The MediaAlpha platform offers insurance carriers the transparency and granularity they need to identify the right shoppers and bid the right price for every new customer. But if you’re not also taking advantage of our platform’s integrations with outside data sources and business partners, you’re missing out on added value that can take your customer acquisition to the next level.
For instance, our conversion tracking integration creates a communication channel between the MediaAlpha platform and your customer relationship management (CRM) database, allowing you to see which shoppers purchased a policy after clicking on one of your ads. In turn, this empowers you to optimize your future spending by focusing on the consumers who are most valuable to your business.
Meanwhile, our data passing integration enables you to receive the information that a consumer has provided on a publisher’s website once they click on your ad. This reduces the amount of additional information you’ll need to collect after the consumer arrives at your site, streamlining the user experience and making the shopper more likely to convert.
But those are just two examples. To learn more about the power of platform integrations, we reached out to our VP of product, Robert Perine. During our conversation, Robert gave us an overview of how these features work, what they can do for our partners, and which challenges we’re working to solve with integrations in the future.
MediaAlpha: So, what exactly is an integration on the MediaAlpha platform?
Robert Perine: An integration is when our platform interfaces with another platform or another source of data. Sometimes we’re facilitating a connection that pulls data or information into our system, and sometimes we’re pushing information out to a third party.
MA: What is the benefit of MediaAlpha’s integrations for advertisers?
RP: Generally speaking, our integrations always serve to accomplish one of two things: Either we’re helping our advertising partners make smarter bidding decisions, or we’re helping them make their transactions more valuable after the bid.
For instance, integrations like conversion tracking augment the data our partners have available for decision-making purposes, primarily when it comes to two key questions: “Is this the right customer for me?” and “What is the right price for me to pay for this customer?” On the flip side, integrations like data passing increase the likelihood that the consumer will convert after the transaction, which makes the transaction more valuable for our advertisers.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a virtuous cycle for our partners. The augmented data allows you to make smarter decisions, and then those decisions generate a greater return on investment because you’re generating more value from every click.
MediaAlpha: What are some of the other ways our integrations can help insurance carriers make smarter customer acquisition decisions?
RP: There are a couple interesting examples in the leads space. We integrate with verification companies like Jornaya and ActiveProspect, who work with publishers to track the consumer’s behavior while they’re filling out a lead form. This allows insurance carriers to verify that the leads they’ve purchased have consented to being called about purchasing a policy.
But we’ve also seen carriers use the information they receive from these data providers in other interesting ways. For instance, these integrations also allow insurance brands to see how long it took the consumer to fill out a quote form on a publisher website, as well as how much time elapsed between the consumer filling out the form and the carrier getting the lead.
So, when carriers analyze the data, they might find that there’s a correlation between performance and the amount of time the consumer took to fill out the quote form. If people just rush through the form, they could be inputting bogus information. On the other hand, carriers might be suspicious of consumers who spend too much time on the form because there may be lower intent there. So you can look at this data and say, “Maybe there’s a sweet spot where the consumer takes around two minutes to fill out the form. And if that’s the case, we should bid more for those shoppers because we think they’re more likely to convert.”
That’s an example of an integration with data providers who offer information about the context of the search. We also do integrations with data providers that can append additional attributes about the consumer, such as whether they’re homeowners or have a mortgage worth a certain amount of money.
MediaAlpha: What separates our approach to these kinds of integrations from other technology providers in the insurance customer acquisition space?
RP: We’re talking about the benefits of doing this early and often, and we’re truly consulting with our partners about how to bid more effectively, how to get more value, and how to pay the right price for every consumer.
Even when other companies have similar capabilities, they’re not proactive about recommending them to customers the way that we are. In some cases, these companies can be really reluctant about supporting the integrations their customers want, ultimately degrading trust. We’re always working to set up our customers with new features that can get them even a little bit more efficiency, and we’re always trying to execute at a higher level than anybody else.
MA: What’s one challenge your team is working to solve in the coming months?
RP: One thing we’re thinking about is telematics data. We’re researching this because we recognize that usage-based insurance has renewed interest among both carriers and consumers, due to changes in people’s driving patterns throughout the pandemic. And telematics data, or consumer driving data, is key to helping carriers offer policies whose premiums correspond with the consumer’s mileage.
We want to enable an efficient marketplace based on the value of a consumer, and if the best way to write a policy for a consumer is based on how they drive, then we want to be part of that.
Interested in learning more about MediaAlpha’s integrations? Reach out to your client success manager or schedule a demo with us.