When you’re looking at the needs of interests of different generations, Millennials can be difficult to pin down. They love the sharing economy, they work multiple jobs, and they live in arrangements with friends and relatives that are quite different from the single-family home where many of them grow up. Yet like everyone else, Millennials get sick and suffer from natural and human-caused disasters. Are they getting the insurance coverage they need? How can you reach Millennials with your insurance marketing?
Who Are the Millennials?
Who are the Millennials? They’re young adults in their late teens to mid-thirties. According to the IBM commerce blog, the Millennials are even more numerous than the Baby Boomers at 80 million strong. While this is a huge market, it’s also a challenging one: Millennials aren’t necessarily buying into insurance coverage as previous generations did, and they aren’t buying into traditional ways of marketing insurance either.
What Millennials Are Buying
What insurance do Millennials need and what insurance policies are they buying? In their twenties and early thirties, Millennials’ needs are quite different than those of their parents. While Baby Boomers may have married in their twenties, Millennials are living with friends instead, and many are postponing marriage until later in life. This means that they’re less likely to purchase life insurance because they don’t have any dependents.
Millennials aren’t settled into one city or one job, so they prefer to rent rather than buy. They also have a lot of student debt, which makes it more difficult for them to invest in a home. This means that they’re not purchasing as much home insurance, but they do need tenants’ insurance. They’re also not purchasing as many large, insurable products such as vehicles. They’re fond of walkable cities, bikes, and car shares that take care of the insurance for them.
While Millennials may not own as many large items such as homes and cars, they still need health insurance and tenants’ insurance. They also value different things such as their phones and pets, and they’re likely to insure events such as weddings. Millennials may not be insured in the same ways that Boomers are insured, but they insure what they need and value.
How Do You Make Sure Millennials Get the Coverage They Need?
To market insurance to Millennials, you need to understand what Millennials value and what they trust. Millennials do not want to be in debt. They’re very debt-averse, and insurance can help them avoid risk and stay financially solvent. For example, Millennials with dogs may buy pet insurance to ensure that their pets are covered by insurance, even if their humans need to change jobs. When you’re marketing to Millennials, show how you are their fail-safe risk protection to help them avoid debt and feel more secure.
Since Millennials feel challenged by living expenses and they’re debt averse, they may skimp on essential coverage such as health care or tenant coverage. For example, according to the International Business Times, many Millennials don’t have adequate health insurance. In part, this is because they can’t afford it, but “more than half of those surveyed said they were either not informed or “not very” informed about health insurance options.” Become a trusted source of information for Millennials about how insurance products can be more affordable and protect them from serious financial problems.
Millennials don’t trust traditional forms of advertising, and they prefer to shop around online instead. Build trust by connecting with them through blogs and social media posts, and provide them with an online venue to compare your insurance policies with others’. Allow them to chat with you and purchase insurance online. Millennials aren’t necessarily going to the corner insurance business to purchase insurance, so your business needs to go online and meet with them there.
When you’re honing your insurance marketing strategies, talk with American Agents Alliance. We’re a group of independent insurance agencies. Share with others in our network, explore our many membership benefits, and grow your insurance business.
