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Executive Summary

All Web Leads, a leader in online lead generation for the American insurance

industry, is pleased to deliver its first Quarterly Online Insurance Index

describing significant consumer shopping trends for auto, health, and life

insurance in the United States. Our report is based on roughly 2.9 million

consumers, over 1.1 percent of the US population age 18 and above, who,

between July 2007 and the end of 2008, searched for insurance online and

requested contact from an insurance agent.

We find that in the United States almost twice as many people are looking online

for health insurance, compared to the next largest category, auto insurance.

Specifically, 63% of consumers were searching for health insurance, compared

to 32% for auto insurance and 5% for life insurance. Furthermore, consumers

are becoming increasingly more comfortable shopping for insurance online. On

a quarter-over-quarter basis, between Q4 2007 and Q4 2008, shoppers looking

for insurance via the Web grew by 71%, with the biggest gains in life insurance.

Who are these consumers and what do they want? It’s not surprising that digital

natives, adults aged 18 to 34 who grew up with the Internet, represent almost

half of online searchers and are especially likely to be looking for auto and

health insurance. Digital immigrants, adults aged 35 and above who have had to

learn to use the Internet, represent the bulk of life insurance shoppers.

Age and life stage are not the only factors driving the online insurance market.

• Men are 28% more likely than women to be looking for auto insurance

online. Women are 13% more likely to be looking for health insurance online

than men. Gender is an important consideration.

• 70% of online auto insurance consumers and 71% of health insurance

seekers are unmarried.

• Already having insurance is a consideration. The majority of auto insurance

shoppers already have a policy. For health and life insurance, those who are

shopping for a policy online are over twice as likely to be uninsured.

• Taking into account state populations, the largest percentage of leads are

coming from smaller and more rural states. The Internet and the Web, once

again, shrinks the effects of distance.

• Massachusetts has a notably larger percentage of people online looking for

health insurance. As the only state with mandatory health insurance,

Massachusetts serves as a bell-weather for the increasing importance of

the Web as a channel for health insurance acquisition. The increasingly

large insurance-seeking population online in Massachusetts may

foreshadow changes that will occur across the country as the debates over

health-care costs and coverage are resolved.

2©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Finding Auto, Health and Life Insurance Products

All Web Leads is a leader in online lead generation for the American insurance

industry. We develop and sell the highest-quality sales leads to top insurance

producers. For insurance agents, brokers and carriers, we eliminate much of the

pain and expense of prospecting for new customers.

Through our search engine optimization techniques, our Web marketing savvy,

and our Web-wide reach, we locate the consumers who are searching for

insurance online and connect them to agents who can meet their needs. We

match consumers with the agents, carriers and brokers who are leveraging the

Web as a sales channel and who are looking to grow their businesses. In

addition, since we have such a high volume of consumer traffic, we can track

trends in the insurance marketplace and forecast future developments.

Who’s shopping for auto, health, and life insurance online? How can insurance

agents, carriers and brokers better target their prospecting to improve their

yields and profit form e-business opportunities? Answering these questions is

the topic of this, our first “Quarterly Online Insurance Index from All Web

Leads.”

This report establishes the baseline for tracking critical online trends in the

American insurance industry for three major types of insurance – auto, health

and life. Going forward, we will update this report on a quarterly basis and also

identify trends for other kinds of insurance.

When we consider age, gender, marital status, and whether or not people are

currently insured, our data suggests that there are many different factors driving

online insurance search behavior. We hope that agents, carriers, and brokers will

find this information useful to better understand their prospects, target their key

markets, and improve their overall e-business initiatives.

Key Facts About the Data Behind This Report

From July 2007 through the end of 2008, All Web Leads collected inquiries from

roughly 2.9 million consumers searching online for auto, health, and life

insurance. These consumers are people who were interested in buying

insurance, and who filled out a form to be contacted by an insurance agent in

order to receive a quote for a policy.

Representing unique inquiries of over 1.1 percent of the US population aged 18

and above, these consumers comprise a broad demographic from young adults

to seniors and from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The breadth of

this opted-in population allows us to use it to represent online insurance search

Health63%

Auto32%

Life5%

Figure 1 Percentage of overall

leads by insurance type.


behavior as a whole and to answer key questions about how consumers use the

Internet to find insurance products.

