Insurerants - Insurance Marketing Review

Flash Gets Panned

Broker #129 Sumitomo Life insurance Agency America, New York, NY
www.sliaa.com
($6,502,008; 37 employees; 90.44% benefits)

This website is built entirely in Flash. Flash websites can be optimized for search, but with a Hubspot score of 4 it is safe to assume that is not the case here. The Home page lists products such as "health care" and "group life," but it has no links to pages about those products. Since the website is geared to Japanese-owned companies in the US, it offers a Japanese language version as well. It has lists of products, but zero content. Plus, it has a page for News and Associates that come up blank.

Rating: No matter what language you market in, content is still king. According to an online translator, "Here King" is "korede kokuou." At least I hope it is. Hubspot score = 4

Put Your Best Content Forward

Broker #131 VistaNational Insurance Group, Oak Brook, Illinois
www.vistanational.com
($5,558,000; 35 employees; 100% benefits)

VistaNational's website has many pages with small type and a lot of white space. Look at the image of its Home page. Some of this unused page real estate could be used differently to convey its core message. On its "company information" page it explains, "What makes VistaNational so unique?" It includes list of no cost services? Why not tell me that as soon as I visit your website? Why hide it? Small type that spans across the entire width of the page is hard to read - especially for its likely audience of middle aged visitors. Vista National does have a section of very good content in a section called "Our Plan Process," which walks the reader through its free value added services and includes a Sample Plan - which tie into the "so unique" message. Here is a link to a quick fix on the Home page I did in Photoshop bringing these positive elements forward.  I did not change the page width of the copy, I just added copy and kept the layout.

Rating: VistaNational has a good value-added message, but make it easy to read and put it right out front, so I see it as soon as I visit your website like this. Hubspot score = 44

Niche Content Strengthens Your Niche Marketing

Broker #133 Connolly Ford Leppert, Indianapolis, Indiana www.connollyford.com ($3,310,388 revenue; 18 employees; 82.32% commercial retail)

Connolly Ford Leppert's (CFL) website has many pluses. Three clearly defined sections on the home page direct the visitor Business, Personal, and Benefits areas. CFL is a niche player, so dropdown menus at top direct visitors to areas such as "lawn care and landscape contractors." CFL does have some content including consumer "how to" tips for handling an accident, etc. CFL is also a MyWave subscriber and touts it on the Home page. MyWave provides very good content that can be branded by agencies. However, the content is only available if you subscribe. Some online content about its niche markets would strengthen its niche position.

Rating: CFL says about one of its programs "insuring van lines...requires specialized knowledge." So, show us some. Hubspot score = 55.

Selling With Content Is Better Than Selling Without It

Broker #134 First Southwest Insurance Agency, Abilene, Texas www.firstswins.com ($2,547,068 revenue; 26 employees; 81.09% commercial retail/1.02% benefits)

This website gets right down to business from its title tag to its structure. Its title tag, which is how Google describes it, reads "Independent insurance agency in Abilene & Albany, Texas specializing in..." The Internet is about nicheing your self and your location is your first niche. This website gives the visitor an opportunity to buy insurance on every page with online quote forms offered throughout. However, the forms do not indicate how quickly the agency will respond and there's no phone number on the forms pages if the visitor gets stuck. Finally, there is no content. When I Googled "Albany Texas insurance," First Southwest got a top rating on an Allstate branded web page. For "Abilene Texas insurance," there's no Google listing in the top 100.

Rating: On the up side selling on every page is a good thing, but content would make a stronger sell. Hubspot score = 34

I Almost Missed A Winner!

Broker #135 Garner Benefits, Pasadena, CA
www.garnerbenefits.com = www.garnerconsulting.com
($1,333,490 revenue; 9 employees; 100% benefits)

This website is "under construction." However, I found its old or other website at www.garnerconsulting.com. At first glance it looks pretty cool. Before I dig deeper, why not post up a link to the active website and some basic contact information on the garnerbenefits.com page. That's got to be better than a blank page. You can also have your web guy essentially "call forward" the garnernbenefits.com URL to turn up on garnerconsulting.com.

In any event, the garnerconsulting website home page has a funky attention-getting design - much hipper than most insurance or benefits websites. First impression - they must be a pretty progressive company. This website has lots of useful information from "recent California laws" to an archive of insurance news bulletins.

I love useful information. Content is king. They get a "HERE KING" for getting it!

They have detailed staff bios. People do read bios - especially of the people they are working with directly. Who do you know? Where did you go? What do you know. All good stuff. They do and also list speaking engagements. They have a book they published, paid to be on the Alexander Haig TV show, and place articles. They make a good case for smaller, smart, and focused is better.

This is nitpicking but they could add their contact info on the bottom of every page. Their Title Tags could be a little more SEO aggressive. Their book is available on Amazon, but the link to buy it is to the publisher's website. Everybody has an Amazon account, so why not make it easier to buy?

Overall, a very smart website that looks like what it says it is. Great marketing - books, articles, speaking engagements. It shows you what a relatively small agency can do to market itself effectively. Maybe that's why they grew 24.5% from 2005 to 2006. Just fix that garnerbenefits.com page.

Rating: Clearly doing something right - SEO could make more people aware of it.  Hubspot score = 11

Tell Me A Story

Broker #136 DataRisk, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
www.datarisk.com
($1,222,000 revenue; 5 employees; 54.95% commercial retail)

This, too, is a pretty basic and simple website. As a writer and web guy, I would suggest separate paragraphs for each brief service description with a link to those pages within the paragraphs.

