Total 633 words used. If the word count is more than 25 words over the limit, please deduct one (1) point from your score.
The Generali Travel Insurance (GTI) Travel Resources blog was created in May 2017 as a means to position the brand as the go to resource for travel information to its customers. At that time, Generali had purchased the longstanding travel insurance brand, CSA Travel Protection, and was rebranding its products to Generali in the United States. Since Generali was not a well-known brand in the US, it was vital to position it as an innovative partner in travel, not just insurance. Thus, the Travel Resources blog was born.
Research
While CSA had had a blog in the past, it had not created a B2C blog for direct customers. The team knew that consumers ages 18-54 ranked blogs as one of the most important sources of information for making buying decisions, which aligned with Generali’s strategic growth markets. With some additional research it was decided that four sections would be needed to give travelers what they wanted most – Travel Insurance 101, Travel Tips & Advice, Popular Destinations, and Interests & Activities.
The Evolution
At the beginning, the blog was highly successful in generating user sessions and new audiences, and in 2021 it really hit its stride. The team knew that to be competitive in the space among much larger companies, the blog would need to fulfill three objectives: 1) maintain relevancy, 2) provide interactivity, and 3) position itself as a thought leader.
In 2021, the team expanded its content to include exceptional interactive content creating relevant quizzes, animated content to boost readability, and specific content related to the COVID-19 issues facing the travel industry. While the team knew that most of this content may not lead to an immediate sale, they had a vision to create a true partnership with consumers, so that they would entrust us with their travel in the future.
The Results
The results were beyond anticipation. Not only did blog readers drive $529,397 in revenue in 2020-2021 with a 30% conversion rate, but they also consumed the most innovative content that met all three of the team’s objectives.
Maintain Relevancy
Some of the newer, more relevant blogs had an extremely large page value, meaning they drove some of the most expensive travel insurance purchases from the website.
Is CFAR worth it? $ 63 page value 6,249 pageviews
Where is TI Required? $ 35 page value 2,329 pageviews
Post Pandemic Travel Insurance $ 9 page value 4,766 pageviews
Provide Interactivity
While the site has a 2:03 average time on page, our innovative approach to using interactivity elements drove much higher engagement.
Choosing the Best Vacation 5:20 avg time on page
Real ID 4:27
Expert Quiz 3:52
What is Travel Insurance 3:02
Position as Thought Leader
While COVID was top-of-mind and we wanted to position ourselves as a travel insurance expert, our publishing of aspirational content was equally well received and well read at a time when actual travel was most volatile.
When to Buy Travel Insurance 24,768 pageviews
Travel Insurance Costs 13,075
Caribbean with Kids 10,860
Best Tropical Vacations 10,568
Best Travel Apps 9,926
In just 58 months, this small team of 1.5 has concepted, written and published 302 innovative blogs and raised the awareness within the company of just how important blogs are to influencing consumer purchase decisions. Their humanization of the brand has drawn interest from other teams who are now reusing our content for their own purposes. And while the objectives of the team were met, it was equally telling how it affected our goal to increase organic traffic, growing it to our best performing marketing channel since 2020. It is for all of these reasons that we believe the GTI Travel Resources Blog deserves a Stevie Award for Most Innovative Blog.
