Which Industries Should Marketing Agencies Target?
Identifying the best industries for insurance brokers to target can help commercial insurance brokers focus their new-business activity on businesses that match their expertise, insurer relationships and preferred risk profiles.
Rather than approaching every type of UK business, brokers can build prospecting campaigns around sectors where they have a strong proposition.
Potential industries include:
- Construction
- Manufacturing
- Engineering
- Transport and logistics
- Professional services
- Recruitment
- Technology
- Wholesale
- Property
- Facilities management
- Hospitality
- Motor trade
- Healthcare
- Retail
There isn’t one industry that will be right for every insurance broker. The best opportunities will depend on the commercial insurance products you provide, the types of risks you can place and the size of client you want to win.
Table of contents:
Start with Your Insurance Products
Before deciding which industries to target, consider the commercial insurance products you want to sell.
These might include:
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- Professional indemnity
- Commercial property
- Fleet insurance
- Cyber insurance
- Directors and officers insurance
- Product liability
- Business interruption
- Commercial combined insurance
- Contractors insurance
- Motor trade insurance
Different products naturally lead to different target markets.
A broker looking for fleet insurance opportunities may prioritise transport, construction and field service businesses.
A broker specialising in professional indemnity may focus more heavily on consultants, accountants and other professional services firms.
Look at Your Existing Client Base
Your existing commercial clients can provide a useful starting point.
Analyse them by:
- Industry
- Employee numbers
- Turnover
- Premium value
- Products purchased
- Claims history
- Length of relationship
- Profitability
Look for patterns among your strongest accounts.
If your brokerage already performs well within manufacturing, for example, targeting similar manufacturers could be more logical than entering an unfamiliar sector.
Construction
Construction can represent a significant market for commercial insurance brokers because businesses within the sector can face a wide range of risks.
Potential prospects include:
- Building contractors
- Civil engineering companies
- Electrical contractors
- Plumbing contractors
- Roofing companies
- Groundworks contractors
- Mechanical contractors
- Specialist subcontractors
Relevant insurance requirements may include:
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- Contractors all risks
- Plant and equipment cover
- Commercial vehicle insurance
- Professional indemnity
- Commercial property
Construction can also be segmented by trade, employee numbers, turnover and geography.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is another broad market containing businesses with potentially complex commercial insurance requirements.
Potential prospects include:
- Engineering companies
- Food manufacturers
- Machinery manufacturers
- Metal fabricators
- Plastics manufacturers
- Furniture manufacturers
- Packaging companies
- Electrical equipment manufacturers
Potential risks can include:
- Machinery
- Buildings
- Stock
- Employees
- Product liability
- Business interruption
- Vehicles
- Cyber risks
The diversity of the sector also provides opportunities to build campaigns around individual manufacturing specialisms.
Engineering
Engineering businesses can have insurance requirements relating to employees, equipment, contracts and professional responsibilities.
Potential prospects include:
- Mechanical engineers
- Electrical engineers
- Precision engineers
- Civil engineering companies
- Consulting engineers
- Fabrication businesses
Depending on the company, relevant products might include professional indemnity, employers’ liability, public liability, commercial property and engineering-related cover.
Engineering can be particularly suitable for brokers with existing expertise in technical or industrial risks.
Transport and Logistics
Transport and logistics businesses can be attractive prospects for brokers specialising in vehicle-related and commercial risks.
Potential targets include:
- Haulage companies
- Distribution businesses
- Couriers
- Freight companies
- Warehousing businesses
- Logistics providers
- Delivery companies
Insurance requirements may include:
- Fleet insurance
- Goods in transit
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- Commercial property
- Business interruption
Company size and vehicle requirements can vary considerably, making careful segmentation particularly important.
Professional Services
Professional services businesses can provide opportunities for brokers offering professional indemnity and other commercial covers.
Potential sectors include:
- Accountants
- Consultants
- Architects
- Surveyors
- Business advisers
- Marketing agencies
- IT consultants
- Management consultants
Potential insurance requirements include:
- Professional indemnity
- Cyber insurance
- Employers’ liability
- Office insurance
- Directors and officers insurance
These businesses can often be segmented effectively by profession, company size and location.
Recruitment Agencies
Recruitment companies can represent a clearly identifiable B2B prospect audience.
Potential insurance requirements can include:
- Professional indemnity
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- Cyber insurance
- Office insurance
- Directors and officers insurance
Recruitment agencies can range from small owner-managed businesses to national groups, allowing brokers to target different company-size bands.
Technology Companies
Technology businesses can be particularly relevant to brokers offering specialist professional and cyber-related products.