DataRisk is selling its consulting approach - a great idea. I'd like to see either some case studies on how it works or an article or three. It is one thing to list the elements that make up your approach, but tell me the same thing in a story format I can relate to and I am much more interested. It doesn't have to be a book - a short and sweet quick read is fine. I like bullets points for easy reading, but I tend to tune out of lists only.

DataRisk offers specialized broker services - again pretty much just listed. How about some details - again I don't need a lot. Also, they say our "our clients are proactively protected in the most cost-effective manner." To get my attention - how about examples of how much I can save?

DataRisk offers "Spasurrance," which is coverage for day spas. I love niches! If you are an expert in a niche, by virtue of being a niche expert you are more marketable. Okay, here is a test. Let's Google "spa insurance" and see what comes up. DataRisk did not come up in the first 200 results. Here are two reasons why that might be the case. The Title Tag comes up with the web page address "www.datarisk.com/html/NewFiles/spa.html" instead of saying "Day Spa Insurance." (All of the pages are missing Title tags.) The page has no key words. A niche service has a better chance to be come up in Google results, so why not do the basics? Online directories are also a good way to get higher up in Google. Discoverspas.com is a portal type website that comes up first for "spa insurance." They offer free listing and ads as low as $500 for six months. Worth looking into.

I like the Personal Lines page - it is niched for high net worth individuals and each product has an explanatory link. The website has an "industries served" page and detailed bios - both excellent. Its "About Us" page has some really good hard hitting copy - "DataRisk is a no nonsense risk management consulting and specialized brokerage firm." I think I'd make the "About Us" page the "Home Page," or combine the two.

Rating: Specialized services could use more special attention. Hubspot score = 10

First Impressions Count

Broker #137 Preferred Benefits, Ada, Michigan
www.preferredbenefits.com
($1,150,000 revenue; 6 employees; 90% benefits)

This is a somewhat innocuous template-looking website. The fact that " Michigan" is spelled wrong in the Title Tag is not a good sign. (The Title tag is that little "flag" that comes on the above left of Internet Explorer.) The copywriting is minimal, which makes it a quick read. But, perhaps it could be more "customer benefit" oriented. For example it says PB will "Assist with enrollment questions, claims inquiries or payment problems." How about saying, "which saves you valuable staff time and reduces their stress"?

It has an online function to get quotes and for customers to access online account information. If you Google, "benefits west michigan," they did not come up in the Top 100 results. I Googled " Michigan health insurance," which are its first three keywords. Same result - no Top 100. I Googled its phone number - 9 results came up - mostly association and directory links.

A comment: I am not saying a website makes the sale unless it is a Geico-type website. But, even if you get a referral, oftentimes the potential client's first instinct is to Google you or ask for your URL. First impressions count.

Rating: Benefit website could use more customer benefit copy. Hubspot Score = 45

Time To Learn Chinese

Broker #138 HDTT Insurance Consulting, Beijing, China
www.hdtt.com.cn/english.htm
($225,720 revenue; 10 employees; 98.61% commercial retail)

Interestingly, the first website is written in Chinese. Fortunately, it has an English version, too. The English version is an extremely basic three-page website. The Chinese version has many more pages. I will come back to review it after I learn Chinese. One interesting observation - many of stock photo images used on the Chinese version are not Chinese.

Rating: Off to a slow start! Hubspot Score = 11

Insurance Website Review Critieria

I don't have a formal plan for reviewing or ranking the websites - perhaps one will develop as I do them. But, here is my general criteria for evaluating them. What first impression does the website make? Conservative? Cutting edge? Friendly? Is the website about how great the company is? Or, is it about how great it is at helping customers? Can customers find what they need to know or answers to their questions? Does the website "think" like its target customers think? How about their Search Engine Optimization? Does Google like it? So, let us begin....

Why this blog? Why me?

This is an insurance marketing blog.  Why this blog?  Why me? My goal is try to figure out what works in insurance marketing.  In insurance relationships are king (here king!), but how do you start a relationship when you run out of referrals or schmooze opportunities?  Let's talk about it.  What works and what doesn't?

I've worked in insurance marketing as a consultant for 20 years.  I have worked with agents, insurers, wholesalers, benefit firms, and more.  My firm PL Communications has also done insurance research from agents to consumers to business clients.

 

My inspiration for this is attending this year's "Insurance Media Association Presents . . . Insurance Media 2.0" conference.  In particular, the discussions by Paul Gillen and David Meerman Scott persuaded me that this is the way to communicate to my "audience."  I am also a fan of the Adrants blog, which comments on the state and content of advertising.

The observations in this blog are just one man's opinion - a man with a 20 year perspective - but still just one biased opinion.  My comments are meant to be constructive or "debate provoking."  If I don't like something or question something, my goal is not to trash anyone but to encourage the discussion.

I've decided to start off this blog with website reviews of the Top Insurance Brokers (actually 138 brokers) according to Business Insurance.  Mr. Gillen and Mr. Scott say the web is the place business has to be to grow.  Let's see how we are doing.  If you disagree with my observations, please tell me.  If it is your website, please let me know if my observations are unjustified.

After I go through the Top Broker websites, the next step is insurers' websites.  Then ads - print and TV.  How about those printed materials?  I'd also like to talk to some of those insurance sales gurus who send me emails all the time. Producers and owners look at sales differently - we'll try to get their perspective, too.

 

Years ago PL Communications did a survey of the Top 100 Brokers' attitudes towards the materials insurers provide - the reviews were generally negative.  Has that changed?  Let's look at all of it.  Insurance selling is about relationships.  These sales tools should help the process along, so are they?