We are witnessing a paradigm shift the likes of which the insurance industry has never seen. So far in the last couple of weeks I have seen stories that are turning insurance marketing on it’s head. One is the J.D. Powers report that the MAJORITY of people are now getting their insurance quotes on-line. The second is an article from Search Engine Watch “Can You Sell Insurance on YouTube?”. you might be saying, big deal, it’s just personal lines. Well, wait a second what about small commercial. Businessinsurancenow.com is headed up the former Chief Marketing Officer of LendingTree, Darren Beck and a former senior web developer, also from LendingTree, Don Norton. This private equity funded company is serious about selling commercial insurance on-line. Another site you might want to check out is BOLT Insurance Agency (Business Owners Liability Team). Bolt is an on-line insurance agency with an on-line quoting and BOP comparative rating. With the endorsement of American Express, BOLT is growing at an amazing rate. This is very convincing evidence of the evolution of Internet marketing. As the on-line personal lines market continues to mature, the small business commercial marketing is starting to grow, and it’s going to continue to grow.
The next generation of decision makers, now in their late twenties, will most likely prefer transact business via Skype, or GoToMeeting, or Google Phone. They will not be as willing to sit down and spend 2-3 hours with their insurance agent. The combination, "these two phenomena", paint a very different picture of how an independent insurance agency will look in five years.
Consider that the average agency is around 60% medium to large commercial, 10% employee benefits, 10% small commercial, and 30% personal lines. If selling commercial lines via the Internet is as successful as as selling personal lines insurance was, then around 40% of the typical book of business is at risk. Implementing an Internet Marketing strategy now makes sense. Let us know what you’re doing on-line.