Like many sub-verticals in Financial Services, 2009 was a "reset" year. Traffic fell due to the economic recession and consumers looked at ways to save money by taking fewer risks. The insurance vertical saw many of the same trends, but unlike vertical such as credit cards and mortgages, assessing ones current insurance coverage opens an opportunity to put some more cash back in ones pocket.

In 2009 it was apparent consumers were assessing their current coverage: automotive insurance clicks rose above 2008 level in October, health insurance clicks were above 2008 level across all months except January and February, and life insurance clicks rose above 2008 for the entire second half of the year. This is positive trending going into 2010 as January-March are key success periods for the insurance vertical.

Auto Insurance - Price is Key

The beginning of 2009 saw volume key performance indicators (KPIs) much lower than in 2008 due to the economy taking a heavy hit out of performance. Clicks were down by more than 50%, and click-through rates (CTRs) were more than 2.0% lower on average, though average costs-per-click (CPCs) were much higher because advertisers were fighting for every potential customer available.  At the same time, consumers were becoming more specific in their search terms; generic terms such as "auto" and "insurance" saw major impression losses from the first half of 2009 compared to the second half. Tail terms saw increases such as "auto insurance quotes" and "cheap auto insurance" as consumers became more price sensitive and searches reflected that. Expect this trend to continue as tail term keywords that are price specific will continue to show growth and be highly valued by advertisers.

Ad copy shifted in a similar way, using numbers in the ad title resulted in the second highest CTR boost after the use of " official site". This strategy can be used in multiple ways such as: "Save X%", "Save up to $X", "$X Monthly Payment". This type of call to action focuses on price before brand in the title. This is also very useful for less known auto insurance brands trying to increase their traffic.

The Bing demographic profile for auto insurance is primarily male and females ages 35-49 followed closely by ages 25-34. Auto insurance pricing is key in 2010, as the consumers will continue to look for ways to save money. For success, ensure complete price specific keyword coverage and test new calls to action in ad copy, specifically pricing over branding.

Health Insurance - The Uncertain Future

The health insurance landscape is changing quickly and the way people search for health insurance, not provided by their employers, is going to shift dramatically if the government puts certain mandates into the system. This being said, the roll out of health care reform in 2010 will move very slowly and expecting a 180 degree change in search behavior in 2010 is very unlikely. Even without firm changes the media coverage continues to increase the amount of attention on the subject thus resulting in increased traffic specifically at the end of 2009.

Click volume in 2009 was higher for most of the year with a large boost in the fourth quarter as there was a lot of pressure for a health insurance bill to be passed by year end. CTR and CPCs were both affected by this increasing traffic in Q4; CTRs decreased due to the increase of impressions and CPCs increased as advertisers tried to capitalize on this traffic. Expect these trends to continue far into 2010, even as health insurance reform continues to be an uncertainty.

Ad copy success continues to rely on differentiating health insurance providers from lead aggregators. The usage of trademarks and "official site" both result in the largest boosts in CTR. This strategy boosts both advertiser legitimacy and consumer perception.

The Bing demographic skews heavily female. For success in 2010, focus on brand differentiation and aggressive CPC updated as traffic will continue to increase as health insurance continues to be a big news story.

Life Insurance - Shifting Younger

Life Insurance continues to follow very similar seasonal patterns: high volume early in the year, then dipping in summer due to impression drops. 2010 is looking to repeat these same patterns with no large shifts to the vertical. The general term "life insurance" saw a large decrease in clicks half over half in 2009 while "life insurance quotes" saw a large lift in clicks. Queries are becoming more focused, thus leading to more tail searches. Focus on expanding on the tail in 2010 to capture maximum traffic opportunities.  Similar to health insurance, using "official" in the body or the title is the best way to leverage your brand against lead aggregators and other advertisers that bid on similar branded terms.

The Bing demographic shows some large spikes in younger females looking into life insurance. A recent Mintel survey focusing on marketing strategy to different life insurance generations discovered similar results: In the 12 months ending June 2009, Gen X and Gen Y got 18% and 23% fewer life insurance mailings, respectively, than Baby Boomers did in the past year. Though 63% of Gen X said "it is important to be well-insured when it comes to life insurance", versus just 58% of the general population agreeing with that same statement. Generation X is an under-served and over-interested in life and health insurance, making them the perfect target market.

In 2010 focus on increasing brand recognition through ad copy updates. To help improve ROI, try targeting new demographics with the targeting options offered through Microsoft adCenter.

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