.
insurance agents who embraced the digital practice reported a 65% cost
reduction and a 90% reduction in turnaround time on key insurance processes.
In the end, the easier it is to onboard a customer and make agents more
available to prospects and clients, the more insurance entities can grow their
clientele, reduce operational inefficiencies and grow revenue.

1. Embracing a cloud-based and on-premise

infrastructure
2. Automating business processes where necessary
3. Choosing programs and systems with customers in
mind

The ability to mine the digital data consumers leave behind on the internet,
social media, driving apps and even health-monitoring wearables could help
carriers to better target customers, price and underwrite policies more
accurately, and manage claims more effectively.
The simple digitization of existing insurance processes (allowing quotes to go
straight through processing, for example, and rapid product configuration) could
yield strong improvement to operating profit margins.
Increased digital marketing could improve opportunity to connect with existing
customers, allowing firms to better upsell, cross sell and retain valuable
customers.
most insurers do focus their digital efforts in marketing (83 percent) and sales
(78 percent), carriers have focused on the early stages of the customer decision
journey (supporting research and quotes) and lagged in their post-purchase
ability to serve existing customers digitally).
Theyve placed bets on specific digital capabilities for the future (such as mobile)
and have invested to rapidly build those capabilities.
With the players increasing in the Indian life insurance space it hasnt been an
easy task for marketers to differentiate and make their products stand out in the
clutter.

 Today, one has agents, banks posing as bank assurance partners, NGOs and selfhelp groups for rural sectors, telemarketing, direct mailing and Internet banking.
Current estimates put the insurance industrys size at about Rs 68,000 crore;
using current growth rates, which have been running at roughly 120 per cent a
year over the past three years, the size of the industry is expected to be around
Rs 2,40,000 crore by 2010.
There are all sorts of financial products, ranging from childrens plans and
pension plans to endowment/ savings plans. There is a variety of customized
products with riders for disability, critical illness and so on.
Customers have become discerning today even towards financial services. An
average consumer can recall 3-4 brands. Hence it is very important to be visible
in the target market.
The most noticeable trend is that a lot of advertisers are shifting away from
brand advertising to product advertising.
Secondly, the intensity in advertising is making the industry innovate and
experiment with its choice of media. Also, as marketers realize the importance of
engaging meaningfully with the consumers, consumer activations have begun to
demand a more thoughtful approach.
Along with the usual banners and pop-ups a new trend of viral marketing and
games, incorporated with life insurance messages has been successful for
insurance providers.
Max New York Life in concert with Zapak.com used this technique to generate
leads. Insurers are also using social networking sites like Facebook to popularize
its insurance products. People generally have difficulty understanding insurance
products. Such branded games make it simple for users to retain the key
message as well as product attributes, in a fun-filled manner.
Also to retain customers, insurers are launching customer portals that will help
them to get information relating to the status of his policy, the amount of loan he
can get against the policy and download forms that he requires to start another
policy among others facilities. The customer would also be able to use the portal
to deposit premium and details about change of address
Direct marketing also allows a more customized approach. Worldwide, insures are
using more of direct marketing to target ethnic groups.
New York Life set up a cultural marketing division to have better targeted
communication to African-American, Asian/Indian and Chinese community.
In India, insures use below the line activities to gain entry to a customers house.
The marketers are pursuing mall activities, RWA activities and school activities.
Activities like cooking classes in a RWA or art competitions in schools are highly
popular.
Insurers are also tying up with rural initiatives like Subhiksha and E-Chaupal to
sell customized products to hard to reach customers.
Few things in life are more boring than insurance. Its not very much fun to talk
about, its no fun to purchase, and its definitely not fun when you need to chase
down a claim.
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk
management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain
loss.

 In India, insurance has a deep-rooted history. Insurance in various forms has been
mentioned in the writings of Manu (Manusmrithi), Yagnavalkya (Dharmashastra)
and Kautilya (Arthashastra).
Insurance in its current form has its history dating back until 1818, when
Oriental Life Insurance Company[3] was started by Anita Bhavsar in Kolkata to
cater to the needs of European community.
In 1870, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society became the first Indian insurer.
In the year 1912, the Life Insurance Companies Act and the Provident Fund Act
were passed to regulate the insurance business.
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