Life Transitions Case Study: A Time to Sell or Educate?
Posted on May 7, 2009
Filed Under Content, Content Marketing, Web Sites |
Since the concept of “content marketing” seems hot these days, here’s a mini case study that illustrates the difference between a content-marketing web approach (educate through content, then sell) and a traditional approach (sell, then educate, maybe).
I zeroed in on what I call life-transition or life-event content. Insurance companies have for many years published information about major life events, presumably to get consumers to take action on new financial needs (have a child . . . buy first life insurance policy) or to revisit past decisions (get divorced, re-do estate plan). However, companies vary widely in how they write and position their life-event content. The main difference: whether they see life events as merely an opportunity to sell more products or as an opportunity to create “smarter” consumers who then reward the company with even more sales and long-term loyalty. This distinction is crucial.
MassMutual and MetLife illustrate the difference perfectly. Both publish and promote extensive life-event information. But only one subscribes to a true content-marketing approach. Can you guess which one?
Let’s consider MassMutual first. The company wins points by evincing a strong content-marketing focus on its home page, asking visitors “How can we help you today?” Helping is what content marketing is all about. It then offers four navigation paths into the site: “Browse by Feature,” “Browse by Life Events,” “Business Needs,” and “News Center.”
When you click “Life Events” and then “More” to access the full list of events, you come to two subheads. The first, called “Current Situation,” lists nine discrete life events. These are the standard events we typically see on web sites: children, divorce, new home, etc. The second sub-head is called “General Planning.” The topics underneath this subhead don’t appear to be geared to specific life events, focusing more on topics such as “Insurance Protection,” “Retirement, and “Ultra High Net Worth.”
Here’s where it gets interesting. Let’s click on the “Marriage Life Event.”
The page starts well with a few lines of stage-setting content. Then it encourages the reader to consider the following options: Disability Income Insurance, Individual Retirement Account, Life Insurance, etc. Now, if you click on DI, you discover you’ve landed on a generic DI product page. It has nothing to do with marriage, even though getting married raises questions about DI coverage. All of the links on the page drill down on various aspects of DI, but again, not from the perspective of getting married.
In navigating this page, it doesn’t take long to realize it’s more about promoting the sale of disability insurance than educating consumers about the financial impact of marriage.
Now let’s back up a level. To be fair, under “Related Information,” a link takes you to a discussion of the “new economic realities facing today’s young couples.” The page is interesting as far as it goes. I just wish there was more of it.
So here’s my beef. I have no problem with promoting sales. Without sales, of course, we’d all be on the street. But why dangle the lure of educational content in front of prospects without actually delivering the goods?
OK, let’s shift the camera over to MetLife. Oddly enough, its home page appears to be very product focused, with a cute picture of a Dad and his child dominating the page, promoting the company’s “Life Insurance Selector.” Other home page elements are variable annuities, term life and disability, auto insurance, and dental. But this product-centric impression quickly vanishes when you click on the “Life Advice” NAV choice. This takes you to a page that divides “Life Advice” into six sub-categories: Retirement, Finances, Life Transitions, Health, Insurance, and Safety & Security. Each one of these pages takes you to another page with sub-links that drill down on each topic. Very nice.
Clicking on “Life Transitions” illustrates MetLife’s approach.
The sub-categories are really strong, although not all are phrased as transitions, per se. But that’s a fine point. Now let’s click on “Getting Married.”
Unlike MassMutual, MetLife actually delivers on its promise of delivering helpful content to soon-to-be-married and newlywed consumers. Each of the four sub-choices expands into a robust hunk of useful content. Plus, the “References” and “Helpful Links” page list many other sources of credible information.
So there you have it . . . the distinction between a content marketing approach (educate, then sell) and a conventional sales approach (sell, then educate . . . maybe). In today’s environment of diminished trust, the former approach is a great way to rebuild trust in our companies and ultimately create long-term client relationships. Give it a try!
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One Response to “Life Transitions Case Study: A Time to Sell or Educate?”
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Harry, you make some good points here. Decades ago, when the Internet was just a baby I remember loving the MetLife website precisely for one of the reason you point to. That site, at least at that time, had good, rich educational content. I could go there for objective information. And I found myself telling many others how much I enjoyed the site. Many people heard me recommend that they go there. Is this a case of do unto others as you would have them do unto you? I believe so.