Types of Insurance

In the United States over the covered time period, almost twice as many people

were looking online for health insurance, compared to the next largest category,

auto insurance. Specifically, 63% of consumers were searching for health

insurance, compared to 32% for auto insurance and 5% for life insurance (see

Figure 1).

Robust Quarterly Growth

American consumers are becoming increasingly more comfortable looking for

insurance online. On a quarter-by-quarter basis, between Q4 2007 and Q4

2008, our base of shoppers looking for information over the Web grew by 71%.

As shown in Figure 2, life insurance represented the biggest growth area

(103%), followed by auto insurance (89%) and health insurance (62%). It is not

surprising that we find the largest growth within the smallest segment.

This growth trend is also very important. Life insurance customers are the most

profitable. Once consumers purchase a policy, they are likely to maintain it for

many years, and represent a recurring revenue source to agents. Going forward,

we expect that agents and brokers are going to find an ever-larger percentage

of life insurance consumers via the Web.

Seasonality of Online Searches

While health insurance queries consistently outpace those for other insurance

types, the relative mix changes throughout the year. We see health insurance

queries peak in the fourth quarter of each of two calendar years. As shown in

Figure 3, health insurance searches rise quarter over quarter by 13% in Q4 2007

(to 69% of total consumers), and by 8% in Q4 2008 (to 65% of total

consumers).

We suspect that this effect is due in part to the cyclical nature of the health

insurance business. For many company employees, the end of the calendar

year is the open enrollment period, and provides an opportunity to modify health

insurance coverage. Clearly more people are looking to buy health insurance at

these times.

Auto insurance generates hundreds of thousands of inquiries in any one quarter.

Proportionally, there are fewer auto insurance consumers in the fourth quarters,

due to the increase of health insurance shoppers. Auto insurance, however, is a

must-have form of insurance – most states mandate a minimum level of

coverage for anyone operating a motor vehicle.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Health

Auto

LifeFigure 3 Percentage

totals of consumers by

insurance type and

quarter.

4

0%

30%

60%

90%

120%

Health Auto Life

Q4 2007 - Q4 2008 Growth

Figure 2 Quarter over

quarter growth by

insurance type.

©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Our life insurance consumers remain fairly constant – 4% to 5% of the total mix

within any one quarter. This suggests that the search for life insurance is

perhaps due more to life events than to open enrollment periods.

Advice for Insurance Agents

When prospecting for new customers, the Web is an effective venue. We at

All Web Leads see many hundreds of thousands of motivated insurance

buyers every quarter. Search-generated prospects allow agents to contact

consumers while they are actively looking online for insurance.

Health insurance is the biggest consumer market segment online. Not

surprisingly, this business is cyclical. Consumers peak at the end of the

calendar year, due in part to open enrollment periods. Health insurance

agents should be prepared for an influx of prospects in the fourth quarter.

Auto and life insurance remain substantial and fast-growing segments.

Agents should plan on a continuing (and growing) stream of new customer

prospects coming in via the Web.

When purchasing search-generated leads, keep relative inquiry volumes in

mind when developing filters. Higher volumes in health insurance may

require narrower filtering to achieve desired quality while broader

geographic targeting may be required for auto or life insurance leads in

order to achieve desired lead-flow.

The Importance of Age and the Life Cycle

Because insurance needs are triggered by life events – entering the work force,

getting married, starting a family – it’s important to consider consumer’s age.

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

One way to understand the effect of age on searching for information online is

to consider familiarity with the Internet. Not surprising, younger adults represent

almost half of those searching for insurance online. After all, they are the digital

natives who have grown up with the Internet and expect to do business online.

As shown in Figure 4:

• Those who are graduating high school and college, and perhaps just

entering the work force, the 18 to 24 age group, represent 22% of

searches.

• Those who are establishing themselves, beginning to build families and

careers, the 25 to 34 age group, are 26% of the online consumers.

Nevertheless digital immigrants, those who came into adulthood before the

advent of the Internet and the Web, are more than half of those consumers who

are searching (52% to be precise). Certainly the age groups decline in size –

5

18 to 24

22%

25 to 34

26%35 to 44

19%

45 to 54

16%

55 to 64

12%

over 64

5%

Figure 4 Percentage of

consumers by age.


those who are older and more established are less likely to be going online for

insurance. Nevertheless gen-x, boomers, and seniors are still sizable groups.

