Marchex Releases Auto Insurance Industry Benchmarks for Digital Marketers
October 26 2016 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Despite today’s consumer increasingly researching and buying
products on PCs and mobile devices, a phone call is a crucial step
when shopping for a new auto insurance provider or policy.
According to a new report titled “Auto Insurance Industry
Benchmarks for Digital Marketers,” released today by the Marchex
Institute, the data and insights center for advertising analytics
company Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX), there is significant opportunity
for auto insurance companies and marketers to capture more market
share by better addressing consumer preferences.
The data comes from more than one million inbound phone calls
placed by consumers to auto insurance providers in the US and UK in
2016, including six of the top ten providers, and highlights that
60 percent of consumers are likely to click-to call from a mobile
device when shopping for auto insurance. Of those calls, consumers
show intent to purchase 73 percent of the time. While this shows
clear need for auto insurance providers to properly allocate call
center resources and optimize agent call routing processes, the
data points to some concerning trends. Not answering the phone
quickly is a weakness for many auto insurance companies, as some
local agents did not answer the phone more than 50 percent of the
time, leading a consumer to abandon the call.
Additional findings from the report include:
- Sixty-seven percent of millennials
prefer to purchase directly from an insurance company versus a
local agency.
- Millennials don’t receive quotes as
often as older generations, highlighting that most insurance
companies have yet to adapt their product set to serve this
group.
- Call centers seem to serve the customer
better and generate more revenue, as they are better at delivering
quotes than local agents.
- There is no significant correlation
between how long it takes to deliver a quote and the quote rate; a
longer quote process did not produce fewer quotes. At the same
time, costs are certainly higher for the brands that take longer to
handle quotes.
Tips for digital marketers in auto insurance based on the
findings from the report include:
- Improve customer experience on phone
calls by reducing hold time and the number of transfers to easily
lead the conversation toward a transaction.
- Use call analytics to capture data from
high intent calls to tailor ads to the right audience.
- Attribute sales to individual sources
of traffic in multi-channel campaigns to create a performance
benchmark for a smarter investment of budget.
“Customers are no longer following a linear path-to-purchase,
particularly when shopping for auto insurance, as the complexity of
the offering often requires a real conversation. This presents a
real challenge for marketers, who are faced with a massive blind
spot around media attribution, and limits sales opportunities for
brands that aren’t efficiently handling inbound phone calls,” said
John Busby, Senior Vice President, Marchex Institute. “Ultimately,
the auto insurance companies and digital marketers that truly
understand their customer across all channels – and use the data to
better engage them – are poised to grow their market share.”
A full copy of the study, which includes tips that insurance
marketers can utilize can be found at
www.marchex.com/InsurancePaper.
A webcast will be conducted on the report with panelists John
Busby, SVP Marchex Institute, and Mike Fast, Analyst at Marchex on
October 27th at 1:00 p.m. ET. Registration is available at
www.marchex.com/InsuranceWebinar.
About Marchex
Marchex is a mobile advertising analytics company that connects
online behavior to real-world, offline actions. By linking critical
touchpoints in the customer journey, Marchex’s products enable a
360-degree view of marketing effectiveness. Brands and agencies
utilize Marchex’s products to transform business performance.
Please visit www.marchex.com, www.marchex.com/blog
or @marchex on Twitter (Twitter.com/Marchex), where
Marchex discloses material information from time to time about
the company, its financial information, and its business.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161026005397/en/
Marchex, Inc.Investor RelationsTrevor Caldwell,
206-331-3600ir(at)marchex.comorMedia Inquiries:March
Communications617-960-8896Marchex@marchcomms.com
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