The one true constant of marketing is its changeability. It is affected by many factors that are susceptible to change, from consumer behavior to advancements in technology. When these factors shift, an organization’s tested-and-proven marketing strategy can become obsolete.
The solution? Keep up with the times. Digitize your marketing strategy.
The rise of fintech companies demonstrates that the entire finance sector, the insurance business model included, is being disrupted. Some of the most disruptive forces in the insurance field include the new market entrants. New players often bring technological tools that work to their advantage. This means that companies or independent agents who choose to stick to conventional methods may soon see themselves losing to non-traditional competitors.
In a world where consumers expect fast and seamless experiences, going digital can give insurers and insurance producers plenty of advantage. Digital has the power to transform the way consumers discover businesses. It can also automate and improve the way businesses engage and transact with customers.
To say that the insurance industry has deliberately held off digitization isn’t completely true. In fact, the industry has been going through its own digital transformation for the past five years. Insurers have come into a consensus that digital is here to stay, so a great number of them have started incorporating digital solutions into their organizations. By implementing digital, they get access to ad hoc capabilities that make business operations faster and cheaper. They can create online tools that deepen and engage their distribution channels. They also get to set table stakes technology in customer self-service capabilities and the automation of some back-end processes.
Going digital has changed the ecosystem of capabilities available to insurers, producers, advisors and coaches. Technology has helped competencies to grow exponentially, as industry leaders begin to drift away from the “fast-follower” mentality. Instead of simply copying competitor techniques, digital allows leaders to reallocate their investments into core capabilities that provide them with a more customer-centric approach, as well as to find ways to cut through the clutter and differentiate themselves in the market.
While it’s true that modernization of platforms and digital transformation can be a sequential move that involves multi-million dollar price tags, they are also key to a future-proof organization. This is because true modernization will call for a foundational shift in the operating model, underlying architecture, and most importantly, the organizational culture. The result? More flexibility and agility in the organization.
Integrating digital solutions takes a business into the future. It allows organizations to transition from simply aiming to respond to current needs to working toward prolonged success as a insurance company or an agency.