Stop leading with your products and start with your customers
Every business understands its products inside out. You know how they work, what makes them different and why your customers should choose them.
But have you ever stopped to consider whether your content is giving customers the information they actually need?
One of the key phrases I always say to clients, is “don’t wee all over your website.”
It’s memorable because it highlights a common problem. Most business content focuses on the company.
- “We do this”
- “We offer that”
- “We’ve been established since…”
The problem with that is it’s all about the business, and nothing about what your customers want.
Whilst this article focuses on insurance copywriting, the same principle applies across almost every sector. Customers rarely care about your products as much as you do. What they care about is solving a problem, reducing a risk or achieving an outcome.
In the insurance sector, customers are unlikely to wake up excited about comparing exclusions, limits and levels of cover. They are thinking about protecting their family, safeguarding their home or keeping their business running if something goes wrong.
Yet insurance copywriting often begins with the policy.
It introduces the product, lists its features and explains the cover before giving the reader a meaningful reason to care.
The information may be accurate, but that does not automatically make it interesting, reassuring or persuasive.
If you want your insurance communications to connect with customers, stop leading with the policy and start with the person.
Insurance customers are buying protection, not paperwork
People do not buy life insurance because they are fascinated by insurance products. They buy it because they care about the people who depend on them.
A business owner does not arrange liability insurance because they want another policy document. They want confidence that an unexpected claim will not put everything they have built at risk.
Of course, the policy matters, but for the policyholder, it is the means of achieving an outcome, whether that’s financial security, business continuity, stability or reassurance.
As a copywriter for insurance businesses, I tell clients that understanding this difference could be the crux of whether their content resonates with audiences.
This is what I mean.
Compare these two statements.
✖️ Policy focused: We provide a wide range of commercial liability policies.
✔️ Person focused: Protect your business from the legal costs and disruption that can follow an unexpected claim.
The first tells the reader what the company sells, while the second helps the reader understand why it might matter to them.
Both messages can be accurate, but only one prioritises the customer’s situation.
Why accurate insurance content can still fail to connect
Insurance products are complex. Your copy needs to be accurate and use appropriate wording, and you’ll need stringent internal approval processes to ensure compliance.
But when you’re searching for an insurance policy, how often does the content sound like it’s been written for an internal product team rather than a customer?
Often, website content for insurance providers focuses on product categories, levels of cover, and technical features.
But your customers are basing their search around obvious questions.
They are thinking about –
- What could happen to me?
- Would I be protected?
- Could I afford the consequences?
- What happens if I need to make a claim?
- Can I trust this company to support me?
Good insurance copywriting does not need to omit necessary product details, but it will help the reader understand why those details are relevant.
When you work closely with a product every day, it is easy to lead with what it does. An external reader is more likely to care about what it changes, prevents or protects.
Why insurance copywriting should change for different audiences
If you’ve ever read my article on how to tailor copywriting for different audiences, you’ll know that I advocate being as clear as possible in your content. My top tip is to always have a specific person in mind when you are writing – that way, it resonates and sounds more genuine because you know WHO you are talking to.
As a professional copywriter, I know how to tailor blog content to reach key audiences, even when discussing the same insurance product.
Let’s take life insurance as a prime example.
The product may be available to a wide audience, but the reasons for considering it will vary considerably. Your customer’s circumstances affect the questions they ask, the risks they prioritise and the language that will feel relevant to them.
Are you writing for a family?
A family may be thinking about a joint policy, mortgage repayments and the financial effect of losing one household income.
✖️ Policy focused: We offer flexible life insurance policies with a range of cover options.
✔️Person focused: If something happened to you or your partner, would your family have enough financial support to remain in their home?
The second version does not immediately explain every aspect of the policy; that can come much later in your article. But ideally, your insurance copywriter should begin with the situation the reader is trying to address.
Are you writing for a single parent?
A single parent may have different priorities than families. They may be particularly concerned about affordability and the future financial security of their children.
✖️ Policy focused: Choose from a range of affordable life insurance policies.
✔️ Person-focused: Life insurance can help provide financial support for your children if you are no longer there to provide for them.
Again, the underlying product has not changed, but the message’s relevance has. By explaining to your audience that you really understand their intent, your insurance copywriter is showing that you are the right person for their needs. And now that more and more customers are seeking advice and guidance via AI tools, incorporating user understanding could improve your AI visibility.
Professional insurance copywriters will start with what the customer wants to protect
If you’re looking to refresh your website content, kick off a new blog strategy or invest in PR and media relations outreach, it’s important to ask yourself one important question:
What does this customer want to protect?
The answer may be their family’s future, their income, their home, their reputation or the company they have spent years building.
Once you understand that, you can ask more useful questions.
- What situation are they worried about?
- What might happen if they take no action?
- What information would help them feel more confident?
- What language would make the issue easier to understand?
- What objections could prevent them from acting?
These questions will lead to better-performing website content because customers’ wants and needs will inform the article rather than policy features.
They also make it easier to translate features into meaningful customer outcomes.
Look inside your insurance business for better content ideas
Insurance businesses are full of useful knowledge, and the trick to great content is to turn that information into something that customers can use.
I always tell clients that some of their best ideas may already exist in their heads; they just don’t realise it. For insurance brands, the conversations you are having with brokers, claims specialists, customer service teams and relationship managers are a potential content goldmine.
That’s because your colleagues are the ones who know where customers become confused. They hear the questions people ask before buying and see the issues that arise when someone needs to claim.
One of my top recommendations for insurance brands is to shift content meetings away from what the business wants to promote and toward what customers have been concerned about recently.
This is a helpful tip for all sectors because
- A customer question could become a helpful website article.
- An anonymised claims insight could reveal a commonly misunderstood risk.
- A conversation with a broker could become a practical guide.
- An interview with a senior expert could become a thought leadership article, a comprehensive research report, media comment and series of social posts.
You already have the raw material; you need to think about how to repurpose it and explain it through the customer’s eyes.
Customer-focused does not mean oversimplified
There is an important distinction between making insurance content understandable and removing important detail.
Of course, customer-focused writing should not minimise risk, make unrealistic promises or disguise the terms of a policy. You need to be clear and concise while meeting your regulatory needs.
But you can present the information in a logical order that matches individual customers.
- Begin with the person and their situation.
- Explain the potential consequence.
- Introduce the protection or support available.
- Then provide the detail they need to make an informed decision.
This approach respects the reader’s intelligence. It also gives them enough context to understand why the technical information matters.
The best insurance content answers human questions
I think that the strongest insurance website content is rarely the content with the longest feature list. Instead, it’s the content that demonstrates a clear understanding of the customer’s situation.
Customers aren’t visiting your website to learn about policy wording; they want answers to their questions and to feel confident that your insurance products meet their needs.
The most effective insurance brands understand that people rarely start their journey by researching policy wording. They are coming to you because they have a concern, a responsibility or a risk they want to manage.
That’s why strong insurance content doesn’t just explain products.
It helps customers understand why those products exist in the first place.
Do you need freelance copywriting services to support your insurance marketing team?
Does your insurance content explain your products without showing customers why they should care?
Before publishing your next webpage, blog article or press release, ask yourself one simple question:
What does my customer need to understand?
If you can answer that clearly, you’re already ahead of many insurance brands.
I help insurance brokers, providers and brands turn complex expertise into clear, customer-focused copy, thought leadership and media content.
Talk to me about insurance copywriting support or follow me on LinkedIn