The insurance industry has embraced the affiliate industry with open arms for personal lines products as it is easier to work with affiliates on a cost per sale basis. There are a large number of niche and general insurance products being sold by a large number of affiliates.
The area that is still very much underserved by affiliates, however, is the commercial insurance space. Partly due to the complexity of the risk being underwritten, business insurance in lots of cases can’t simply be bought online.
That said, affiliates can still play a part in driving commercial insurance, but it will have to be on a different commercial model. Rather than a cost per sale, brokers especially will have to choose another model.
The two main ones available will be either a cost per click or a cost per lead.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
A cost per click is simply exactly what it says; you pay the affiliate for click traffic in the same way you would with Google AdWords. You can use Google Analytics and Google Analytics to track and report on click traffic. While this could be seen as a higher risk commission model, with the right affiliates, this could work very well. It can also make it easier to make comparisons with other cost per click sources.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
The other option available I would suggest is a cost per lead. But not just any lead, it could be the lead is a full enquiry form, not just simply name and email. It might also be described as a “valid lead” – i.e. a lead that has been contacted and has expressed an interest in insurance.
Both these models could be an excellent way for a broker to get involved in driving enquiries.
This can be done via an affiliate network, or with the right software, brokers can build up their own referral channels. For those brokers, looking to move into local commercial or a niche commercial product, affiliate or performance-based marketing can be a great way to attract traffic and enquiries.
