Have you ever had people come to your doorstep or stop you in the middle of the road to sell insurance? Probably not in a while because the scenario has changed drastically. Insurance companies still need to pull up their socks and advertise just as much.
Insurance advertising is a thing of the present and will stay relevant in the future. Everybody wants to secure their future with the best possible deal at affordable rates. The competition gets tougher as the online market for insurance gets crowded. One way to go around this crowd and get noticed is by utilizing PPC for Insurance Ads.
Let's dive into how you can attract more and more clients for your business through PPC for insurance ads.
PPC for Insurance Ads- what is it?
PPC or pay-per-click advertising entails paying for online ads only when someone clicks on them. Here, PPC for insurance ads refers to promoting insurance policies through online mediums.
Insurance advertisers dictate their financial advertising by highlighting the various policy benefits—coverage, claims, premiums, and testimonials. These ads appear on the SERP (search engine results page) or on publishers' websites. They use specific targeting and keywords that trigger the ad when a search term is entered.
Why PPC over everything else?
Advertisers have many strategies to consider, so why PPC? The scope of PPC for insurance ads is vast and doesn't limit itself to boosting insurance policy sales. Let's make some comparisons-
Instant Visibility that doesn't work with SEO.
We get it- everyone loves SEO. However, in reality, SEO only works when you stay consistent with your blogs and website in the long run. It might take you months, if not years, to get your website to rank on the first page of the search results. The problem lies in the highly competitive environment filled with other insurance companies, brokers, and agents- all aiming to convert the same traffic.
However, with PPC for insurance ads, your ads appear on search results and websites as soon as the campaign goes live. This is a perk when you're looking to attract clients in a short time.
Online Presence with Social Media vs PPC
Social Media is not the only way to build an online presence. It's free, but you'll have to post continuously and interact with your community. It's a long-term task that may or may not generate desired results.
By utilizing PPC for insurance ads, you can set yourself apart as an active and credible insurance business that makes efforts by running ads.
Targeted Reach with PPC
Social Media and SEO bring you all kinds of traffic: casual visitors, uninterested audiences, and spam accounts.
But with PPC advertising, you can target only the audience interested and actively looking for insurance services you offer. You can generate high-quality leads when you target users based on their locations, demographics, and online behavior.
Brand Recall through PPC
PPC for insurance ads enables you to retarget your ads to users who have already interacted with your ads once, helping in brand recall and recognition. This doesn't work with strategies like SEO or Social Media unless the algorithm is in your favor.
How to Create a Solid PPC Strategy for Insurance Ads
1- Research and Segment Your Audience
As an insurance company, your target market is wide. Proper research and segmentation can help you optimize your PPC insurance ads through personalization and identify new opportunities.
You can start with general research on the demographics, primary concerns, personal habits, lifestyle, and online behavior. Once you've done your general research, you can move to the specifics-
- Filter out audience that requires insurance you offer
- Do they already have some insurance coverage?
- Do they need more coverage?
- When and where can I approach them?
- Are my competitors also targeting them?
- How can I make myself appear as a better choice?
You can then segment the audience based on your convenience points.
2- Trust Your Keywords
PPC for insurance ads won't work until you have secured the keywords you want to bid on. Keywords are search terms or phrases through which your audience searches for you. There's no way to identify a 'good' keyword until you have tested it. A rough guess would be keywords with a decent search volume and low competition.
Someone looking for health insurance can search for 'health insurance plans' or perform specific searches such as 'health insurance plans for family of 4'.
Your keywords will also vary from one audience segment to another. It's always best to keep a calculated mix of broad and long-tail keywords.
3- Create Your Ads
Trying PPC for insurance ads can put you in a dilemma the very first time. Out of plenty of ad formats, which one should you choose for your insurance business advertising? Let's look at the whole list of ad formats PPC offers-
- Text ads, when you can convey empathy and credibility through the power of words only
- Banner ads, when you want to amaze the viewers with captivating graphics
- Native ads, when you prefer to lay low and not disrupt the user's experience
- Video ads, when you have an insurance story to tell
- In-page push ads, when you want to pop up like a notification
You can then move forward with compelling headlines and visuals based on the ad format you chose. Keep your ads creative and concise, and try to solve your audience's problems by highlighting your unique selling proposition (USP).
A good strategy is to imagine yourself in your target audience's shoes and understand their thoughts. Empathize with their concerns and paint a scenario where your insurance policy works wonders for them.
4- Place Your Bids
PPC for insurance ads will work on bids. You need to secure your ad space once your keywords are identified and ads are in place. This can be done by bidding on your keywords on the basis of various metrics.
