In the digital age that we live in, it is a formidable challenge to capture and hold consumer attention amid the falling consumer attention spans. Especially when it comes to complex industries like insurance and financial services, the challenge is even bigger since the products and services are perceived to be complex and multi-layered. Traditional marketing tactics can fall flat in this context. To thrive, it’s crucial to adopt innovative marketing approaches that blend education, entertainment, and engagement.
Educate, Entertain, Engage
An effective marketing strategy for a sector like insurance has to fulfil on these three promises. First and foremost, educate the consumer so that they derive value from your brand. While this can be done through traditional means like webinars and seminars, dense material may not do the trick here and a large part of the consumer base may not get engaged. This is where combining education with entertainment comes into the picture.
There are many icons and influencers on the social media who deploy this strategy and make short videos that not only inform and educate the viewers, but achieve that in an entertaining way. Brands also do that by engaging popular brand ambassadors including comedians, daily soap actors and film stars to bank on their popularity and also get the message across. The ‘Mutual Fund Sahi Hai’ campaign is another good example of a complex product wrapped in a simple messaging.
Let’s look at these three elements in a bit more detail:
Consumer education: Consumer education is generally the heart of any successful marketing campaign, especially when it comes to complex industries like finance and insurance. Since these industries often grapple with misconceptions, misinformation and a general lack of understanding, education becomes a critical first step.
The average consumer until sometime back used to see insurance as an obligatory expense. Every year, it was only during the tax season that they would think of insurance to optimise their tax planning. It was only when a medical emergency struck or when they would be staring at a huge hospital bill that they would think of insurance. While COVID sped up the awareness quotient, there’s a lot of ground to be still covered.
A successful marketing strategy should aim at reaching the consumer before they need to look for insurance. A successful campaign should focus on explaining the tangible benefits of insurance products while highlighting real-life scenarios where insurance plays a saviour. They should be clear, accessible, and relatable. They should simplify complex terms and break down product features into digestible bits of information.
Entertainment with purpose: Yes, education is fundamental to any successful marketing campaign, but it alone cannot fulfil the task. It is, in fact, the entertainment aspect that keeps the audience engaged. In industries perceived as boring and complex, infusing campaigns with elements of humour, emotion, and storytelling can tremendously enhance their appeal.
If we take a leaf out of the book of the most successful “finfluencers”, we can discover that leveraging humour can help overcome resistance by making topics like insurance more relatable and less daunting. It can be done in both advertising campaigns as well as awareness ones. Brands engaging popular comic actors is an example of making the concept of insurance less intimidating. Humour humanizes the concept and makes it more relatable.
Another aspect of emotionally charged campaigns is that they tell compelling stories that resonate deeply with audiences. Narratives of personal stories of triumph over adversity, where financial products played a key role, can create a powerful emotional connection. This approach helps consumers resonate with the brand as well as the concept and highlights the real-world impact of the product.
Engaging with audience: Just educating and entertaining the consumer is not enough. For sustained interest, there is a need to go beyond the initial hook. And this is where engagement comes in. Engagement is all about creating a continuous interaction that keeps the consumer invested. This can be achieved through multi-dimensional campaigns that combine traditional and digital media, influencer collaborations, and topical integrations to achieve sustained engagement.
One way is to collaborating with influencers who have a genuine connection with their followers. This will not only amplify the reach of the campaign but will also lend it credibility. Then comes the aspect of integrating marketing efforts with topical events and popular culture events. These can exponentially increase visibility. For example, major sports events like IPL and World Cup can lend a unique platform for brands to engage with mass-but-diverse audience. Engagement through contests, polls and other such interactive tools through social media is another example.
Essentially, the purpose of any marketing campaign is to build trust and then create a preference for your brand. To achieve that, the approach should be to make consumers be confident in their choice of brand, and feel assured of its reliability. This trust can only be built over time through consistent, honest communication and by delivering on promises. Crafting campaigns that inform, entertain, and connect with consumers on an emotional level can go a long way to achieve that over time.
Sai Narayan is the chief marketing officer at Policybazaar. Views expressed are personal.
