Insurance agents across the nation have been waiting, and waiting and waiting for Millennials to start buying life insurance and other life stage related insurance products. However since Millennials are marrying, starting families and buying homes later than previous generations, many insurance companies are unsure when to begin targeting Millennials in earnest.
“Life insurance is for old people. I’m young with my whole future ahead of me. Life insurance can wait, my student loans can’t. ”
According to the just released 2016 Insurance Barometer Study, 51 percent of Millennials and 30 percent of people overall are very or extremely likely to consider wearing an activity tracker and share those results with a life insurance company in return for financial rewards for healthy behaviors.
As stated in a recent industry publication, the goalposts for the life insurance industry are shifting, driven in part by the expectations of the next generation of customers who represent an enormous area of growth for new policies that will be issued over the next 25 years. While they will continue to be awoken to the need and importance of life insurance by the same traditional key life events—marriage, having children, family health scares—their expectations of how the industry will help them understand coverage options, and experience getting coverage in place is markedly different to their parents’ expectations and experiences.
Life insurance marketers are scrambling to understand the Millennial audience, its expectations, needs and preferences. As mentioned in our previous post, traditional consumer research often falls short when it comes to uncovering true, actionable insights. What insurance marketers are clamoring for are findings that will show them exactly what to say to Millennials, and how and where to say it. If you would like to know how to develop marketing that reaches the SOUL of the Millennial consumer, request our free ebook today.
Insurance marketers are living in the best of times and yet in the worst of times. The need for protection has never been more evident. Americans are being bombarded by more risks from more sources than ever before.
Associations of types and missions are struggling with low member engagement and participation. The value proposition associations offer their members can now be found by other means. Once a primary resource for relevant industry-specific information, associations now compete with a host of tailored information resources proliferating online.
At this very moment, a client is handing its agency reams of reports to brief them on a new product. The target audience is described in detail. Be they Millennials, Baby Boomers, or a segment with a catchier name, say Alpha Moms, chances are if you showed the description to the target they wouldn’t recognize themselves.
Under more scrutiny than ever before, marketing managers are turning to data to take the guesswork out of business decisions and justify spending. Today’s marketing channels generate an ever-increasing variety, volume, velocity and complexity of information. Every action and interaction can be recorded, tracked and analyzed.
The Gig Economy or Freelance Economy has become the norm for many workers. According to a recent survey, more than 3 million Americans are doing freelance work. That’s 34% of the entire workforce. And no one is embracing freelancing more than Millennials. A full 69% of Millennials surveyed said they would prefer to freelance provided they could find enough projects to earn the salary they want.
Yet for all the flexibility and freedom, freelancers miss out on traditional corporate benefits. And while most freelancers understand the need to purchase individual health coverage, another key piece of their safety net remains off the radar –life insurance.
Reports show that only 34% of adult Millennials own an individual life policy. Yet 55% are already married or in a domestic partnership. Among older Millennials, between ages 25-34, there are now 10.8 million households with children. Unless these families proactively take steps to protect themselves, they remain vulnerable to financial disaster.
How can insurers raise awareness of the need for life insurance? How can they break though when Millennials have become so resistant to traditional advertising approaches? The answers to these and other questions can be found in our new ebook, The Essential Guide to Marketing Life Insurance to Millennials. Download your copy today.
If you would to tap our expert guidance, contact Mark Silverman for a free, custom consultation.
America is experiencing its greatest age wave in history – which means the market potential is staggering. LIMRA estimates that one quarter of Baby Boomers do not yet own any life insurance at all. Of those who do have a life policy, almost half have only group coverage. As these Boomers retire, those who don’t have any coverage except through their jobs will need to replace their group policy with individual insurance. Literally millions of households, across all age groups, still need to prepare and protect their families from the expenses and financial reversals that death can bring.
The need for protection has never been more evident. People are being bombarded by more risks coming from more sources than ever before. With the fallout from Great Recession, globalization, climate change, sudden outbreaks of disease, and other forces beyond their control, Americans have more reasons to feel more insecure than ever before. Everything they hold dear is under threat, from their livelihoods to their retirement security to their health, homes and possessions.
Yet at this time when insurance marketers should be benefiting from these heightened anxieties, too many insurers find themselves struggling with slow growth, increasing marketing costs and reluctant consumers.
Why is there so much apathy toward insurance? What can insurance marketers do to change it? Find out in our free ebook entitled There’s Never Been A Better Time to Market Insurance. Download your copy today.