• 19% of those searching online for insurance are 35 to 44.

• 16% are 45 to 54.

• 12% are 55 to 64.

• 5% are 65 and older.

Life Stages

Furthermore, queries for different types of insurance depend on age, as shown

in Figure 5. Let’s consider who’s looking for what type of insurance, beginning

with our largest category.

Health Insurance and Age

When it comes to health insurance, digital natives are a large and growing

group. Our health insurance inquiries increase 17% between the 18 to 24 age

group (23%) and the 25 to 34 age group (27%). Perhaps this reflects a shift in

life stages as young adults leave school, are no longer covered by their parents’

health insurance policies, and enter the workforce. Agents (and the carriers they

represent) need to be prepared to address the concerns of these digital natives,

and streamline ways to do business with this age group to make health

insurance policies both affordable and profitable.

There’s a different pattern for digital immigrants. The percentage of health

insurance searches for the middle aged and senior age groups declines over

successive decades – from 18% for the 35 to 44 age group, to 16% for the 45

to 54 age group and 13% for the 55 to 64 age group, to finally 4% for the over

64 age group.

These declines – modest at first and then steep in the last group – are possibly

due to three factors.

• Digital immigrants who did not grow up with the Web are somewhat less

likely to look online for insurance.

• Once settled in a job and tied into an employer’s benefits package, middle-

aged people are less likely to be looking for information about health

insurance.

• Digital immigrants over 64 are eligible for Medicare and hence in a market

for different types of health insurance.

We will continue to track these market trends and in future reports describe the

underlying drivers.

6

0%

10%

20%

30%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over 64

Health

Auto

Life


consumers by insurance

type and age.


Auto Insurance and Age

Auto insurance searches have a comparable pattern of peaks and declines —

only with somewhat different numbers.

• Digital natives, those in the 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 age groups, represent

respectively 29% and 28% of all auto insurance inquiries.

• The number of consumers searching for auto insurance online declines

sharply by 32% in the 35 to 44 age group to 18%.

• The declines for the 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 age groups are roughly

comparable – 14% and 7% respectively, and finally leveling off slightly at

3% for people over 64.

Again we believe this effect is due to a combination of factors. Digital natives

are more comfortable doing business online and have a growing need for auto

insurance. They are getting started on life stages, buying their first cars and

turning to the Web to satisfy state-required mandates.

By comparison, digital immigrants who bought their first auto insurance policies

before the Web arrived have their own, preexisting relationships and ways of

shopping. Comparatively speaking, they less likely to be just seeking

information about auto insurance. However, they might be receptive to learning

about particularly attractive offers.

Life Insurance and Age

When it comes to life insurance consumers, there is a different pattern. Life

insurance is not required by state law. But for responsible adults in the labor

force, it is an important pillar of financial security. Middle-aged customers are

more likely to be in the market for life insurance.

For digital natives, it’s not just an issue of being comfortable with doing

business online. We have to consider what else is going on in their lives. The

number of life insurance inquiries rises sharply, by 80%, between the 18 to 24

age group (10%) and the 25 to 34 age group (18%). This is a time when many

young adults are getting married and establishing a family – and hence are

beginning to be concerned about family security.

For digital immigrants, there are other factors to consider. Our life insurance

searches continue to rise slightly among the next two age groups, and peaks at

21% of the consumers for the 45 to 54 age group. These are considered the

prime working years and a time when many households are responsible for child

raising. This is perhaps the time when most consumers feel they need life

insurance.


Life insurance inquiries decline somewhat for the 55 to 64 and over 64 age

groups. This trend again reflects the principal value of life insurance. As children

reach adulthood and retirement looms, older consumers place less priority on

life insurance as a method of protecting family financial security.


It’s important to recognize what drives digital natives, and how they are different

from digital immigrants. Insurance agents should begin to serve these different

groups in different ways. Consider using age filters when purchasing search-

generated leads to optimize for the appropriate segments.

Digital natives, the 18 to 34 age group, are going to be a sizable number of

the requests that come in over the Web, particularly for auto and health

insurance. Plan to engage these customers digitally through seamless

information flows, social networks and email campaigns and follow-up. Try

contacting them via email before calling them on the phone.

