based lead management software
and services company, agents average an 8% to 12% conversion rate
with Internet leads versus a paltry
0.9% for direct mail.
While other industries embraced
the Web a decade or more ago, the
insurance industry as a whole woke
up to it largely over the past five
years. “The insurance industry is
never going to be known as an innovator, but they are a fantastic first
follower,” says Ellen Carney, a senior
analyst with Forrester.
As for carriers, they tend to cite
the proprietary nature of their Web-based lead generation programs,
and guard that information resolutely.
Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Insurance Co. says that 60% to 70% of
its lead generation is Web-based, and
that 70% of that activity is via third-party lead aggregators. The other
30% of its Web-based lead generation is “homegrown.” And it claims
the conversion rate from homegrown Web-based leads is roughly
the same as using third-party aggregators.
The biggest problem with Web-based leads, Allstate spokesperson
Raleigh Floyd says, is weeding out
lead duplications and the integrity
of lead data. “Web-based leads [at
Allstate] continue to grow based on
consumer adoption of the Web,” he
says.
CAPTIVE
Over a variety of lines of business,
some of the captive agents of Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm Mutual
Automobile Insurance Co. work
with Web lead aggregators. One such
agent is Kirk Fuqua of the Kirk Fuqua
Agency in Edmond, Okla., who says
that Web-based lead generation has
been his exclusive marketing tool
for about three years.
“For me, it is the only marketing
I do,” Fuqua says. “ I do not use di-
rect mail [and other lead generation]
programs. I purchase leads from ag-
gregators such as Insureme.com and
Netquote.com.”
Fuqua uses about 10 aggregators
to generate about 500 leads a month,
predominantly for auto. The leads
are sorted by mailing zip codes in
the geographical area around his of-
fice. He estimates he pays $7 to $10
per lead, of which 40% to 60% are
converted into policyholders.
But there’s another reason he likes
the Web and, in a word, it’s the immediacy. Someone using an aggregator’s site is clearly in the market at
that moment relative to the query.
“It’s immediate and better. With
direct mail, you really have to wait
for people to respond to you,” he
says. “It’s the way of the world be-
cause people really don’t have time
to go shopping with an agent. The
Internet just makes it easy for them,
and is the reality of where the mar-
ket is going. It’s being ahead of the
curve.”
Fuqua adds that being in the
Oklahoma City metropolitan area
lends itself to Internet leads because
consumers are besieged with direct
mail and much, if not most, gets
tossed into the trash unopened. In
rural areas, he notes, consumers get
less junk mail, and are more likely to
read it. “I know agents in rural areas
that still have success with direct
mail,” he says.
Money spent on leads, no matter
how they are generated, is wasted
unless there’s effective follow up,
Fuqua points out. “It’s a race to see
who’s first to [reach the prospect],”
he says. “The people that don’t have
success on the Web don’t do good
follow up. The key to success is the
follow-up over four to five months.
If I swing the bat enough times, I am
going to get hits.”
THE INTEGRATED APPROACH
Independent agent Ken Auerbach of
the E&K Agency Inc., in Eatontown,
N.J., uses a variety of methods including Web-based leads, to secure
business.
Auerbach, who also serves as general counsel and managing director
for the agency, says he doesn’t believe in chasing cold Web-based
leads, so he uses the Internet to
warm them up. Thus, he focuses his
efforts on an integrated approach he
calls “soft advertising,” which includes a Facebook fan page, an auto
insurance microsite and search engine optimization.
The auto insurance micro site,
www.e-kautoinsurance.com promises per-
sonalized agency service and quotes
from multiple carriers (the logos of
Progressive, Travelers and Selective
are on the microsite home page). In
a sense, this makes E&K its own lo-
calized Web-based lead aggregator,
but with a twist to serve the unique
needs of his coverage area.
“We think it’s important to create
awareness in the community of who
you are so when you call, they say, ‘I
know you’ or‘I’m familiar with you,’”
Auerbach says. “It’s much more tar-
geted than putting up a billboard [for]
everyone who drives by.”
The Facebook page serves to build
the brand, but also to create affinity
with prospects and clients through
humor. For example, E&K’s “friends”
are encouraged to publish pictures of
their pets.
“We realized that, particularly with
Facebook, you can’t just be selling
yourself,” Auerbach says. “It’s called
social media for a reason. You have to
be funny, humorous and have an em-
pathetic element. People started [post-
ing] funny comments about their pets.
It’s a little quirky, but it really gets peo-
ple’s interest.”
Auerbach also optimizes his sites
for search engines and is training his
salespeople how to use LinkedIn.
“We’ve bought leads like everyone
else, but have found they work bet-
ter slightly warmed instead of super
cold.”
FINDING THE RIGHT ONE
Naturally, lead aggregators will tell
you, hot or cold, Internet-based
leads are taking over insurance marketing.
“Consumers have gone to Internet as their primary way of finding
insurance products,” says Jon Kelly,
VP of insurance at QuinStreet Inc.,
the parent company to lead aggregator Insure.com. “That’s where they
do their research, and that is driving
the process. Yellow Pages have fallen
off the face of the earth. Newspapers
have been in decline. Direct mail has
“The key to success is the
follow up over four to five
months. If I swing the bat
enough times, I am going
to get hits.” —Kirk Fuqua
