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.
3©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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
Figure 5 Percentage of
consumers by insurance
type and age.
©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
7©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
Advice for Insurance Agents
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.
8©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
0%
25%
50%
75%
Health Auto Life
Men
Women
Figure 6 Percentage of
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
9©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
Advice for Insurance Agents
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.
10©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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
Figure 8 Percentage of
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.
Advice for Insurance Agents
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.
©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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
Figure 12 Percentage
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
Figure 13 Percentage
inquiries by
insurance status and
quarter.
©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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
Figure 15 Percentage
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
Figure 14 Percentage
inquiries by marital
and insurance status
©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
Advice for Insurance Agents
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.
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• 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.
©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Advice for Insurance Agents
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,
16©2009 All Web Leads, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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.
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