Breaking into the insurance industry can be tough when there are so many prominent national brands to compete with, but the right name can help your startup insurance agency succeed. A unique, memorable name that communicates your values will attract customers and give you a blueprint for your branding strategy.
Here are some tips for striking on a business name that will allow your insurance company to reach its potential.
Why Is the Right Insurance Company Name So Important?
Depending on the type of insurance you offer, your customers will be entrusting their financial safety, their health, their most valuable possessions, and the well-being of their families to you. It’s vital to choose a name that conveys reliability, integrity, and competence — or at least one that doesn’t undermine these qualities. You don’t want to get too wacky with it.
At the same time, you don’t want to play it so straight that you fail to stand out in a saturated market. Insurance isn’t exactly exciting to most consumers, and your name doesn’t need to change that. You just need to engage your target, get across the idea that you bring value to their lives, and make sure that they remember your brand.
Build Your Name Around the Need You Meet in the Market
Many entrepreneurs decide to start their own companies because they believe there is a better way to do business than the models that they’ve seen in their industry. Maybe you see a way to make an insurance product or service faster, more affordable, more convenient, more honest, or more personable. When you’re brainstorming name ideas, be sure to touch on the paint point that inspired you to roll up your sleeves and make your own way in the insurance industry.
That’s not to say that you should be literal about these qualities. Affordable Insurance and Honest Insurance are not exactly riveting names (and they are probably already taken). Use your strengths merely as a jumping-off point when you begin brainstorming.
A great example of a business name that speaks to the need the company meets in the market is StoneTrust Workers’ Compensation. At the time they were called Amicus Mutual Insurance Company, and they approached NameStormers about a name change that would allow them to pivot to a stock insurance company. They also wanted the name to convey reliability and trustworthiness. Their new name allowed them to transition smoothly and communicate their commitment to serving their customers well.
Don’t Try to Imitate National Brands
People who are new to company naming often try to emulate successful competitors, thinking, if it worked for them, why wouldn’t it work for me? But this can be a bit of a trap. Insurance companies that are household names have spent decades and untold amounts of money advertising their brands. With a big budget and limitless marketing resources, it’s possible to make just about any name work.
You may be tempted to go the route of GEICO and Aflac by creating a name out of an acronym, but acronyms often come across as a random, hard-to-remember collection of letters to prospective partners and customers.
Another reason you should avoid imitating the big dogs is that being a small and/or local company can actually be an advantage. Many insurance customers want the personal touch that a small operation provides, and if you’re busy competing with the glossy, big brands, then that personable aspect can get lost. Let your company size as you’re starting out be a feature, not a drawback.
Leave Room for Growth
One of the most important aspects of a company name is open-endedness. Getting too specific about your location or a certain type of service you provide can hem you in and make it more difficult to launch new brands, tools, services, or products.
Innovation is a key attribute of almost any business that has achieved long-term success, and if your name prevents the flexibility to innovate, that can be frustrating and cause you to miss out on opportunities. You might even need to go so far as to change your name to accommodate your new, exciting business ventures, which can be quite a headache if you’ve spent years building your brand brick by brick.
Put Just as Much Care into Naming Your Products and Services
Your company name sets the overall tone for your brand, but it’s not the only name that matters. When you’re launching a new brand, product, or service, its name is just as crucial to your company’s success.
Health insurance company Aetna recognized the importance of a good name when they approached NameStormers about coming up with a moniker for their new healthcare management system geared toward providers and intended to make their jobs easier. We came up with Practice iQ — it’s short and easy to remember, and it conveys the idea of making physician practices run smarter and more efficiently.
How NameStormers Can Help You Name an Insurance Company
While you’re familiar with the ins and outs of the insurance industry, we’re pros when it comes to creating viable, memorable names that help new and established companies alike make waves in their industry. Our seven-step naming process is creative, thorough, and methodical, and we’ve perfected it over more than three decades of naming. We would love to hear more about your insurance company and get to work brainstorming name ideas for you.
Contact us today to get started!