Digital immigrants, customers 35 and above, are online in abundance.

Remember that they have already done business in more conventional

ways – over the phone or in person with agents. Plan to create a better

experience online than these alternative (and often more costly) channels.

Prioritize telephone follow-up with these consumers.

How Gender Impacts Insurance Search Behavior

Both men and women are going online and looking for insurance. But they are

looking for different things. Gender is associated with the types of insurance

products being sought.

Overall, more men than women are in the market for auto insurance. When it

comes to health insurance, the pattern reverses; women are more likely to be

searching for health insurance. Both groups are comparably likely to be

interested in life insurance. As shown in Figure 6, among online insurance

customers:

• Men are 28% more likely then women to be looking for auto insurance

(37% vs. 29%).

• Women are 13% more likely than men to be searching for health insurance

(67% vs. 58%).

• When it comes to searching for life insurance, men and women are roughly

equal (5% vs. 4%).

Let’s consider how gender may influence insurance decisions.


0%

25%

50%

75%

Health Auto Life

Men

Women


inquiries by insurance

type and gender.

Gender and Seasonal Differences

Men and women are likely to be looking for different types of insurance at

different times of the year. We can see this trend most clearly with health

insurance and the cyclical nature of the business. While overall, more women

are looking for health insurance, men come into the market most strongly at the

end of the calendar year.

As shown in Figure 7:

• Health insurance searches by men rise by 16% in Q4 2007 (from 54% to

63%), compared to an 11% rise (from 65% to 72%) for women.

• Health insurance inquiries by men again rise by 13% in Q4 2008 (from 54%

to 61%), compared to a 6% rise (from 65% to 69%) for women.

There is a comparable dip in the proportion of auto insurance inquiries by

gender and quarter. Life insurance searches remain relatively flat throughout the

year as a portion of all searches.

We believe this trend further describes the cyclical market for health insurance

and the effects of end-of-year open enrollment periods. Perhaps men are more

likely to be the primary health insurance providers for their families, and hence

are looking for health insurance when they have options to change.

Life Stages for Men and Women

Open enrollment periods are only one factor to consider. Perhaps more

important are life stages. We find that online insurance searches vary by certain

insurance types and age groups.

• Among digital natives, the 18-34 age group, women are more likely to be

looking online for health, and life insurance than men.

• Among digital immigrants, those 35 and above, the pattern of online

requests reverses. Men are slightly more likely to be looking online for

health and life insurance than women.

Let’s look at the patterns for each type of insurance, as shown in Figure 8.

Auto Insurance by Age and Gender

When we take age into account, men and women are pretty similar in their

likelihood of searching for auto insurance online. There is a 2% difference or

less between auto insurance requests based on gender and age. This suggests

that, regardless of their age and lifestage, both men and women recognize the

importance of the state-imposed mandate.

Health Insurance by Age and Gender

For health insurance, more young women than men aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 34

are online and seeking information. There’s an 8% difference in the first age


0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Men

Health

Auto

LifeFigure 7 Percentage of

consumer insurance

searches by gender,

insurance type and

quarter.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Women

group, declining to a 3% difference in the second group. Men age 35 and above

are more likely to be looking for information about health insurance than women.

There is a 2% to 4% difference between men and women, depending on the

age group.

When it comes to interest in health insurance over the Web, there’s a small but

consistent difference between digital natives and digital immigrants, depending

on their gender. Health insurance is not (yet) a compulsory mandate; hence

inquiring about health insurance is associated, in part, with age and life stage.

Life Insurance by Age and Gender

For life insurance, more young women than men aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 are

online and looking for information. (There’s a 6% difference in the first age

group, and a 5% difference in the second group.)

Men age 35 to 64 are more likely to be looking for life insurance information than

women. (The differences range from 1% to 6%, depending on the age group.)

Like health insurance, purchasing a life insurance policy is a choice rather than a

mandate, and is associated with life stages. The Web becomes a valuable

channel for finding the information about the right choice.


The distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants – how

comfortable people are with doing business online — is not the only factor

driving online search behavior for different types of insurance. Life stage

and gender are also important factors.

Perhaps younger women are more concerned about fertility and family

planning than men in the same age groups, and are looking for health

insurance.

Perhaps middle-aged men are more likely to be concerned about various

aspects of family security, and thus are looking for information about health

and life insurance than women in the same age groups.

