Some 29 million people in the United States have diabetes. Another 75 million Americans have high blood pressure. Obesity, heart disease, and cancer rates continue to rise as well. As these ailments proliferate, they raise the out-of-pocket medical costs of Americans, creating a terrible financial burden on top of the already high toll taken by the health issues themselves.
Insurance agencies who want to help manage these risks will find policyholders open to suggestions. Consumers desperately want to control health problems and their associated costs, and they’re looking for input from professionals. A recent survey conducted by Nielsen found that 27% of Americans have asked their doctors about less expensive alternatives to prescriptions, and 43% consider reducing their out-of-pocket expenses through diet and other strategies a top priority.
Many of the health issues facing Americans today are largely preventable. While consumers may know this, they may not have the tools or understanding necessary to act on that knowledge. For example, they may not understand the ways in which one health complication contributes to others. Obesity is a major contributor to diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, but overweight policyholders may not see the relationship.
Your website is a powerful tool for sharing information about preventable health issues. Through infographics, blog posts, and educational videos, you can help your policyholders see the connections among medical risks. You can also encourage healthy lifestyle choices by offering access to easy-to-understand information available in one central location on your website. Not only will this help your clients, it will build your agency’s reputation as an industry authority.
Knowing what to do to improve your health and actually doing it are two separate issues, as anyone who’s ever been on a diet can tell you. Once your policyholders are educated, try going a step further and offering online health management support. Even a little nudge in the right direction can make a big difference for policymakers who want to improve their wellness.
More and more Americans are using technology to improve health habits. With the proliferation of health and fitness apps like 8fit and the wildly imaginative Zombies Run, consumers have proven that they’re open to a little outside encouragement. Independent insurance agencies can use this sort of engagement to support their clients, too. Use your knowledge of your market to help motivate your policyholders and design health management strategies that they’ll be eager to use. It’s not necessary to build a fancy app; offering incentives through weekly or monthly health check-ins can be just as effective.
Your website is also a great place to provide policyholders with supplementary support such as healthy recipes and wellness practices. Take advantage of clients’ desire to be more conscious in the kitchen by creating a regular food blog-style post that visitors to your site will use and share. That sort of commitment not only builds loyalty among existing clients, but extends your reach to new prospects as policyholders become brand advocates.
If you’d like to become a health partner with your policyholders, but you’re not sure where to start, get in touch with the insurance marketing experts at AgenciesOnline. We’ll help you brainstorm marketing strategies that help you grow your agency and build stronger relationships with your policyholders.
What are your policyholders’ chief health concerns?