Brand-name advertising is one of the key performance drivers that explains why so much web traffic targets GEICO and other large auto insurer sites. GEICO has the best growth record among major auto insurers in part because annual advertising expenditures had mushroomed to US$631 million in 2007.
GEICO spends more on ads than any of its competitors. This may explain why so many American consumers use search engines to find GEICO as the low-cost auto insurance company of choice.
Other large auto insurers also invest hundreds of millions of dollars into brand advertising. Millions of drivers put a high priority on how well-established and financially secure their auto insurance company is. Multi-million dollar marketing campaigns condition those consumers to think of big carriers like State Farm and Nationwide when searching online for auto insurance quotes.
Yet the largest and most profitable auto insurance companies don’t necessarily offer the lowest rates.
Even after an 8% premium discount for GEICO-defined affinity groups, Warren Buffett recently admitted that GEICO rates might not lower the premiums for up to 50% of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders with existing coverage.
Why Online Lead Aggregators are Becoming Unpopular
While the online lead aggregators in our study generated 12.5% of total online visitors, that number understates the vast number of websites that this category of auto quote websites represents.
Consumers who request a rate proposal from the likes of US Insurance Online, CAR Insurance or Online Auto Insurance can expect up to 8 phone calls from local agents from direct carriers. These salespersons will ask more detailed questions and try to sell one of their company’s policies to whoever requested the online quote.
Comparison Raters
Scoring 5.9% of the total number of visitors looking for online quotes, Insurance.com represents a fast-growing segment in the auto insurance marketplace.
Once a single request form is completed, a comparison rater website will quote the lowest car insurance rates from a select group of insurance companies. For example, Insurance.com compares and then extracts the most economical premiums from more than a dozen partner insurance companies such as Progressive, Travelers, 21st Century, Hartford, Liberty Mutual, Met Life and Safeco. Each of the participating carriers at Insurance.com is rated Excellent or Superior by A.M. Best Company, the leading provider of insurance industry ratings.
Consumers immediately see the 4 best-of-breed quotes from the pool of participating direct insurance companies, then can make a decision to purchase one of those policies via Insurance.com as part of a single website visit.
In addition, comparison raters focus on developing user-friendly blogs that educate consumers on topics that help explain how auto insurance works.
Auto Insurance Website Study Findings
Regardless of high web traffic scores, none of the websites in this analysis can guarantee the lowest possible premiums for an individual consumer on any given day.
GEICO, State Farm or Nationwide might offer lower rates than any of Insurance.com’s partner insurance companies. Or vice versa.
Therefore, a prudent consumer will selectively research quotes from one or more individual auto insurance companies as well as a comparison rater.
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