We recently wrote a blog about GDPR legislation and how it will affect insurance brokers come the 25 May. The response we have had is unbelievable.

When it comes to marketing, we keep getting the same questions around prospect lists and clients’ consent. So we put together this blog to share our thoughts and some of the work we have been doing to help brokers prepare for GDPR.

Here are our top 5 questions from insurance brokers, and please remember, this only applies where personal client  data is involved:

1. Can I carry on sending my newsletters after GDPR?

Maybe,….You can send your newsletters to existing clients if they do not promote your policies and services, and would therefore be classed as relationship communications.

For newsletters promoting your policies and services, you may be able to send them if the terms of business agreement (TOBA) you have with your existing clients, allows you to market to them. So our number 1 tip is check your existing TOBA. If your TOBA does not mention this, then you need fresh consent.

Our best tip- Check your existing TOBA

For lapsed policies and prospects, you won’t be able to send them your newsletters unless you already have their consent to this. Our suggestion is that you get consent before 25th May.

2. What about cross-selling, should I get all my clients’ consent?

Yes,….To be able to send marketing material (direct marketing) to increase your cross-selling rates, you must have your clients’ marketing opt-in consent. You could rely on your existing TOBA if it has the right terms, or get fresh consent in order to be GDPR compliant

Going forward, make sure your staff are getting consent at point of sale or through your renewal process. Remember, this needs to be clear and unambiguous.

3. What will happen to my lapsed clients? Can I still contact them at their next renewal?

No…….Any consent you have around marketing is likely to finish when the policy lapses, and the business relationship ends. If you want to be able to market to lapsed clients, we recommend carrying out a consent exercise before the 25th May, else lapsed clients will fall outside your consented client lists and will be redundant.

4. What about clients I quoted but could not convert? Can I contact them at their next renewal?

No,….Without consent, you won’t be able to contact them at their next renewal. We therefore suggest that you advise all your staff to start getting consent when a policy is not converted. This can be a simple statement such as “Sorry we couldn’t find you a suitable policy this time but we would like the chance to find you the right policy at your next renewal. Are you happy for us to keep your records and get in touch again?”

5. I have bought prospect lists, can I carry on using them?

Maybe,…We recommend that you contact the list providers and get written confirmation that their lists are GDPR compliant. This should confirm that they have received appropriate prospect ‘opt-in’ consent before passing this data to you. If not, then this data would not be GDPR compliant. We still suggest you run a consent exercise to find out which potential clients are happy to be contacted. We recommend you do this before the 25th May.

Our GDPR consent programme

Getting consent for thousands of clients can be a difficult job. Email can be a quick way of achieving this, but it must be done right. Remember, if you have 5,000 names on your prospect list, you want to get as many of those consenting as possible or else you lose valuable potential clients.

Crafting the right email to get consent is a skill, so practice and get it right so you can get as many ‘opt-ins’ as possible. Managing this is a full-time job in itself so plan to spend quite a bit of time cleaning your data, segmenting your clients based on the policies they have, writing appropriate emails, having the right consent wording and also monitoring who is consenting to what and keeping a rolling database of this.

We have provided our 3 step consent process (below), which we currently run for our broker clients. This is designed to get as much consent as possible. Feel free to trial it out.

GDPR consent

For further information or to just have a chat about this process, feel free to email us: info@thebrokerlink.com

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is based on general observations and should not be considered as legal advice. Please contact your own qualified legal advisers for appropriate solutions.

Digital marketing, if implemented effectively, can lead to great business growth and lead generation for insurance brokers. The key to this is avoiding these common digital marketing mistakes we see insurance brokers make over and over. Here are 10 pitfalls that you want to avoid slipping into, as an insurance broker:

1. Not having a strategy

This is the biggest digital marketing mistake we see over and over again. Brokers fall into the trap of having a big, beautiful website made and turning to social media as their saviour, without having an effective digital strategy in place. The best strategy for insurance brokers is one which understands what your business is trying to achieve and brings together your website, social media, email marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO) and your staff to support that objective.

