Developers have begun using digital tools to build lasting connections with buyers well after they’ve moved in, says Zafer Akyel, Director, Solutions Engineering & Architecture EMEA of martech platform WebEngage

Renewals are the lifeblood of any insurance business.

They signify trust, satisfaction, and the willingness of policyholders to stick with your brand amidst a sea of competitors. Yet, as customer expectations evolve, retaining policies has become a challenge that demands more than competitive pricing or service. It requires a reimagined approach to customer engagement—one that combines personalization, proactivity, and advanced technology.

Here’s how insurers can leverage cutting-edge engagement tools to transform their renewal strategies and drive retention like never before.

The Challenge of Retention: What’s at Stake?

Policyholder behaviour has shifted dramatically: Customers today expect more than reminders—they want interactions that feel personal, timely, and relevant to their unique needs. According to industry reports, a staggering percentage of lapsed policies can be attributed to poor communication and a lack of proactive engagement during critical moments, like renewal periods.

This isn’t just a lost revenue problem; it’s a missed opportunity to build lifetime customer value (CLV) and brand loyalty. For insurers, the ability to hold onto existing policyholders is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones—a fact that underscores the importance of rethinking engagement strategies.

Why Retention is the C-suite’s Priority

At its core, policy renewal isn’t just about extending coverage—it’s about demonstrating value, building trust, and deepening customer relationships. In today’s insurance ecosystem, where policyholders are empowered by choice, loyalty can no longer be taken for granted.

For executives, this isn’t just a matter of customer satisfaction; it’s a key lever for profitability. A single percentage point increase in retention rates can lead to exponential growth in long-term revenue. More importantly, it lays the groundwork for creating advocates—customers who not only renew but actively recommend your brand in a crowded marketplace.

However, achieving this requires a paradigm shift. Insurers must move beyond transactional interactions and embrace a proactive, personalized, and technology-driven approach to engagement.

Balancing Technology with Human Touch

While technology is a game-changer, the human element in insurance remains irreplaceable. Advanced tools should complement, not replace, the personal touch that policyholders value. A chatbot can initiate a conversation, but a well-timed call from an agent can close the loop, reinforcing trust and loyalty.

The Role of Advanced Engagement in Modern Renewals

Modern policyholders demand seamless, intuitive experiences. Advanced engagement tools are enabling insurers to meet these expectations by transforming how they interact with their customers across the entire renewal journey. Here’s how:

1. Precision with AI and Data Analytics

Data is the currency of modern customer engagement. AI-powered tools allow insurers to analyze policyholder behaviour, identify renewal risks, and predict preferences with unparalleled accuracy. These insights enable hyper-targeted campaigns, ensuring that every communication is timely, relevant, and adds value.

For example, an AI-driven system can identify a policyholder nearing a significant life milestone, such as a child’s graduation, and offer tailored recommendations that address their evolving coverage needs. This isn’t just engagement; it’s value creation at scale.

2. Omnichannel Strategies for a Connected Experience

Today’s customers expect brands to meet them where they are—be it through email, WhatsApp, mobile apps, or even in-person interactions. An omnichannel approach ensures that policyholders experience consistent, cohesive messaging across all touchpoints.

Imagine a renewal journey that begins with a personalized app notification, followed by an email detailing policy benefits, and culminates with an agent-initiated video call for clarifications. This level of integration and personalization doesn’t just improve the renewal experience; it strengthens trust and loyalty.

3. Proactive Engagement with Predictive Analytics

Reactive communication is no longer enough. Predictive analytics allows insurers to anticipate churn risks and address them proactively. For instance, if a policyholder’s engagement metrics indicate dissatisfaction, insurers can step in early with tailored offers or personalized outreach to re-establish trust.

This shift from reactive to proactive engagement isn’t just a technological upgrade—it’s a strategic necessity in an industry where timing and relevance can make or break retention.

The Future of Retention: A Data-Driven, Customer-First Approach

The insurance industry is on the cusp of a transformation. Retention strategies driven by advanced engagement tools are setting new benchmarks for what’s possible. By combining data-driven insights, seamless multi-channel communication, and a personalized touch, insurers can turn renewals into a win-win—for their business and their customers.

Renewal isn’t just about extending a policy; it’s about reaffirming the value you bring to your customers’ lives. With the right strategies and tools, insurers can ensure that more policyholders choose to stay year after year.

The question is: Are you ready to reimagine your renewal process?

Views expressed by Durgesh Singh, Director – Strategy & Growth, WebEngage – Link

India, more than other markets, faces challenges in navigating the increasingly complex market tools that have become mainstream, Ankur Gattani, Chief Growth Officer at WebEngage, said while adding that while these tools, often offered by large international companies, still play a significant role in India, they are expensive and underutilised.
However, brands are beginning to recognise the need to optimise their use and to address this, many are turning to more agile solutions, like WebEngage, to bridge the gap, Gattani emphasised.

In a conversation with Marketing Mind, Gattani explained WebEngage’s role in simple terms, highlighting the platform’s capabilities and offerings, saying, “If you’ve taken a flight recently, perhaps booked through MakeMyTrip, you’ve likely experienced the series of upselling attempts that follow- be it offering a preferred seat, a meal, or even a cab service. The idea is simple, maximising the value derived from each customer. This core principle drives what we do.”

For an e-commerce company, it translates into improving the customer journey at every stage of the funnel. For instance, of all the visitors landing on their website, how many convert into customers? Of those making a first purchase, how many proceed to make a second, a third, and beyond? The goal is to enhance customer loyalty and maximise lifetime value.

Furthermore, he went on to say, “For companies in sectors like lending, investing, or insurance, the process involves significant performance and brand marketing across various media channels to drive traffic to their websites and landing pages. Once visitors arrive, the challenge becomes converting them into actionable leads. For instance, how many of these leads complete a form, finalise an insurance purchase, and successfully transition into policyholders?”

At every step of this journey, there are inevitable drop-offs. Out of 100 visitors, perhaps only five end up purchasing insurance. The focus of a WebEngage platform lies in orchestrating this process to optimise results- turning those five into six, seven, or more by refining each stage of the journey, he stated.

When asked about the emphasis on customer retention and omnichannel marketing at the core of WebEngage’s offerings, and how the platform empowers brands to leverage these strategies to build enduring customer relationships, Gattani elaborated that the process begins with data unification, a critical step for most brands that typically operate in silos. They often rely on disconnected systems like offline retail platforms, CRM, or POS systems, each managing its own customer data and communication stack. These silos extend further with separate transaction data for online activities, stored in CRMs or order management systems, and behavioral data collected from online interactions.

Additionally, brands utilise various tools for customer engagement, such as Mailchimp for emails, a WhatsApp messaging tool, and SMS platforms, resulting in fragmented data streams.

“Step one is to consolidate all this data into a unified platform. This brings together a customer’s profile, transaction history, purchase patterns, and browsing behavior in one place. With a unified view, WebEngage enables seamless orchestration of communication channels like SMS, email, WhatsApp, push notifications, and browser notifications from a single dashboard. This ensures that preferences, such as whether a customer engages more via email or WhatsApp, are clearly identified and optimised,” Gattani said.

“The two core elements in this approach are data unification and multi-channel engagement orchestration. With WebEngage, brands can design workflow-driven journeys tailored to individual customer behaviors. For example, a customer might first receive a WhatsApp message. If they respond, a follow-up email is sent; if not, they might receive an IVR call. Once a transaction is completed, a thank-you message is sent. These workflows can extend across 100 steps or more, allowing precise planning of the customer experience,” he added.

Furthermore, he went on to say that the third and most vital element is personalisation. It ensures that every communication is relevant and context-aware. For instance, imagine a customer has been browsing a specific piece of jewelry on an e-commerce platform like Giva for several days. WebEngage ensures that communications, whether on WhatsApp or email, reference that exact item, acknowledging the customer’s interest. This level of personalisation significantly boosts engagement compared to generic, mass communications. Each customer receives messaging tailored to their unique journey and preferences.

Gattani emphasised their commitment to helping customers achieve concrete results through effective consumer engagement strategies, explaining that over the past three quarters, they have significantly enhanced their consulting practice at WebEngage.

“Our approach goes beyond merely providing tools and platforms because the customers approaching us aren’t just looking to purchase software- they’re seeking solutions to specific problems. For example, in the e-commerce industry, key metrics often revolve around revenue contribution from first-party data. This includes data that brands directly collect from their customers through channels like emails and phone numbers,” he said.

“To put it into perspective, revenue sources for e-commerce businesses typically include Google, Facebook, brand-driven direct traffic (through TV ads and other platforms), and WebEngage, which leverages first-party data. In digital marketing, first-party data refers to information a company has about its own customers, and the goal is to effectively utilise this data to drive a meaningful share of revenue. For a pure-play e-commerce company, a good benchmark would be achieving around 20% of revenue from first-party data,” he added.

Gattani highlighted that achieving this requires deep collaboration with the customers, focusing on their key funnels- essentially the paths users take on their websites. For instance, WebEngage analyses metrics like how many visitors convert into buyers and identify opportunities for improvement. This could involve targeted messaging on specific pages, such as cart or product pages, to boost conversion rates. Segmentation plays a critical role here- distinguishing between first-time customers, repeat customers, or even segmenting based on behavior.

“Take Swiggy as an example. You might notice a “Try New” voucher when browsing restaurants you’ve never ordered from before. Once you order from a restaurant, that voucher disappears. Platforms like WebEngage enable this level of personalisation, which significantly improves conversion rates,” Gattani said.

He added that another key focus area is improving repeat orders, often analysed through cohorts. For instance, customers acquired in January (those who placed their first order) are tracked to see how many place a second order. Further segmentation can be applied- e.g., by product categories like shirts or shoes, or by platform usage such as mobile versus web. Based on these insights, interventions are designed to encourage higher repeat rates. This process involves continuous campaign optimisation and identifying new problem statements. These incremental improvements, when compounded, deliver substantial long-term value for our clients. Gattani mentioned, “We currently serve around 800 customers across India and the Middle East. Industry-wise, e-commerce leads the way, followed by travel, with these two sectors collectively accounting for approximately 40-45% of our customer base. Next, at a macro level, is the BFSI segment, encompassing banking, financial services, and insurance, with a notable focus on investing, lending, and insurance.”

“In e-commerce and retail, we are increasingly collaborating with apps that not only focus on their online presence but are also expanding their entire retail ecosystem to integrate with our solutions,” he added.
WebEngage has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, and Gattani shed light on the key factors fueling this success while offering a glimpse into the company’s future direction, stating that the realisation that brands must prioritise meaningful retention has gained significant traction, especially in the aftermath of the post-COVID boom and bust. With venture capital funding initially ramping up but later becoming scarce, questions about profitability and sustainability have emerged as critical concerns.

In this context, retention has proven to be a vital strategy for making brands more capital-efficient. By driving greater revenue from existing customers, brands can reduce their reliance on expensive acquisition channels like Google and Facebook, thus optimising their resources.

“On a broader scale, this shift towards retention has spurred growth in our category, as brands increasingly recognise the importance of solving for user engagement and retention. This trend is twofold. Firstly, there is growing awareness about the value of retention, which creates demand for our solutions. Secondly, over the past few quarters, we’ve noticed an increasing interest in not just adopting tools but also addressing the underlying challenges alongside clients. Since retention is still a relatively nascent focus for many brands, there is a limited talent pool equipped to tackle these challenges effectively,” he said.

To bridge this gap, they have invested heavily in education and community-building efforts. Through our academy, they offer online courses, offline workshops, and mixers, enabling customers to extract maximum value from our platform. These initiatives have strengthened customer confidence by ensuring they’re not just adopting tools but leveraging them effectively to address real problems, he added.

He mentioned, “Looking ahead, the complexity of mainstream market tools has posed challenges for most markets, particularly in India. While large international companies continue to play a significant role, their tools, though effective, are often expensive and underutilised. Brands are increasingly recognising the need for better utilisation and are gravitating towards more agile and adaptable solutions like ours, which offer greater efficiency and value.”

Meanwhile, Ankit Utreja, Co-founder and CTO of WebEngage, said that 2024 has been a pivotal year for the martech industry, marked by the rapid adoption of AI-powered tools that are redefining how brands interact with their customers. Industries like e-commerce, retail, ed-tech, and fintech have embraced hyper-personalisation and predictive analytics, creating a strong demand for solutions that enable meaningful, individualised customer journeys across multiple touchpoints.

“At WebEngage, we empower brands by helping them boost user engagement, optimise marketing ROAS, and significantly enhance customer lifetime value— all while upholding the highest standards of data privacy and transparency,” he said.

This year, AI transitioned from being a buzzword to becoming a critical enabler innovation in every sphere including digital marketing.

“Looking ahead, we believe AI will continue to shape the martech landscape, empowering brands to deliver hyper-personalized experiences at scale and foster lasting customer relationships. However, it’s crucial that generative AI is leveraged ethically, transparently, and with a customer-centric approach. At WebEngage, we remain committed to providing personalised, compliant solutions that not only strengthen retention strategies but also inspire trust and stability,” Utreja said.

“Our ZeroPII Customer Data Platform (CDP)(TM) is set to redefine the customer engagement landscape for enterprises by empowering hyper-personalized campaigns with a no-code solution while keeping the PII data in their own infrastructure. With ZeroPII(TM) CDP, we are committed to help enterprises be compliant with Data Privacy regulations like DPDP, establishing ourselves as a leader in customer privacy and data security compliance, all while empowering brands to deliver personalized experiences with the highest standards of data privacy. As marketing evolves to rely more on real-time insights and automation in 2025, we are excited to navigate this transformation and help brands deliver impactful, resonant experiences for their customers,” he added.

Reflecting on 2024, Ankit Utreja, Co-founder & CTO, WebEngage says, “2024 has been a pivotal year for the martech industry, marked by the rapid adoption of AI-powered tools that are redefining how brands interact with their customers. Industries like e-commerce, retail, ed-tech, and fintech have embraced hyper-personalization and predictive analytics, creating a strong demand for solutions that enable meaningful, individualized customer journeys across multiple touchpoints. At WebEngage, we empower brands by helping them boost user engagement, optimize marketing ROAS, and significantly enhance customer lifetime value—all while upholding the highest standards of data privacy and transparency.

This year, AI transitioned from being a buzzword to becoming a critical enabler innovation in every sphere including digital marketing. Looking ahead, we believe AI will continue to shape the martech landscape, empowering brands to deliver hyper-personalized experiences at scale and foster lasting customer relationships. However, it’s crucial that generative AI is leveraged ethically, transparently, and with a customer-centric approach. At WebEngage, we remain committed to providing personalised, compliant solutions that not only strengthen retention strategies but also inspire trust and stability. Our ZeroPII Customer Data Platform (CDP)(TM) is set to redefine customer engagement landscape for enterprises by empowering hyper-personalized campaigns with a no-code solution while keeping the PII data in their own infrastructure. With ZeroPII (TM) CDP, we are committed to help enterprises being compliant with Data Privacy regulations like DPDP, establishing ourselves as a leader in customer privacy and data security compliance, all while empowering brands to deliver personalized experiences with the highest standards of data privacy. As marketing evolves to rely more on real-time insights and automation in 2025, we are excited to navigate this transformation and help brands deliver impactful, resonant experiences for their customers.”

In a landmark move set to redefine customer engagement standards in the aviation sector, WebEngage, a globally recognized leader in marketing technology (MarTech) flynas, has announced a strategic partnership with flynas, the Middle East’s award-winning low-cost airline. flynas has embraced WebEngage solutions for audience segmentation and automated messaging, which have grown in usage and reputation in the Middle East.

WebEngage’s customer data platform (CDP)-powered solutions stack is renowned for helping businesses design and optimize customer journeys and utilise their data to create hyper-personalized interactions across email, social media, chat, and SMS. WebEngage’s full-stack solutions have significantly enhanced the customer engagement and experience of different airlines operating in the Middle East’s burgeoning travel and tourism industry, as well as travel booking and experience providers like Wego and TBO Tek. 

WebEngage’s demonstrated success in that domain paved the way for the partnership. Hetarth Patel, Vice President – Growth Markets (MEA, Americas, APAC), WebEngage at WebEngage, shared his enthusiasm for the collaboration. “We are delighted to partner with flynas as they embark on this exciting journey of growth and innovation,” said Hetarth. “They are the gold standard in the low-cost-airline niche and have hit remarkable heights in the number of passengers who have flown with them in the last quarter. We’re excited to be partnering with them at such an important juncture in their journey and hope to set new customer satisfaction standards in the industry alongside them.”

WebEngage’s full-stack marketing platform is used by more than 800 brands across India, the Middle East & Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, and in industries such as retail, travel, EdTech, finance, and telecommunication. The SaaS company established data residency in KSA recently, reducing regulatory barriers for its local clients, supporting their compliance, and reaffirming its commitment to the Kingdom’s grand aspirations for its digital economy. 

About WebEngage

WebEngage helps consumer brands engage and retain their customers towards higher lifetime value and marketing ROI. The product stack includes a robust customer data and analytics platform – unifying data across silos, the best-in-class engagement layer with a multi-channel journey builder and a personalization engine that helps boost conversion for all channels including the web and mobile apps. 

Ranked #1 consistently across all review platforms on ease of use and comprehensiveness of the platform, WebEngage is used by 800+ brands across India, the Middle East Africa, Latin America and South East Asian markets. The roster across  E-Commerce & Travel,  Edtech, BFSI & Fintech industries includes brands like Sony World, Unilever, IKEA, MakeMyTrip, Jarir’s Imtiaz Al Arabia , DU Telecom, Zakat Tax & Customs Authority Saudi Arabia, Al Faisaliah Group, Airtel, Valu, Halan, Midas Furniture, Platinumlist, Nice, Wego, MZAD Qatar, Abdul Latif Jameel group, Jazeera Paints, Walmart, Myntra, Unacademy, Pepperfry, GoIbibo, Adani One, PFI Mega Life, PasarPolis, Groww, Acko, Blackberrys among others.

To learn more about the WebEngage, please click: https://webengage.com/