What should agents do? Insurance agents need to target different customer

sectors with different offers. Men and women shop online for insurance at

different rates at different ages. When purchasing Internet leads consider

filtering to rebalance the incoming leads by prioritizing specific age ranges

or genders. Develop campaigns for following up with these customer

segments that take account of their priorities.


0%

7.5%

15%

22.5%

30%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over 64

Health Insurance

Men

Women

0%

7.5%

15%

22.5%

30%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over 64

Auto Insurance

0%

7.5%

15%

22.5%

30%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over 64

Life Insurance


consumer insurance

searches by gender,

insurance type and

quarter.

When We’re Married or Not

Marital status is another way to understand who’s shopping for insurance.

Those who are not married are more likely to be searching online for insurance.

Unmarried consumers conduct over 70% of online searches for insurance

products.

Considering all consumer insurance inquiries together in Figure 9, our largest

group is unmarried looking for health insurance (45% of the total), followed by

those who are unmarried and looking for auto insurance (22%) and then

consumers who are married looking for health insurance (19%).

When we focus in on the differences within the three types of insurance, we see

an even more distinct pattern – those looking for auto and health insurance are

substantially more likely to be unmarried than married (see Figure 10).

• 70% of online auto insurance consumers are unmarried.

• 71% of health insurance inquiries are from consumers who are unmarried.

• Life insurance requests are split equally between married and unmarried

individuals.

Seasonality of Requests from Married and Unmarried Consumers

Interest in health insurance for the unmarried group is steadily increasing on a

quarter-by-quarter basis. Interest in other types of insurance by other groups

vary and depend on the quarter. As shown in Figure 11:

• The percentage of inquiries for health insurance from unmarried consumers

increased steadily from 37% in Q3-2007 to 49% in Q4-2008.

• The percentage of requests for auto insurance remains fairly constant for

both the unmarried and married groups.

Thus there is a buying cycle for health insurance, particularly among the

unmarried group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, shopping for insurance depends in

part on what else is going on within one’s family.


For health insurance agents in particular, note that unmarried consumers

are much more likely to be shopping for health insurance online. Be sure to

plan on developing special initiatives that target the unmarried health care

concerns with relevant products. A sizable percentage of the market

opportunity over the Web is concerned about something more than a

traditional family health insurance policy.

For auto insurance agents, more prospects are also going to be unmarried.

Be sure to have products and promote them in ways that address their

concerns.

11

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Health-unmarried

Health-married

Auto-unmarried

Auto-married

Figure 11

Percentage of

insurance

searches by

insurance type,

marital status

and quarter.

Auto-unmarried

22%

Auto-married

10%

Health-unmarried

45%

Health-married

19%

Life-unmarried

2%

Life-married

2%

Figure 9 Percentage of insurance

searches by marital status.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Health Auto Life

Unmarried

Married

Figure 10 Percentage

of insurance

searches by marital

status.


For life insurance agents, expect to find a comparable number of unmarried

and married prospects. Be sure to be able to target the wide variety of

concerns that these different types of customers have about maintaining

financial security.

The Uninsured and the Already Insured

Next let’s focus on those people that are searching online for insurance who say

that they are currently uninsured compared to those who report being currently

insured. The first group needs insurance while the second is shopping for an

alternative to their current coverage. What are the differences between the

uninsured and the insured? Can we identify any market drivers?

First, the proportion of consumers searching online who need insurance,

compared to those who are looking to switch, varies by insurance type, as

shown in Figure 12.

• Among consumers looking for auto insurance, only 41% are currently

uninsured.

• Among those looking for health insurance, 69% are currently uninsured.

• Among those looking for life insurance, 76% are currently uninsured.

In terms of market opportunity, the majority of the people searching online for

auto insurance are consumers who are currently covered and want to consider a

better policy. In contrast the majority of those searching for health insurance

and life insurance are currently uninsured and just looking for coverage.

Seasonal Activity of the Uninsured and the Insured

Next, let’s consider whether there are peak periods when the uninsured or the

insured are in the market and looking for insurance (see Figure 13).

• When it comes to auto insurance, both the uninsured and the insured are

fairly consistent over time. The proportion of uninsured varies between 38%

to 44% of any specific quarter, yielding at most a 6% spread over time.