- Clicks- When your goal is to attract visitors to your website, placing bids for every click on keywords is the way to go. CPC, or cost-per-click price model, works best with this.
- Impressions- When you want more eyes on your insurance business, you should bid according to impressions. CPM, or cost-per-mille, enables you to pay only when your ad gets 1000 impressions.
- Conversions- When you need to make a sale or get sign-ups for a lead form, you should build for conversions. CPA, or cost-per-action, charges you only when your ad gets a pre-specified action.
Your overall bidding strategy will depend on your campaign goals and advertising budget. You can also set budget limits to avoid overspending.
5- Check Your Analytics
The major perk of using PPC for insurance ads is the detailed insights you get into your campaigns. Think of how much better your insurance services ads will perform when you keep optimizing them based on these insights. You can check what's working and invest your budget in those elements accordingly.
Regularly monitoring your insurance ads will ensure that your PPC investments drive desired results that keep your business growing.
6- Keep A/B Testing
If you think you have tested enough, you're wrong. There's always room for improvement when it comes to PPC. Experimenting with different elements in various scenarios will bring you a new result every time. It's essential to keep testing to stay in your ranking or improve.
You can A/B test your ads by creating variations of your target segment, ad creatives, bidding strategies, keywords, formats, etc. Choose the ones that perform the best and discontinue the others.
Where do Insurance Advertisers Go Wrong?
PPC is no easy thing and can often look challenging to first-time users. Here are a few places advertisers go wrong when they run PPC for insurance ads.
Not Optimizing Landing Pages
Once somebody clicks on your ad and is led to your landing page, they don't want to see an unappealing and unstructured site. Your landing page should always be easy to navigate and capable of converting your visitors. It should match the aesthetics of your ads and give the user what they came looking for.
Using Generic Keywords
If you use generic keywords, you're setting yourself up for a letdown. A keyword like 'life insurance plans' has a high search volume and looks tempting, but it is usually costly to rank for and consists of mixed traffic. You might not even be selling what they want.
So, it's always better to use long and specific phrases. A keyword like 'whole life insurance policy for parents' perfectly specifies the type of policy and your target audience. You can be sure that people searching for it are actively looking to buy an insurance policy.
Not Utilizing Geotargeting
With geotargeting, you target a specific audience at a specific time. You limit your targeting and, in return, minimize your costs. Suppose you operate only in Canada. You wouldn't want to target your insurance services ads to a global audience. It's better to limit them to the areas you serve and at a time when people are most active online.
Ignoring Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are extra elements you add to your ads to make them more engaging. You should always add your phone number, site link, and location, allowing users to forego the next steps and directly contact you.
Not Asking for Help
It's always better for insurance companies to seek help from advertising professionals. PPC campaigns are risky and can cost you a lot of money if not handled cautiously. You can also use ad networks like 7Search PPC that directly connect you with relevant publishers and traffic. Our support system is available 24/7 whenever you get stuck with your insurance ad campaigns.
Conclusion
When it comes to insurance, people want the best of the best. The rising number of insurance companies is proof that the number of people buying insurance is increasing.
A thriving insurance advertising campaign demands two things- finding the right mix of strategies to target a warm audience already interested in buying insurance. Using PPC for insurance ads is no joke when you want to stand out and drive conversions quickly.
The insurance industry is dynamic and constantly changes with people's needs. Insurance companies must keep up with these changes and update their PPC strategies accordingly. With ad networks like 7Search PPC, you can make changes in your PPC campaigns- all in real time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why should I use PPC for insurance ads?
Ans: Using PPC for insurance ads ensures that your campaign beats the crowd and gets instant results. You can build a credible online presence and target your insurance planning ads through PPC.
What if I can't get my insurance ads to rank on the SERP (search engine results page)?
Ans: You can always display your ads on relevant insurance websites of publishers. 7Search PPC is among the best ad networks that connect advertisers and publishers.
How can I optimize PPC for insurance ads?
Ans: You can optimize ads based on the results different variations have generated and at what cost. You can try changing your strategies and see what works best.
What if my audience forgets about me in one go?
Ans: You can use retargeting strategies to stay in the minds of users who have interacted with your ads once. Retargeting works well for brand recognition and recall.
I'm short on budget. Can PPC still work?
Ans: Yes! With PPC, you can set budget limits and bid on long-tail keywords that are usually less competitive.
More References
What Is Prebid? A Detailed Guide For Publishers
CPM vs RPM: Key Details Publishers Need to Know
Advertising Arbitrage: A Method for Increasing Traffic Revenue
Digital Advertising Platforms – A Revolution for Businesses