Potential prospects include:
- SaaS companies
- Software developers
- IT consultancies
- Managed service providers
- Cybersecurity companies
- Cloud service providers
- Technology consultancies
Relevant covers may include:
- Professional indemnity
- Cyber insurance
- Employers’ liability
- Directors and officers insurance
- Commercial property
Brokers with experience understanding technology-related risks may be able to create particularly focused propositions for this market.
Wholesale and Distribution
Wholesalers and distributors can have multiple areas of commercial risk.
These can include:
- Stock
- Warehousing
- Vehicles
- Employees
- Products
- Business interruption
- Commercial premises
Potential prospects exist across numerous product categories, allowing brokers to target individual wholesale sectors rather than treating wholesale as one broad market.
Property Businesses
The property sector can provide several potential prospect groups.
These include:
- Commercial property owners
- Property investment companies
- Property management companies
- Residential property companies
- Block management companies
- Property developers
Potential insurance requirements can include:
- Property owners insurance
- Public liability
- Employers’ liability
- Professional indemnity
- Directors and officers insurance
Brokers can further segment this audience according to business type and portfolio characteristics.
Facilities Management
Facilities management companies can have complex operational risks because they may provide services across multiple client sites.
Potential businesses include:
- Facilities management contractors
- Cleaning companies
- Building maintenance providers
- Security companies
- Mechanical and electrical contractors
- Grounds maintenance companies
Relevant insurance requirements may include:
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- Commercial vehicles
- Professional indemnity
- Tools and equipment
Larger facilities management businesses may also operate significant workforces and vehicle fleets.
Hospitality
Hospitality provides a large potential market containing businesses with physical premises, employees and public interaction.
Potential prospects include:
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Pubs
- Cafés
- Event venues
- Leisure businesses
Insurance requirements can include:
- Buildings and contents
- Public liability
- Employers’ liability
- Business interruption
- Stock
- Commercial vehicles
Brokers can target specific hospitality categories rather than approaching the entire industry with the same proposition.
Motor Trade
The motor trade can be particularly relevant for brokers with specialist knowledge.
Potential prospects include:
- Car dealerships
- Used car dealers
- Garages
- MOT centres
- Bodyshops
- Vehicle repair businesses
- Commercial vehicle dealers
These businesses can have specialist insurance requirements that differ from those of a typical office-based company.
This makes industry knowledge particularly valuable.
Healthcare Businesses
Private healthcare and related businesses can provide another potential commercial market.
Prospects might include:
- Private clinics
- Dental practices
- Care providers
- Physiotherapy businesses
- Occupational health providers
- Healthcare companies
Insurance requirements will vary considerably according to the activities of the organisation.
Brokers targeting healthcare should therefore segment businesses carefully rather than using a single proposition for the entire sector.
Retail
Retail contains a large number of UK businesses, although the commercial value of individual accounts can vary significantly.
Potential prospects include:
- Independent retailers
- Multi-site retailers
- Specialist shops
- Online retailers
- Retail groups
Relevant risks may include:
- Commercial premises
- Stock
- Public liability
- Employers’ liability
- Business interruption
- Cyber risks
Employee numbers, turnover and number of locations can help brokers distinguish between smaller and potentially higher-value retail accounts.
Consider the Potential Premium Value
A large number of businesses within a sector doesn’t automatically make it the best market.
Consider the potential commercial value of the accounts.
Factors can include:
- Business size
- Employee numbers
- Turnover
- Number of premises
- Vehicle fleets
- Equipment
- Stock
- Nature of operations
- Complexity of risk
A smaller audience containing higher-value commercial risks may be more attractive than a very large market of low-value accounts.
Consider Your Insurer Relationships
The markets available to your brokerage will also influence which industries are worth targeting.
If you have strong insurer relationships and competitive products for a particular type of risk, that sector may provide a natural prospecting opportunity.
Consider where your brokerage can provide a genuinely competitive proposition rather than selecting industries purely because they contain large numbers of businesses.
Consider Your Existing Expertise
Sector knowledge can be valuable when selling commercial insurance.
If your team already understands a particular industry, you may be better positioned to discuss:
- Common risks
- Typical cover requirements
- Claims exposures
- Industry terminology
- Operational challenges
This can help make prospecting conversations more relevant.
It may also be easier to demonstrate experience through existing clients and case studies.
Consider How Easy the Sector Is to Target
Some industries are easier to identify through business data than others.
For example, it may be relatively straightforward to build lists of:
- Manufacturers
- Construction companies
- Recruitment agencies
- Accountants
- Haulage companies
- Hotels
You can then refine these audiences using criteria such as employee numbers, turnover and geography.
The ability to identify the market accurately is an important consideration when planning scalable outbound campaigns.
Use Company Size to Refine Each Industry
Avoid targeting every company within an industry.
For example, rather than targeting all UK manufacturers, you could focus on:
- Manufacturers
- 50 to 250 employees
- £5 million+ turnover
- Specific UK regions
Another campaign might target:
- Construction companies
- 20 to 100 employees
- North of England
- Managing Directors
This can make prospecting much more focused.
