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The PIMA Insights Awards are given annually to PIMA members that have developed expertly crafted insurance marketing strategies that not only display an unmatched level of creativity, but also deliver measurable results.

In the customer cross-sell and upgrade marketing category, the 2021 Bronze award went to driasi, a leading global provider of corporate outsource problem-solving in insurance and financial product administration.

The Process of Creating a Successful Customer Cross-Sell and Upgrade Insurance Marketing Strategy

From its inception, driasi has been a values-based organization. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that its insurance marketing strategies have always reflected this, and its winning campaign (developed in response to the pandemic and its corresponding challenges in 2020) was no different. The aim of the campaign was to continue treating others with respect — or as driasi puts it, “to treat others the way we expect to be treated.”

Unlike many marketing strategies for insurance products, the campaign wasn’t created to push or sell as many of the client’s products as time would allow. Instead, the purpose was to partner with new and existing customers to better understand them. As an organization, driasi believes that identifying and meeting customer needs is a function of marketing. Only then can you answer customers’ questions helpfully and provide the most appropriate products, coverage, and benefits options for their current life situation — especially during uncertain times.

The first phase of the campaign included lead-in content for its client’s needs assessment offering. driasi developed that content with the following goals in mind:

• To recognize the unprecedented and uncertain times people were living in and lead with empathy, understanding, and highly relevant solutions.
• To listen and help customers find the right products at the right time in their lives.
• To educate customers and provide the best service and needs assessments possible to meet each person’s unique familial situation.
• To always operate with driasi’s organizational values and guidelines in mind, and with the fair treatment of customers placed front and center.
• To hold the driasi team to a higher standard.

Establishing these goals allowed driasi to better tailor the campaign. The company leveraged inbound servicing channels to educate customers on coverage and benefits as well as provided individualized needs assessments that offered ethical and sound product advice. As a result, driasi’s client was better equipped to meet customer needs at every turn for not only products, but also information.

The Results of driasi’s Award-Winning Marketing Campaign

Although driasi wasn’t actively marketing and had no means of encouraging customers to purchase products in 2020, driasi’s licensed insurance agent team stepped up to perform highly specialized individual needs assessments. In fact, the team outperformed the 7% cross-sell conversion service level standard for all 12 months of 2020.

What’s more, the conversion rate grew steadily throughout the year, moving from 8% at launch to 83% at the year’s end. By meeting customers’ needs with appropriate and effective product and upgrade recommendations, the campaign successfully increased the chances of conversion for driasi’s client.

Considerations for Developing Effective Marketing Strategies for Insurance Products

Instead of starting the needs assessment process when customers call in after seeing an ad and ask to hear more about a product, driasi’s campaign took a more proactive approach. For example, if someone were to contact the call center seeking assistance, a service representative would recommend a needs assessment at the moment it would be most valuable for the customer.

At the end of the day, creating a successful marketing campaign is all about putting the needs of the customer first — no matter the current environment.

If you’d like to learn more strategies for boosting your marketing performance or receive recognition for your own campaigns, become a PIMA member today to participate in the 2022 PIMA Insights Awards.

Published on January 11, 2022.

PIMA® (Professional Insurance Marketing Association®) is a member-driven trade association focused exclusively on the group-sponsored benefits market.