• For health insurance there is much more variability. In Q4-2007 the

proportion of uninsured consumers bottoms out at 59%. Nine months later,

at the end of Q3-2008, uninsured consumers peak at 86%. There is a

spread of 27% over time.

• Uninsured life insurance requests remain consistently high – ranging from

86% in Q3-2007 to 72% in Q2-2008, a 14% spread over time.

Thus we cannot identify a peak period when the uninsured for auto or life

insurance are likely to be shopping for a policy. Health insurance is more of a

cyclical business with peaks and troughs. There’s a notable rise in consumers

who already have health insurance in the fourth quarter, again pointing to the

importance of open enrollment periods in many companies. The sharp rise in

uninsured health searches in the 3rd quarter of 2008 could be indicative of the

12

0%

30%

60%

90%

Health Auto Life

Insured

Uninsured


searching for

insurance by current

insured status.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Health - Need vs. Switch

Insured

Uninsured

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Auto - Need vs. Switch

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Q3 2007 Q1 2008 Q3 2008

Life - Need vs. Switch


inquiries by

insurance status and

quarter.


increased number of layoffs associated with the economic crisis. If so, this trend

may continue.

Unmarried or Married, Uninsured or Insured

Marital status appears be a factor affecting whether consumers are shopping for

a new insurance policy or looking to switch from one they already have (see

Figure 14).

• Consumers looking online for auto insurance are least likely to be married.

Only 27% of this group are uninsured, compared to 47% of the unmarried

people searching online who are not insured.

• Health insurance highlights the biggest difference. Among the unmarried

searching for health insurance online, 74% are uninsured, compared to

58% of the marrieds who are uninsured.

• Life insurance shows another trend. 83% of those searching online for life

insurance are not married and uninsured, compared to 70% who are

married and uninsured.

Life Stages and the Uninsured/Insured

Let’s consider the life stages of the uninsured and insured. Not surprisingly,

younger people, the digital natives, are more likely to be uninsured. But it is

important to track how and why things change.

As shown in Figure 15, we find a predictable pattern. For all three types of

insurance, younger consumers are more likely to be uninsured. While the actual

percentages are different, the patterns are comparable over life stages.

Depending on the insurance type, there’s a cross over between 30 and 35 years

of age, where the older people looking for insurance online are more likely to be

insured than uninsured.

To be specific:

• For those seeking auto insurance, the 18-24 age group is 16% more likely

to be uninsured than insured. By comparison, the 45 to 54 age group is 7%

more likely to be insured than uninsured. Moreover the percentage of

uninsured declines steadily over time stages, from 39% for the 18-24 age

group to 1% for the over 64 age group, perhaps reflecting the fact that auto

insurance is compulsory.

• For those who were looking for health insurance, the 18 to 24 age group is

10% more likely to be uninsured than insured. The 55 to 64 age group is

10% more likely to be insured than uninsured. Furthermore, the percentage

of uninsured looking for health insurance initially rises by 11% between the

18 to 24 and the 25 to 34 age groups, before declining.

• For life insurance, the percentage of people who already have a policy and

are shopping online increases fairly steadily from 4% of the 18 to 24 age

group to 26% of the 45 to 54 age group. This perhaps reflects the fact that

policyholders, concerned about family security, are looking to add

additional coverage. In addition, among the uninsured, there are a growing

13

0%

10%

20%

30%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over 64

Health Insurance

0%

10%

20%

30%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over 64

Life Insurance


inquiries by

insurance type,

status and life cycle.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 54-64 over 64

Auto Insurance

Uninsured

Insured

Unmarried Married

Uninsured

Insured

Auto Insurance Searches

Health Insurance Searches

Life Insurance Searches


inquiries by marital

and insurance status


proportion of digital natives, aged 18 to 34, looking for life insurance

information online.

In short, when we consider the uninsured and the already insured, there are

different market dynamics depending on the type of insurance.

• Auto insurance is compulsory. The majority of online shoppers are looking

to switch.

• Health insurance in most states is not yet compulsory so the majority of

online consumers are likely to be uninsured. Moreover, uninsured shoppers

are more likely to be younger and not married.

• Life insurance is optional and related to preserving family security. It is a

growing market related to life stage. To be sure, the majority of consumers

shopping for life insurance online are uninsured. But there is also a notable

percentage of among the middle-aged, already insured customers who are

looking for life insurance online.


