Robyn Croll—VP, Customer Insights, Goose Digital
INSURANCE IS A RELATIONSHIP BUSINESS. As a broker, you’ve likely heard and made this statement many times. But with digital channels increasingly impacting the entire buying journey—from awareness to consideration to purchase—brokers have been challenged in establishing and maintaining relationships. Video has emerged as a powerful marketing tool to help build connections and drive marketing performance. In 2020, over 66% of business-to-consumer marketers were using video, affirming its place as a top marketing trend. Here are a few opportunities for the broker channel.
EXPLAINING COVERAGE
Video can add value in several ways. One of the first—and still very common uses—is the explainer video. These are useful in communicating the value proposition of a type of coverage including who the coverage benefits and the type of risks it mitigates. An explainer video uses words and images to take complex policy details and deliver information that’s easily understood. Explainer videos are often animated and, when done properly, can be very effective in bringing products to life.
LEAD CONVERSION
Another powerful quality of video is the ability to turn what could be paragraphs of content into a short and compelling call to action. When you only have a few seconds to convince a prospect it’s worth having a conversation, videos can maximize value when they’re placed on landing pages designed to drive conversion. Lead conversion videos are short, quick to deliver the value proposition, and need to resonate with the target audience—videos that align with a targeted persona impact conversion. Written content still plays a role in lead conversion but as prospects find it increasingly difficult to dig through the details to find a differentiating value proposition, video often makes that decision easier.
BRAND AWARENESS
The biggest evolution over the last year has been brand awareness videos. They enable brokers to build relationships by bringing the brokerage to life through storytelling across websites and social channels. It’s never been so accessible or valuable for brokers to demonstrate their unique personalities as a result of more cost effective and higher quality videos.
Many early brand videos were produced using graphics or animation. Today’s brand videos are managed by professionals who script the broker story with the right tone, showcasing both personality and professional expertise. With guidance and direction, some brokers are able to star in their own videos. But recognizing not all brokers are as comfortable in front of the camera as they are with their clients, professional video companies have a roster of actors to tell the story and bring a brand to life. These aren’t the unscripted amateur videos of the past—they tell an authentic brand story with professionalism and polish that engages the viewer. Brand videos have become even more successful at driving positive ROI because of the flexibility of where and how they live. Featuring a brand video on a website is a great way to meet prospects who visit. But increasingly, audiences are checking LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram for a feeling of who you are. A recent study showed that videos are consumers’ favorite type of content on social media. Driving awareness with sponsored videos on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook can be done for 1–3 cents per view, further maximizing the return on your investment. While the quality of brand videos has increased significantly, the cost hasn’t. Guided interviews and intake meetings, structured script writing focused on contextual storytelling, flexibility of location and ability to shoot multiple videos in a single day coupled with sophisticated digital tools enable many production houses to deliver innovative solutions at all-time low costs.
Video as a marketing tool isn’t new in 2022, but the ability to increase brand awareness in a high quality and cost-effective way is. Insurance customers want to work with people they know and like, with the ease of digital platforms. Videos enable brokers to deliver on what consumers demand by bringing their unique stories, values and personalities to life across the very channels consumers are engaging with.