The benefits of competitor insights for car insurance marketing strategies

The auto insurance market has become highly competitive in recent times, with the emergence of Insurtechs creating a surge of innovation and disruption. It is more important than ever for marketers to understand their rivals on a granular level.

One such disruptor is Root Insurance, an Insurtech using smartphone sensors to collect data on driver behavior. This information then provides a fair and customized insurance quote based on criteria such as smooth braking and gentle turning. 

Usage-based, telematic (GPS technology and on-board diagnostics (OBD) are used to track the movements of cars, trucks, equipment, and other assets on a computerized map) insurance solutions are gold dust for Gen-Z and Millenial consumers who prefer more personalized services. A study found that up to 88% of Gen Z and Millennials want personalization from brands they are loyal to. 

However, traditional legacy car insurers and customers more resistant to change may struggle to keep up with the pace of innovation. While most auto insurance customers prefer to purchase insurance online, many still want a human touch to seal the deal. Therefore, auto insurance marketers use a mix of offline and online channels to reach out to their target audience, focusing on online. 

With digital advertising becoming the mainstay marketing channel, auto insurance marketers spend billions of dollars yearly to stay ahead of the competition. However, it is equally important for marketers to stay on top of their competitors' actions to develop effective strategies, identify new opportunities, and improve their overall performance.

In the same breath, by leveraging competitor data, legacy car insurers can confidently make their way into the future and take advantage of emerging trends in the market.

A range of benefits come with staying on top of competitor insights, especially for legacy car insurers making their way into the future. 

The benefits

Develop impactful products and services.

As an auto insurance marketer, you can gain valuable insights into your customers' needs and preferences by monitoring how your competitors respond to customer feedback on various products and services.

Use social listening or review platforms to identify areas where your products need to catch up to the competition or meet customer expectations. By comparing your customer satisfaction ratings with your competitors, you can find areas where you need to improve and develop new products and services that your customers may require or desire.

American car insurer Progressive invested in telematics after using customer frustration towards inaccurate billing to develop a market-leading product called Snapshot. Snapshot uses telematics data to track customer driving habits and offer discounts to safe drivers. In contrast, Progressive competitor Geico only recently began prioritising telematics for segmentation and rate matching in their product development.

Ajit Jain, an executive overseeing Geico's operations, said, "Progressive has been on the telematics bandwagon for...probably closer to 20 years. Geico, until recently, wasn't involved in telematics. It's only been the last two years that they've made an earnest effort in terms of using telematics for segmentation and for trying to match rate and risk."

Find the gaps.

Effective competitor analysis always changes and updates, but that’s good. By comparing key criteria such as customer satisfaction, pricing, and market share as often as possible, you can gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t among your peers at pace.

You can also look for pain points specific to certain audience segments to identify gaps in competitor insights. For instance, younger or new drivers often struggle to find affordable insurance policies that meet their needs and skill levels.

An example of a response to this pain point is Insurtech companies like Cuvva or Veygo, which have emerged, offering more affordable and less reactive short-term and learner insurance policies.

Build a new marketing strategy that works for you.

An awareness of competitor insights comes with a customized marketing plan fit for your market. Every auto insurance company has brand value that sets it apart; the best way to keep that uniqueness maintained, and front of mind is with customer sentiment, i.e. how is your brand received in the wild?

With collected data on competitor pricing, products and services, marketing messages, and target audiences, It’s easier to build a strategy that accentuates your brand strengths via positive customer feedback and sentiment while highlighting a few competitor weaknesses gleaned from this analysis.

Competitor insights in practice.

At Trustpilot, we offer a competitors solution via our Insights add-on module. This means if you use Trustpilot to collect customer reviews, you can elevate your review insights by also gathering data on car insurance competitors using Trustpilot.

The competitors' solution includes an Overview, Topic sentiment by competitor, Average review rating and Review volume.

The Overview lists all the competitors you’ve added, alongside their TrustScore, Reviews and Star distribution, while Topic sentiment includes a series of bubble charts with information about the performance of your eight most popular topics. It’s also possible to manage topics and download and share the competitor data with other users on your Trustpilot Business account.

Average review rating features a line graph that tracks the average review rating of your competitors from the previous 12 months. Review volume also offers a line graph that tracks the number of reviews all your selected competitors received during the previous 12 months.

Key takeaways

• The auto insurance market is highly competitive, with Insurtechs disrupting the industry through innovation.

• Auto insurance marketers must stay on top of competitor insights to develop effective strategies, identify new opportunities, and improve performance. With competitor insights, you can create a marketing plan that is specific and powerful enough to boost your brand awareness and value.

• By evaluating competitor insights using specific criteria, it’s easier to spot the gaps where customers feel let down by the industry, like young drivers who need a short-term solution that doesn’t cost the world.

• Trustpilot offers a competitors solution that helps marketers and businesses better understand the competitive landscape and get further insight into customer sentiment.

Keen to learn more? Explore Trustpilot Analytics: Review Insights here.