Ask yourself this- Are we just posting on social media and hoping for leads? or do we have a strategy that brings our digital marketing together? If you don’t have a strategy, click here to speak to us.

2. Not understanding the end goal

Never start with social media and digital marketing without understanding your objectives. And having an objective of ‘’lead generation’’ is not enough- you need to break this down. Understanding your objectives will help you attract potential clients first with content that is relevant to them, before subtly introducing your services. Engage them with educative and relevant content, and they will be ready to hear about your policies and the great claims service you provide. Sell yourself less, and start focusing on your prospects’ problems and concerns.

3. Not understanding who their customer is

Who are you targeting? Have you developed a buyer persona which matches your target client? Most brokers using digital marketing especially commercial brokers target the company but forget to target the decision makers behind the company. For example, putting out a poster about haulage insurance and the services you can offer is all well and great, but so are hundreds of other brokers. What you need, is to understand the age, race and other demographics of the Director behind the business in order to give him something he will actually read. What is he more likely to read, an editorial by your business on the latest advances in haulage technology or your poster on haulage policy benefits?

Let your digital marketing be about the person, not the business.

4. Using a one-size- fits all approach

We see a lot of brokers who don’t tailor their messages to suite their target client but rather use a one-size-fits all approach. A good example is a broker who carries out email marketing for his professional indemnity (PI) offering, but rather than segment his book of leads so it is relevant to PI clients, sends the email out to everyone. This can turn off potential clients who don’t need PI and therefore classify the email as spam. As a result, they are less likely to read the broker’s next email.

5. Not having the right compliance information

At the Brokerlink, we understand that compliance is a way of life for our brokers, so we do not ignore it. We find several brokers with websites and marketing material which don’t have the disclosures required by the FCA’s rules. For example does your website have the appropriate disclosures around your regulatory status? Are you meeting the ICOB rules with your marketing? Have you provided clear information regarding the Financial Ombudsman Service on your website?

These are some of the digital marketing challenges we help our brokers meet.

6. Not being patient

Getting prospects to visit your website is a great step, but what do you do after this? Don’t expect them to call you or send you an email for more enquiries. This is where most insurance brokers fall short. Most visitors to your website will not decide to purchase your services after their first visit. HubSpot estimates that 96% of your website visitors are not ready to purchase your policies. How do you make sure that you are in the right place when they are ready to buy from you? Patience is key.

Remember- It typically takes about 6 months to start seeing the benefits of your digital marketing campaign- so plan for the long-term and be consistent.

7. Contacting clients once a year at renewal [Read our Aviva case study]

Clients and prospect relationships must be nurtured if you want to get them to buy your insurance policy. Sending your client one cold email in 12 months is definitely not the way to go. Even if they don’t take out that policy now, start warming them up for the next renewal by helping them find solutions to their problems. You will be top of their list at the next renewal. Read our latest [case study] on Aviva which shows how they increased revenues by 45% through regular contact with clients over a 12 month period.

8. Not using the right content and channels

Knowing your audience is one thing but knowing what to post on which channel is even more important. Your content must address the issues that your clients face on a frequent basis. Tips on “how to reduce your fleet premiums” is more likely to get clients to engage with your business and to buy your policies. Remember- you’re not the only broker emailing them the benefits of your policy.

9. Not having calls to actions (CTAs)

A call to action is a direct instruction to your users to perform a specific task. This could be to sign up to your newsletter or to request a callback. Websites with a call to actions always produce more click-throughs and hence more leads. We find a lot of brokers who can get clients to their website, but then lose the lead because they expect the target to pick up their phone and call them.

10. Not posting at the right times

Posting the right content at the wrong time can be detrimental to your content reaching the right audience. Did you know that if marketing your policies on Facebook on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday will produce the best results? Did you also know that email marketing on a Thursday morning is likely to get you less engagement from potential clients? You must know your target market and when they are active online. Knowing this would help you craft and publish your post at the right time to be seen by many. Check out our infographic on the best times to post.

Print these 10 tips off and use them to guide your digital marketing activities. If you need any help or to speak to someone, simply click here to speak to stuart@thebrokerlink.com or call us on 02071172953