The Rise of Influencers in the Pet Insurance Industry
There are approximately 16.5 million pet dogs and cats in the UK. However, the latest Association of British Insurers data suggests that only 32% of dogs and 16% of cats are insured. With the market holding so much untapped potential, insurers should find new ways to engage with potential customers. Influencers could be the key in bringing people to pet insurance.
Pet insurance is not the most popular insurance product, with many people opting to pay for the cost of their pet’s treatment out of pocket. But with the cost of care rising, owners may come under increasing pressure due to unexpected treatments for their pets.
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Insurers should capitalise on changing consumer purchasing preferences to increase the uptake of pet insurance products. According to GlobalData’s 2018 UK Insurance Consumer Survey, more than three quarters of all dog and cat insurance policies are purchased online. Purchasing via a smartphone or tablet was the method that saw the largest growth in purchases between 2017 and 2018. The popularity of digital channels will continue increasing into the future.
With online purchasing becoming the go-to method, insurers should focus on online marketing campaigns to target customers. One way of reaching vast audiences online is through the use of social media. Currently only 8% of those who purchased pet insurance conducted research on social media, suggesting that this medium is relatively underdeveloped within the pet insurance space. However, within the retail space social media has frequently been the driving force behind rapid growth of relatively unknown brands. Kylie Jenner’s use of social media to propel her cosmetics company to a $900m valuation in 2019 is just one example.
And online influencers are not only human. There are many pet influencers on platforms like Instagram, some of which have millions of followers. In comparison, Petplan – the largest UK pet insurer – has just over 5,000 followers at the time of writing. By partnering with influencers, pet insurers can highlight the benefits of pet insurance to pet lovers and increase uptake of their products. This is not only beneficial to pet owners but to the pet insurance market, which could generate an additional £966m in GWP if 50% of pet dogs and cats were insured. If insurers develop their expertise at utilising social media and convince popular pet influencers to spread the word about their products, there is potential to see significant growth in the market.
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