Over 40% of online transactions now happen on mobile, and 62% of consumers are less likely to purchase again from a brand that provides a negative mobile experience, according to Google.
The case for going mobile is clear. But only 19% of insurance agents offer a mobile app, according to the recent Insurance Digital Transformation Survey.
What if the delay in moving insurance to mobile is less about what to do, and more about how to do it? Apps are one way to offer customers a mobile experience, but they’re not the only option.
“As searchers, we aren’t jumping immediately to an app anyways,” points out Jason Walker, managing partner of Smart Harbor, a digital technology solutions provider for insurance agents. “We’re usually starting with some kind of keyword search to try to find what we’re looking for. As a result, I’m still working in a typical browser setting – I’m just doing it on a mobile device.”
Your task, then, is to make sure your agency’s website is responsive, meaning it adjusts its display settings depending on device size. “With a responsive website, you don’t have to scroll a bunch, you don’t have to move left and right or zoom in to read something – it just conveys an app-like experience without investing in an app,” Walker explains. “It’s basically taking your content and making it consumable to a small screen.”
For example, whereas menu navigation on your desktop website may read from left to right, on mobile it should stack up and down. “You can also make sure there are layers, so you might have four to five navigation buttons shrunk down to a screen size for a phone, and once you click one of those five buttons, it expands vertically,” Walker adds.
Then, the way you organize the information on your mobile site should relate to your goals. If the purpose of your website is to retain current clients and attract new ones, the mobile version should present two paths from the get-go. “I either click on something that says I’m already a customer, or I click on something that says I want to learn more,” Walker explains.
From there, “if I’m a prospect, I probably want information about product lines, carriers and getting a quote,” Walker says. “If I’m already a customer, I would expect to be able to file a claim, access my ID card or add a driver to my policy.”
Bottom line, Walker says: “Make it easy and clickable, no matter what that consumer’s trying to accomplish.”
Article By: Jacquelyn Connelly
Source: IA Magazine