For insurance agents, it’s important to realize that consumers searching

online who are uninsured are going to be different from those who already

have insurance. It’s true that the majority of online health insurance and life

insurance shoppers are uninsured, while auto insurance prospects are

looking to switch policies. It’s also true that the majority of uninsured

shoppers for auto, health, and life insurance are more likely to be unmarried

than married, and digital natives rather than digital immigrants.

For insurance agents doing business over the web, it’s important to know

the customers and identify valuable customer segments. Agents should

plan different kinds of marketing campaigns for the uninsured and insured –

these are different kinds of customers who need different types of

information. Think about different approaches to response and follow-up

based on insured status.

Where in the US Do Online Requests Come From?

Finally let’s consider request origins – the states where the consumers who are

searching are located. We can identify the heavy hitters and the lightweights –

top 10 and bottom 10 states that are the origins for these inquiries. We need to

consider the location of these consumers from two perspectives – the

aggregate number of requests, and the proportion of requests relative to the

total population of the state.

Largest and smallest states by total requests

First let’s consider the percentage of our total shoppers on a state-by-state

basis (see Table 1). As might be expected:

14

Auto HHealth Life

FL 10.04% FL 8.70% TX 9.00%

CA 9.21% TX 7.76% FL 7.71%

TX 8.39% NY 6.91% CA 7.66%

GA 4.46% CA 6.78% NY 6.31%

NY 3.87% MA 5.13% GA 4.93%

PA 3.78% PA 4.47% PA 4.07%

TN 3.10% NC 3.51% NC 3.91%

IL 3.06% GA 3.42% IL 3.69%

OH 3.05% NJ 3.23% OH 2.98%

MI 2.97% IL 2.77% VA 2.85%

Top Ten StatesPercentage of Total Consumers

Auto HHealth Life

ME 0.45% ME 0.51% NH 0.39%

DE 0.44% MT 0.38% MT 0.34%

MT 0.39% HI 0.35% DE 0.33%

AK 0.31% DE 0.33% RI 0.29%

RI 0.30% VT 0.31% SD 0.25%

SD 0.24% SD 0.29% AK 0.24%

WY 0.23% WY 0.28% WY 0.23%

DC 0.21% ND 0.27% ND 0.20%

ND 0.20% DC 0.19% DC 0.19%

VT 0.18% AK 0.17% VT 0.18%

Bottom Ten StatesPercentage of Total Consumers

Table 1 Percentage of consumers

searching online for insurance

products, by state.


• The largest proportion of consumer requests, as might be expected, come

from states with large populations – beginning with Florida, California, and

Texas for auto insurance; Florida, Texas and New York for health insurance;

and Texas, Florida and California for life insurance.

• As we might also expect, the smallest proportion of requests come from

states with small populations – Wyoming, District of Columbia, North

Dakota, and Vermont for auto insurance; Wyoming, North Dakota, District

of Columbia, Alaska for health insurance; Wyoming, North Dakota, District

of Columbia, and Vermont for life insurance.

Thus for auto, health, and life insurance, the most requests are coming from the

biggest states.

Largest and smallest states by relative penetration

Next, let’s consider the relative number of these requests compared to the

population size – the number of consumers searching for insurance online from

within a state, taking into account the number of people in the state. This state

ranking, measured by penetration, is very different, and demonstrates the power

of the Web to reach consumers in different markets. (see Table 2). (We will focus

only on auto and health insurance as the penetration percentages for life

insurance are very small.)

• In general, people in smaller states are proportionally more likely to be

online and looking for information about obtaining auto and health

insurance.

• When viewed in terms of total population, there are proportionally fewer

inquiries coming from people in the large states such as California, Illinois,

and Ohio.

• Moreover, Massachusetts – as the only state in the United States with

mandatory health insurance – is a special case. When it comes to health

insurance shoppers, many more people in Massachusetts are going online

and wish to be contacted.

These results demonstrate the power of the Web as a lead generation tool and

its ability to shrink markets. Through online inquiries, more consumers in small

and rural states are discovering their insurance options. They are getting

access to the same kind of information as consumers in larger, more populous

states.