Match Decision-Makers to Company Size
The person responsible for insurance can vary between businesses.
Potential contacts include:
- Business Owners
- Managing Directors
- Finance Directors
- Financial Controllers
- Operations Directors
- Commercial Directors
- Risk Managers
Within smaller businesses, the owner or Managing Director may handle insurance.
Within larger organisations, responsibility may sit with finance, operations or risk management.
Your targeting should account for these differences.
Create Separate Campaigns for Each Industry
Avoid using one generic message across unrelated sectors.
A construction company and an accountancy practice can have very different insurance requirements.
Instead, create separate campaigns such as:
- Commercial insurance for manufacturers
- Insurance for construction companies
- Fleet insurance for logistics businesses
- Professional indemnity for consultants
- Cyber insurance for technology companies
This makes the proposition easier to connect to the recipient’s business.
Build Lookalike Prospect Audiences
If you already have successful clients within a sector, use them to identify similar businesses.
For example, suppose your strongest accounts are engineering companies with:
- 50 to 200 employees
- £5 million to £30 million turnover
- Multiple commercial insurance requirements
You could identify other UK engineering businesses with similar characteristics.
This creates a prospect audience based on businesses you already know can be valuable clients.
Test Several Target Industries
You don’t necessarily need to choose one sector permanently.
Create campaigns across a small number of suitable markets and compare results.
For example:
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Transport
- Professional services
Measure the commercial outcomes from each.
This can help you identify which industries deserve more prospecting investment.
Measure More Than Lead Volume
The industry generating the most responses isn’t necessarily your best market.
Measure:
- Conversations
- Renewal dates identified
- Qualified opportunities
- Quotes
- Policies won
- Premium value
- Commission income
- Retention
- Profitability
A sector generating fewer opportunities could still be considerably more valuable if those accounts produce larger premiums and stronger retention.
Consider Renewal Opportunities
Commercial insurance is heavily influenced by timing.
A suitable prospect may not be ready to consider changing broker until closer to renewal.
Where possible, record:
- Renewal month
- Existing broker situation
- Previous conversations
- Next contact date
Over time, you can build a pipeline of businesses within your priority industries and approach them when the timing is more appropriate.
Keep Refining Your Target Markets
Your strongest industries may become clearer as campaigns develop.
You might find that:
- Manufacturers generate larger accounts
- Professional services convert more frequently
- Transport businesses produce more fleet opportunities
- Construction companies respond well to telephone outreach
- Technology companies create stronger cyber insurance opportunities
Use this information to refine your targeting rather than continuing to allocate equal resources to every sector.
You can learn more about our Lead Generation for Insurance Brokers services.
Summary
The best industries for insurance brokers to target depend on the insurance products you provide, your insurer relationships, sector expertise and the size of commercial accounts you want to win.
Construction, manufacturing, engineering, transport, professional services, recruitment, technology, property, facilities management and hospitality can all provide potential opportunities for commercial insurance prospecting.
Rather than choosing industries based purely on the number of businesses available, consider potential premium value, risk profile, company size and how effectively your brokerage can serve that market.
Build targeted prospect audiences, test different sectors and measure which industries generate the strongest commercial results.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best industries for insurance brokers to target?
Potential markets include construction, manufacturing, engineering, transport and logistics, professional services, technology, recruitment, property, facilities management and hospitality. The best sectors depend on the broker’s products and expertise.
How should insurance brokers choose target industries?
Consider your existing clients, insurer relationships, commercial insurance products, sector expertise, target account size and the potential value of businesses within each market.
Which industries are suitable for commercial insurance prospecting?
Businesses with employees, premises, vehicles, equipment, professional liabilities or other commercial risks can represent potential prospects. The most appropriate sectors will depend on the cover your brokerage provides.
Who should insurance brokers contact within target businesses?
Potential decision-makers include Business Owners, Managing Directors, Finance Directors, Financial Controllers, Operations Directors, Commercial Directors and Risk Managers.
Should insurance brokers specialise in particular industries?
Specialisation can help brokers develop stronger sector knowledge and more focused propositions. However, whether to specialise will depend on the brokerage’s strategy, insurer relationships and target market.
How can insurance brokers build industry-specific prospect lists?
Business data can be filtered using criteria such as industry, employee numbers, turnover, geography and decision-maker role to create focused commercial insurance prospect audiences.
Should insurance brokers target several industries at once?
Yes, but keeping the initial number manageable can make it easier to create relevant campaigns and compare commercial results between sectors.
Data & Lead Generation Services
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- Automated Email Campaigns
- LinkedIn Automation
- Industry Databases
- Job Role Databases
- Email Lists
- Telemarketing Data
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