078: Communication and Marketing with Michelle Leach and Verity Blair, co-founders of the Insurance Marketers Group (IMG)

People in Insurance: Changing the Conversation

Is your organisation using its marketing department as well as it could, or should? Are you unsure how marketing can improve sales in an industry so reliant on face-to-face contact?

In this episode, we’re thrilled to be speaking with Michelle Leach and Verity Blair, co-founders of the Insurance Marketers Group (IMG). The organisation was created in 2010 in order to give insurance marketing professionals the opportunity to meet face to face, discuss ideas, network, and hear from presenters on various topics. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, they explain how insurance marketing is generally an undervalued and underappreciated element within insurance organisations, and the various efforts being made by the IMG to alter this perception.

Quote of the Episode

“Businesses now understand that it's vital to put the customer at the centre of everything that they do, and that's where marketing comes in. That's where we can influence, where we can share data, where we can really help a business put the client at the centre of everything that it does.”

The role of the insurer has expanded significantly over the last decade, from a policy provider above all else to a communicator and educator, who can offer support and advice to their clients. As customers expect different things from their insurance providers, and customer satisfaction becomes the very centre of their strategies, marketers can offer a wealth of services to boost communication between insurers, brokers, and clients.

Key Takeaways

At Boston Tullis, our primary aim is less to do with clinical, sales-oriented marketing, and more interested in improving communication between customers and insurance providers. The pandemic illustrated that marketing can be highly strategic in securing effective communication between these groups via digital means, given that insurance is typically geared towards face-to-face, personal interaction. This is further accentuated by the ever-increasing importance of data, which can empower businesses to understand their markets better, and how to differentiate themselves effectively in their messaging to customers.

However, while data has pivoted insurance businesses’ ability to achieve ROI from their marketing strategies, there remain aspects of marketing that are intangible, such as the extent to which a particular social media campaign, for example, influenced customers. Perhaps the reason why marketing is so underappreciated, particularly in the insurance industry, is due to this inability to directly correlate improved sales with particular marketing manoeuvres.

Thus, the IMG’s mission is to see marketing represented at board level in every organisation across insurance. In order to raise the profile of marketing in the insurance industry and offer opportunities for up-and-coming marketers, the organisation annually gives a Young Marketer of the Year Award. Additionally, this year, the IMG is also introducing a Marketing Team of the Year Award. The link for nominations, open to anyone you know involved in insurance marketing, which may include yourself, is below. You need not be an IMG member to nominate someone, and anyone working in insurance marketing is eligible to receive either award.

One of the best aspects of the insurance industry is the opportunities for collaboration and communication between peers. If you are an insurance marketer, or you have a marketing department, consider joining the IMG, which can unite you with peers from other companies, enabling you to discuss ideas and evaluate challenges you may be facing. The link to register as a member is below.

Best Moments/Key Quotes

‘Marketing dovetails with sales and that can really make a difference to your output.’

‘Somebody once described [insurance marketing] to me as the pipe work of the business: how far you turn the tap is the sales that come out.’

“Data is really empowering businesses to understand their customer better, to understand what messaging is working, and how you're able to differentiate yourself effectively, and kind of cut through the noise.”

“We've [the IMG] created a mission that we stand behind, and that is to see marketing represented at board level in every organisation across insurance. Because if you're at the table when the strategy is set, then that makes life so much easier for marketing teams.”

Resources

Website: https://imghub.co.uk/

Nominate yourself or someone you know for an IMG Marketing Award: https://imghub.co.uk/awards/

Register to become an IMG member: https://imghub.co.uk/register/

About the Guest

Verity Blair is a co-founder of the Insurance Marketers Group. Her background is primarily in sales, and she is currently the Vice President of Sales at Lextegrity, which provides enterprise data analytics and automation software for compliance and audit professionals at leading global companies.

Verity’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/verity-blair-60127411/

Contact Details: [e-mail]

Michelle Leach is an award-winning marketing professional who has worked in the insurance and financial services sector for over 25 years. A co-founder of the Insurance Marketers Group, she is also a Senior Marketing Business Partner at QBE Europe.

Michelle’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-leach/

Contact Details: [e-mail]

About the Host

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation