Hot Rod: My Blog

Insurance in a Digital World

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:11:29 -0400

We all own insurance in one form or another. The insurance could either be auto, liability; medical or life, insurance will serve as an excellent risk management tool in our day to day activities. It is therefore cardinal to have the right kind of insurance to safeguard a good financial plan.

The business of insurance is rapidly changing. The tactics that conventional marketers used to sell insurance no longer makes the cut. In this fast paced business environment, the need to come up with new revenue streams for the business cannot be over-emphasized.

Statistics reveal that over 85% of customers use the internet to find their next policy. These customers spend hours on the internet searching for policies that suite their requirements and cheaper. This has prompted underwriters to spend billions of advertising dollars to entice current and would be customers to shop for their next policy on their website. It has become apparent that the management and the marketing system should seamlessly integrate the growing need for online insurance information with your insurance business.

The Role of Mobile “App” in Insurance

In this day and age, most adverts you see on TV or the internet have some connection to smartphones or the mobile revolution. The Wall street journal calls it “Web 3.0”. Mobile phones are no longer used for communication only, but have become a way of life.

According to Pingdom, a site monitoring firm, the percentage of mobile usage in Africa has soared from 5.81% in 2010 to 14.85% in 2012. Currently six African countries, Zambia (47.09%), Sudan (44.95), Nigeria (40.65%), Zimbabwe (37.95%), Ethiopia (31.79%) and Kenya (29.2%) are among the global players in the countries with the highest share of mobile traffic. With these statistics, it is possible that all searches on the internet will be made from the mobile device by early 2013.

To successfully have mobile user’s access insurance quotes from their mobile devices, speed and convenience is critical. The mobile web should be easy to navigate, friendly and enjoyable for prospects to interact with insurance agencies. HubSpot, a mobile marketing and research firm reports that the likelihood of mobile users becoming your client is as much as 78%.

The challenge of not having the Apps discoverable or searched on the web can be averted by advertising the App through online social Media such as Facebook and linked-in. further, communities or professional bodies such as American Marketing Association (AMA) can directly be marketed to.

In summary, the mobile App will enable prospects acquire quick quotes, do customers reviews and rate past experiences with insurance companies. It is therefore time to adjust insurance marketing strategy to be in line and online with the majority of its prospects

http://www.astonish.com/

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=32134

http://www.agencyrevolution.com/blog/entryid/1399/mobile-app-or-mobile-optimized-site

Launch of Airtel Money

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:53:48 -0400

Launch of Airtel Money

We co-exist despite being fierce competitors.

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:30:21 -0400

We co-exist despite being fierce competitors.

Mobile Banking in Africa

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:46:20 -0400

MANY people know that “mobile money”— financial transactions on mobile phones—have taken off in Africa. How far it has gone, though, still comes as a bit of a shock. Three-quarters of the countries that use mobile money most frequently are in Africa, and mobile banking in some of them has reached extraordinary levels.

A new survey of global financial habits by the Gates Foundation, the World Bank and Gallup World Poll found 20 countries in which more than 10% of adults say they used mobile money at some point in 2011. Of those, 15 are African. In Kenya, Sudan and Gabon half or more of adults used mobile money. In contrast, in countries with more developed financial systems, the share of adults who use mobile money is tiny—1% in Brazil and Argentina. If you think of banking by phone as just a way of using financial services, then these African countries—where people sometimes live several days’ walk from the nearest branch—are much more financially literate than you might think, just by looking at how many banks they have.

Most mobile-phone transactions are tiny. Market traders, for example, use mobile phones to pay peasant farmers for a single bag of cassava or maize-meal. One of the most successful mobile-phone products in Kenya is a SIM card costing just a few cents—but that is all people need for the occasional transaction. Mobile phones are also used to bank remittances from family members abroad. This may explain why mobile money has done so well in Somalia, a country which barely has a government, but where a third of adults said they used mobile money last year. Somalia is one of the countries that most depends on remittances: one study found that 80% of the capital for start-up firms came from the diaspora. Without mobile banking, this lifeline would be weaker than it is.

For the most part, mobile-phone money is a substitute both for paper-based banks and for, say, sending cash via a bus driver. It enables people who cannot get to a branch or ATM to use financial services. This helps offset the bias of the banking system towards the well-educated. In Africa only about 10% of people with primary or no education have bank accounts, compared with 55% of those with tertiary education. But rates of phone banking in some countries are high enough to prove that the practice is spreading beyond university graduates to the rest of the population.

Sometimes, though, mobile banking goes hand in hand with the familiar kind. In Kenya, where a staggering 68% of adults use mobile money (by far the highest rate in the world, partly because regulation is extremely light), more than 40% also have ordinary bank accounts. The leapfrogging technology can also help the old-fashioned kind it has just vaulted over.

"There’s never been a better time to be in advertising, and there’s never been a worse time."

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:51:05 -0400

““There’s never been a better time to be in advertising, and there’s never been a worse time.””

- Aaron Reitkopf, North American CEO of digital agency Profero

Web Challenges

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:07:00 -0400

Since inception, the Web has recorded tremendous success in the likes of Amazon, eBay, Google and Facebook to mention but a few. Further, the recent times have shown that Web access has increased due to the increase in the number of people having access to the internet.

With more people gaining access the internet, issues to do with security become eminent. In this day and age, business and social alike websites will request one to input personal data gain access to their site. One would say it a good tool to use for the purposes of collecting data. But the question is how much data you can collect.

From yesterday class, I realized how impactful the web is and how much reliant we as users have become. With the assertion of security I raised above, the web will have to address that we as customer have when using the web.

A case in point is that of our family airline (flyzambezi.com). Over the years we have realized that Internet Marketing if harnessed well will greatly improve the company’s bottom line. I got to realize that not only will we use the internet for business, but also use Zambezi’s website to market other affiliate companies.

Now most of our customers are very skeptical with making online bookings. They would rather draw cash, drive to the travel agent and have their ticket issued. First time walk in customers are encouraged to use online ticketing but alas, they still come back. When asked, their response is “we don’t trust the internet”. Further, they say it is usually hard to distinguish a genuine or fake website. Once beaten, twice shy.

Other challenges that the web is yet to face is that of user gravitating to mobile Apps. More users are now using phone or tablet Apps to access the sites. The trend is also growing in Africa with 84 million mobile handsets capable of using the internet.

According to Pingdom, a site motoring firm, the percentage of mobile usage in Africa soared from 5.81% in 2012 to 14.85% in 2012. Currently six African countries Zambia - 47.09%), Sudan (44.95%), Nigeria (40.65%), Zimbabwe (37.95%), Ethiopia (31.79%) and Kenya (29.2%) are among the global top players in the countries with the highest share of mobile traffic. You may wish to note that Africa has the highest share among the top ranking nations beating Asia, which has only four countries present on the top ten lists with India as number one.

The web is a very interesting topic that I can discuss hours on end. We in the third world countries need to be educated how secure most sites are and the benefits of using the web. I will share more data on emerging markets in the next coming editions…

nuthmania: hahahaha…lol

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:35:49 -0400

nuthmania:

hahahaha…lol

A week of Browsing

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:34:16 -0400

I have very interesting mornings when I wake up. The first thing I reach out for is my blackberry device. Now, this is a device that would presumable come between me and my future wife (#am just saying). Thanks to Blackberry App world, my device is loaded with the latest social media applications such as blackberry messenger (BBM), Facebook, WhatsApp and GTalk to mention but a few.

Soon as I wake up, I look out for all the updates I may have missed on the many blogs downloaded on my device. You may wish to note that my home country Zambia is 6hrs ahead of the US. Soon after I am done blogging, I move onto more serious matters, the news.

The news will either be read from my iPad or laptop, whichever is closer. The three most important website that I view on a daily basis are;

· http://www.lusakatimes.com/

· http://www.zambianwatchdog.com/

· http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=28148

Interesting enough, I usually get so engrossed with the news that if not managed well, I could miss class or indeed any other appointed I had made for that day. At this point, my friend would see me online on Facebook and would initiate online chat. So, my morning would comprise multitasking on BBM, News, Facebook and email.

What I have mentioned above is a daily routine. Browsing would mostly lead me into shopping. For some reason I just like shopping for clothes. Money allowing, I would be buying clothes every weekend. The occasional sites I play around in for shopping are;

· http://www.tmlewin.co.uk/

· http://www.dsw.com/

· http://www.ralphlauren.com

· http://www.amazon.com/

Business is yet another reason why in find myself browsing. I have been a constant visitor of most Airlines websites in the recent past. I have vested interest in one Airline in Zambia so I find myself visiting these sites.

· http://flyzambezi.com/

Please follow Zambezi Airlines on twitter @flyzambezi

Photo

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:43:10 -0400

Review: "Don't Make Me Think", a common sense approach to web usability

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:37:38 -0400

Introduction to Digital Marketing [Type text] Rodney Malindi Sikumba

Review: Don’t Make Me Think: a common sense approach to web usability I am going to start the review of this book with a full disclosure. In all the companies I have worked for, Digital marketing has not been utilized at all. This is partly because digital marketing is not yet well developed in my home country, Zambia. Obviously, I had pretty much high expectations for the book and indeed it lived up to it. Steve Krug’s “Don’t make me think” a common sense approach to web usability brings into perspective on we in third world countries rely on specialized training to understand the ambiguity regarding the consequences of an action e.g. clicking on order now/delete purchase. In my opinion, the pages in the book are edgy yet simple and straightforward. If you read the book multiple times, you will notice how the author gives you the courage you need to get out there and explore web usability. Being an ardent user of the internet, the book has brought alive what I would consider the good, bad and ugly websites. The author gives recommendation (after visiting numerous sites) to make a page or section more usable. This primarily goes beyond web design. By Going beyond design, it means paying particular attention to content, graphics, and navigation, the first law of usability. Chapter two brings the book more alive as it focuses on the difference between what web designers design and how in reality end users use the web. As web user, we intuitively know what we are looking for scan for a good enough solution that we feel will work. It bad enough to get glued to a web page hours on end. Further in the book, I noticed that instructions are often useless when one is on the web. It is better to make things self-evident, the author says. Browsing comes with it challenges of lack of scale, no sense of direction and not knowing exactly where you are. Therefore navigation is important as it guides us with something to grasp should be visit the site again. Overall, the book wins me; however, if I were to pick takeaways, my favorite would be:  Design pages for scanning, not reading: spending so much time reading on your computer is draining. One should just scan through and get what they want

Introduction to Digital Marketing [Type text] Rodney Malindi Sikumba

 Mindless choices are good: as human being, we don’t like stretching our brains to figure out where “goggle analytics is. Choices must be made easy by just clicking away.  Writing the web: my old time favorite, KISS (keep it short and simple) Above all the thing that I really liked about “don’t make me think” is that it has opened me up to new ideas that I can take home and replicate. I believe, in the near future, digital marketing will become popular in Zambia. This is one of the books I will keep in my book shelf and wait for technology to evolve. Seth Godin would say, “Ignore the book at your own peril”.

What's after Solutions Marketing?: Evolve as a digital marketer today or perish as a marketing professional

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:51:43 -0400

What's after Solutions Marketing?: Evolve as a digital marketer today or perish as a marketing professional:

ashishtandon: Brilliant summary Ashish.

Web Analytics 2.0 takes a very practical and business friendly approach to deciphering the spiel behind Digital marketing. The author has successfully removed the layers of “technical expertise” behind Digital marketing and created a DIY kit for the Digital marketer.

The clearly explained…