Furthermore, the Massachusetts experience is potentially a bell-weather for

anticipated changes in the health insurance marketplace nationally. With the

advent of health insurance mandates, consumers are going to need and want

more information. We expect that the Web will be an increasingly important

channel for health insurance acquisition.

15

Auto HHealth

LA 0.556% MA 1.485%

FL 0.522% WY 0.993%

DE 0.486% RI 0.939%

TN 0.478% VT 0.922%

KY 0.474% FL 0.890%

GA 0.443% SC 0.822%

AZ 0.435% MS 0.801%

AK 0.434% ND 0.784%

HI 0.425% KS 0.784%

SC 0.424% AL 0.782%

Top Ten StatesPenetration of Total Population

Auto HHealth

MD 0.267% IN 0.506%

IA 0.266% KY 0.502%

OH 0.252% IA 0.502%

NC 0.249% CT 0.502%

CT 0.242% MI 0.484%

CA 0.239% WI 0.474%

IL 0.226% AK 0.459%

WI 0.218% IL 0.402%

MN 0.218% OH 0.390%

NY 0.190% CA 0.346%

Bottom Ten StatesPenetration of Total Population

Table 2 Percentage of consumers

searching online as a percentage of

the state’s population.



Insurance agents should be prepared to grow their markets beyond their

traditional geographic boundaries. Increasingly, the Web is going to play an

important role for lead generation and business growth.

Agents located in large states are already finding a large number of

consumers over the Web. Expect this number to grow. There is still a large

market out there to tap into.

For agents located in smaller or more rural states, be prepared for

increased competition. The Web is penetrating into traditional,

geographically defined markets. Agents should develop an e-business

strategy where they can continue to capture the new customers they need

to grow their business.

For health insurance agents, in particular, profit from the Massachusetts

experience and consider the big picture when considering proposed

changes to health care policy. When there’s mandatory health insurance,

the Web is going to be an increasingly more important channel for

generating leads. Agents should be prepared to participate in these online

conversations, and provide consumers with the information they need, to

make their own buying decisions. It’s important for agents to see the writing

on the wall right now, and plan their investments accordingly.

Knowing and Targeting Your Customers

As insurance agents, how can you profit from the changes occurring in

insurance buying behavior and access consumers shopping online for

insurance? While companies that match consumers with agents may help to

identify who is interested in purchasing insurance, it’s up to you to do the

selling, and convert prospects into customers. You need to know who your

customers are, and target them in terms of their concerns.

It helps to consider why consumers are looking for insurance in the first place.

Begin with some simple questions. Are they digital natives or digital immigrants?

Are they married or not? Do they already have a policy and are looking to

switch? Or are they looking for a particular type of insurance in the first place?

The Right Information to the Right Consumers at the Right Time

Consumers will buy insurance when they have the right information that meets

their needs. Segment your target markets and identify the relevant groups. Then

ensure that each group has the essential information to make the right buying

decision. Expect the Web to expand your marketing efforts. If you’re successful,


you will begin to see opportunities in many new places. Doing business over the

Web can remove many of the traditional boundaries of time and place.

For example, digital natives (the 18 to 34 age group) are increasingly looking for

insurance of all types. As younger adults they are at the beginning of their

careers and are starting their families. They are going to need new and different

types of insurance than the digital immigrants, who are at very different life

stages. Be prepared to provide these digital natives with auto, health, and life

insurance through electronic connections.

Digital immigrants (aged 35 and above), by comparison, are not only shopping

online but also likely to use the tried and true channels that they’ve been relying

on for many years. Make sure that there’s no difference between the marketing

information delivered in print and over the telephone, compared to information

delivered over the Web.

The Unique Opportunities for Health Insurance

For health insurance agents, the Web provides a unique set of opportunities.

Expect there to be a cyclical nature to online shopping and plan accordingly.

You are undoubtedly aware of the opportunities and challenges of annual open

enrollment periods.

Be prepared for the impact of universal health insurance. You’ll find many more

of these consumers are going to come to you over the Web. Pay attention to

what is now happening in Massachusetts and how carriers, brokers, and agents

in this state’s market have responded to its statewide health insurance mandate.

Simply put, your goal is to make it easy for your customers to do business with

you. Using the Web to connect with the right consumers at the right time, with

the right offer is your first and most critical step.

About All Web Leads


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Suite 220

Austin, Texas 78731 USA

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