Controlling the Data Matters
In the world of Digital Marketing it is understood that whoever controls the lead data wins.
If all you take away from this article is this one fact, then you are well equipped to make a smart choice between buying leads from a vendor verses joining a Digital Marketing Co-Operative a.k.a. a DMCO.
Before I get started, in the spirit of total disclosure, I must confess being biased towards DMCO s since, as far as I know, I am the one who both invented this acronym for Digital Marketing Co-Operatives and the subscription-based platform (1Lead1Buyer) that makes them possible to operate within any service industry’s DMCO consumer portal. This of course includes any insurance consumer portal DMCO as well.
What is 1Lead1Buyer
Before I go down the list of additional reasons for joining a DMCO verses buying even so-called exclusive leads, I must clarify how 1Lead1Buyer works to support a DMCO.
1Lead1Buyer is a subscription-based platform, housed in a mobile responsive I-frame and inserted into a consumer use web site. It allows the subscribing DMCO administrator to offer the consumer any request type, e.g. type of insurance to be quoted, for every one of the 42,000 zip codes in the United States, and opening any URL address that the subscribing DMCO member provides to the DMCO administrator.
Often confused for an aggregator or an agency multi-rater, 1Lead1Buyer is neither. It is merely a tool that opens any chosen URL address for the member’s opted in request type and zip code. Again, using an independent insurance agent as an example DMCO participant for business insurance, the member can utilize any web form she wishes to use. Today, this could include offering a quote & bind web form via Hiscox Insurance, or a commercial lines multi-rater from Coverage Wallet for Agents among others, on behalf of her agency.
Another Bold Statement
As quote & bind web forms become more common place for the individual insurance producer, leads vendors will become obsolete and DMCOs will become the norm. Why is that? It’s because consumers will demand the ability to receive accurate and bindable quote comparisons 24/7 without having to go to multiple web sites or being ambushed by other agents in the process. As for the agents, they don’t want to be one of the unwelcomed and uninvited producers who are also reaching out to the on-line shopper. If the lead didn’t come from the producer’s own web form, then they understand that they truly don’t have control of the prospects lead data and they certainly can’t leverage their own technology in the process.
As previously stated, whoever controls the lead data wins. That said, if the lead data is originally entered into the technology of choice of the DMCO subscriber, the subscriber wins since it is assumed that they are exclusively controlling the lead data and have chosen the technology that works best for them and their agency’s work flow. Going back to the above quote & bind example, this technology essentially allows the agent to be open and producing new business 24/7 without necessarily having to lift a finger in the process. That said if the agent wants to keep that new client and wants to avoid an E&O claim, and leverage cross sale opportunities, following up with the new client is a must.
In Addition to Controlling the Lead Data – Other Reasons why DMCOs are Superior to Leads Vendors
- As the DMCO subscriber’s technology changes for the better, she can change it within her account without any interruption of lead campaigns.
- Within the insurance industry, carriers that use captives and/or independent agents can participate in a DMCO as affiliate partners, encouraging and supporting their best agents within their specific target markets to claim their zip codes and insurance lead types all while offering the best in class technology (i.e. quote & bind web forms) to their producing agents.
- DMCOs coupled with individual producer level quote & bind web forms are the end game in the world of digital marketing for insurance. Let’s face it consumers want it all! They want the choice and speed that the web offers at the same time they want to know that there is a local face behind the policy they can contact with questions and help.
- As quote & bind web forms become common place for both Insurtech direct writers and the local insurance agent, getting found on page one searches will become way too expensive for the local agent but not the local agent that subscribes to a DMCO.
- DMCOs are duplicatable. In other words, anyone within any service industry can join as many DMCOs as they wish. In fact, for a modest monthly subscription fee to 1Lead1Buyer, anyone can start a DMCO of their own.
In conclusion, while I’ve been a student and practitioner within the insurance industry for the past 32 years, I know that change is the only constant and that I truly don’t know it all. That said historically, Co-Ops of various forms have always helped the little guy and gal succeed in the past. I’m confident that DMCOs will lead the way well into the 21st century for digital marketing for all service industries. Lastly, what I do know I freely share with others and in exchange if you have something to teach me about this subject, I’m all ears.
Thanks for reading and always remember, together we’re better.
About Carl Moulton
As a second generation insurance professional having served over 30 years in the industry, I am passionate about advancing the success of the local agency distribution channel on line for the benefit of the insurance consumer. It is for this reason Lee Rogers and I have created datMoose, a Co-Op Digital Marketing company. While being a separate business as Florida Insurance Group, datMoose operates as a supporting business along side of the Florida Insurance Group in which I am still the Operations Manager. To learn more about an active Digital Marketing Co-Op being operated by datMoose, please visit InsuranceComet.com. I am pleased to be a part of Florida Insurance Group which takes the best of both worlds, i.e. the speed and convenience of the web without giving up the role as the consumer advocate with personal service and help to the insurance consumer.
As a second generation insurance professional having served over 30 years in the industry, I am passionate about advancing the success of the local agency distribution channel on line for the benefit of the insurance consumer. It is for this reason Lee Rogers and I have created datMoose, a Co-Op Digital Marketing company. While being a separate business as Florida Insurance Group, datMoose operates as a supporting business along side of the Florida Insurance Group in which I am still the Operations Manager. To learn more about an active Digital Marketing Co-Op being operated by datMoose, please visit InsuranceComet.com.
I am pleased to be a part of Florida Insurance Group which takes the best of both worlds, i.e. the speed and convenience of the web without giving up the role as the consumer advocate with personal service and help to the insurance consumer.
