For years, insurance companies and agents haveacquired third-party internet leads as an efficient way tosupplement their own lead generation efforts. But with the shifttoward digital engagement and increasing regulatory complianceconcerns, acquiring high performing leads has become a much morecomplicated venture.

According to a recent study by J.D. Power, 74% of autoinsurance consumers use insurance brand or aggregatorswebsites for obtaining quotes and information. This is somethingthat holds true across almost all lines of insurance.

Regardless of device, the preferred platform for shoppingis now digital.

But while brand websites generate a percentage of insuranceleads, more consumers are choosing the choice model that internetlead generators and aggregators offer to research and obtainquotes. This is because more consumers prefer to have access towhat they perceive as independent and unbiased sources forinformation and quotes.

As a result, it is no longer a matter of supplementing leadacquisition programs with internet leads. Today most organizationsare leveraging internet leads as a primary part of their customeracquisition programs.

So how can you prioritize high-intent consumers, mitigateTCPA compliance risk and optimize your brand's lead acquisitionprograms?

Mitigate TCPA compliance risk

Compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) hasbecome more of a priority for insurance brands and their partnersover the past few years. TCPA lawsuits filed by consumers are onthe rise — growing by a factor of 1,273 percent since 2010 — and anumber of large insurance brands have been part ofmultimillion-dollar TCPA settlements.

For example, in May 2017, a Florida-based insurer settled aclass action TCPA lawsuit for $4.25 million. And that does notinclude the court costs and legal fees or the cost to counter badthe bad PR and lost brand reputation from the case.

Knowing definitively that a consumer has given consent to becontacted is a must. Ted Todd Insurance is a multi-office agency inFlorida which generates leads on its own website and buys onlineleads from third party lead generators. They assure TCPA complianceby using a SaaS-based solution to track and verify consumerconsent.

CEO Charley Todd says, “the technology tracks and assures theexistence of the consumer's consent, delivering a positive firstexperience for every new customer, and provides persuasive evidencein the event of a consumer complaint or lawsuit.”

Analyze the right data

With the overabundance of data that insurance brands have, frominternal and external sources, it is not always easy to make senseof it all. Even with a sophisticated data science and analyticsprogram, the key is getting access to the right data at the righttime, to help optimize your marketing programs.

In the case of customer acquisition, that begins with havingaccess to data that you can use to help score, prioritize androute higher-performing leads. By knowing the origin and history ofyour leads, you'll be able to mitigate TCPA compliance risk andprioritize selection of and engagement with higher-intentconsumers.

The majority of the top ten insurance companies in theUnited States are doing just that — connecting the dots andusing sophisticated technology and data — togain real-time intelligenceinto the origin, history and intent of the leads they areacquiring. Such solutions enable insurance companies and agents tofollow consumers in realtime on their buyingjourneys until theend when consumers purchase a policy, helpinginsurers observe and access behavioral data which they can use toanalyze the intent of the consumer.

When marketers gain the ability to identify and take action onconsumer behavioral data, buying low-intent leads is no longer partof the “cost of doing business” in lead management and analysis.Brands that leverage these insights gain efficiencies and canbetter focus their precious time and budgets on productiveleads.

Optimize lead acquisition and marketing

In implementing technology solutions, here are five tipsto supercharge your lead generation.

1. Know the age of yourleads. If you're measuringspeed-to-lead from the moment you received a lead post, you aremissing a key data point. It's not about when you received thelead, but rather when the consumer actually submitted theinquiry.

2. Be proactive in avoiding fraudulent leads and thosethat are not TCPAcompliant. Consumers who didn't fillout the form or who filled it out six months ago have no intent tobuy from you. Also, these leads put you at risk for TCPAcomplaints. Only purchase leads that are TCPA compliant. You don'twant to damage your brand and reputation, or take on the costs ifyou are sued by a consumer. You need a vendor who can help youidentify, in real-time, that your leads are compliant and providepersuasive proof that a consumer gave consent to be contacted.

3. Don't get duped. Manymarketers assume that a duplicate is the result of recycled data.They think that the same consumer means it is the same inquiry. Infact, it could very likely be the same consumer with a brand newinquiry, which is actually indicative of a high-intent consumer.Know the difference.

4. Understand if leads are shared vs.exclusive. Know if your leads arebeing shared with some of your competitors. If they are, you needto determine how many other competitors that lead is being sharedwith and whether you are the first or last to receive it.

5. Right price your leads. If you find avendor who will help you identify low intent leads, you canreallocate that spend and pay more for higher intent leads. This isa key strategy to quickly and notably improve lead conversion.

Jaimie Pickles is general Manager of insurance atJornaya. He can be reached by sending email to [email protected].