How Marketing Automation Enhances Insurance Telematics

Introduction

In this episode of the Dolphin Technologies podcast, Yasmin and Harald explore the connection between marketing automation and insurance telematics. While it may seem like an unusual pairing, Harald demonstrates how marketing automation can create highly personalized, contextual customer experiences that increase user engagement and loyalty.

Why Marketing Automation Matters in Telematics

Marketing automation isn’t just about selling—it’s about sending the right message at the right time based on real-world data. In the context of insurance telematics, it allows:

Contextual communication: Trigger alerts and tips based on driving behavior and environment.
Event-based interaction: Respond to situations like parked cars during hailstorms or drivers at airports.
Customer value: Deliver useful, timely messages that build trust.

Real-World Examples

Harald shares an analogy: water is worth €1 at a store but priceless in the desert. The value of information or service is defined by timing and relevance.

Notifying users about weather threats like hail based on their current location.
Reminding drivers to take a break after long trips.
Offering travel insurance when someone is detected at an airport.

Building a Customer Journey with No-Code Tools

Yasmin and Harald walk through building a personalized marketing campaign using no-code tools:

Step 1: Create a Segment

Define dynamic user groups based on behavior (e.g., three short trips under 10 minutes in the past two weeks).
Segments update automatically as new users match the criteria.

Step 2: Set Triggers and Actions

Trigger a message when someone enters a segment.
Choose the channel: push notification, in-app message, email, or webhook.
Customize the timing and text.

Step 3: Add Contextual Logic

Use GPS or telematics data to adjust messaging.
Example: If someone is at an airport for 20+ minutes, offer travel insurance.

Benefits for Insurers

Build trust: Relevant, non-intrusive messages increase engagement.
Act fast: Launch campaigns without developer support.
Test and optimize: A/B test journeys with small groups before scaling.
Empower teams: Marketing and product teams can run and adapt journeys independently.

AI and the Future of Marketing Automation

Harald explains how AI already powers marketing workflows:

Personalizes language and tone based on user profile
Suggests solutions for technical issues (e.g., app permissions)
Uses predictive analytics to identify ideal moments for engagement

Final Thoughts

Marketing automation in telematics goes beyond discounts and scores. It enables insurers to:

Proactively reduce risk
Offer real value through smart timing
Personalize the customer experience

With no-code tools and AI integration, any insurer can now create journeys that are timely, data-driven, and impactful.

Want more insights? Subscribe to the Dolphin Technologies podcast for expert discussions on smart mobility, telematics, and digital transformation in insurance.

Yasmin
Hi everyone. Welcome back to today’s episode. Today we’re going to be covering marketing automation. And I’m not quite sure why we’re covering this topic in an insurance telematics podcast. I don’t even have a script today, so I’m kind of all over the place. But I am an advocate of the audience today, as Harald told me.
Harald, please enlighten me: why are we talking about marketing automation in insurance telematics? What do the two have to do with each other?

Harald
Hi Yasmin. First of all, thank you for being courageous and doing this podcast without a script.
I thought you should represent the audience and ask the natural questions that come to mind. Marketing automation is one of my favorite topics.

Yasmin
Why is that?

Harald
Because we have so much information about users, and using it to build beautiful customer journeys is simply great.
We don’t just use marketing automation to sell or market products. We use it for contextual communication. We call this “event-based interaction.”

Yasmin
Interesting.

Harald
Think of a bottle of water. Here, it’s worth 1 euro. In the desert, when you’re extremely thirsty, you’d pay a lot more.
Similarly, a piece of bread for someone who is hungry is more valuable than a steak for someone who is full.
So the value lies in delivering the right information, product, or offer at the right moment to the right person.
We don’t want to blast everything to everyone—people are overloaded with messages across platforms.
We want to understand the user’s context—where they are, how they got there, what’s around them.

Yasmin
Overstimulation.

Harald
Exactly. We are overstimulated. So we aim to only speak when it’s relevant.
Example: your car is parked in an area with an upcoming hailstorm. We use your location, combine it with weather data, and send you a warning. That’s marketing automation.

Yasmin
Really?

Harald
Yes. It’s not just about upselling or cross-selling. It’s about personalized, helpful communication.
Think of insurance companies wanting to send timely, relevant messages—like reminders to change tires or holiday greetings.
But that becomes much more valuable if contextualized.

Yasmin
That makes the customer journey smoother and creates loyalty. Customers appreciate relevant messaging.

Harald
Exactly. When what you say is always relevant, people listen.
We want insurers to be the voice that customers trust and pay attention to.
With marketing automation, the insurer’s marketing or product team can customize messages themselves.
No need for developers or app releases—they can just build customer journeys on the fly.

Yasmin
How do you build this kind of journey?

Harald
I’ll explain how we do it, but I encourage podcast listeners to check this out on YouTube so they can see what I’m showing on screen.
Let’s say I want to create a journey targeting people who do a lot of short trips.
We’ve discussed how the first few minutes of a trip are the riskiest. As an insurance company, if you know who these drivers are, you can address them specifically.

Yasmin
Please show me how.

Harald
In our system, we feed telematics data into a marketing automation platform.
We start by creating a “segment.” A segment is a dynamic group based on behavior—different from static attributes like gender or address.
So here I create a segment called “Podcast Short Trip Drivers.”
I set it to select everyone who did at least three trips of less than ten minutes in the last two weeks.

Yasmin
We’re working with no code again. Wow.

Harald
Yes. We want everyone to be empowered to build great customer experiences.
You don’t need ten experts to try something out. You can even A/B test a journey with a few hundred users before rolling it out widely.
Once I define the criteria, the platform dynamically includes everyone who matches it—even as new users meet the conditions.
So the segment updates itself in real-time.

Yasmin
That’s impressive.

Harald
Now, we use this segment to build a campaign.
For example, if someone enters the segment, we trigger a push notification that says, “Short trips are risky. Try to avoid them.”
And you can change this easily—it could be a push notification, in-app message, email, even a phone bot via webhook.

Yasmin
You can customize it?

Harald
Absolutely. You can customize text, channels, timing—everything.
And it’s not limited to trips. You can use location too. For example, if a user is at an airport for 20+ minutes, you can send a message offering travel insurance.

Yasmin
That’s amazing. And so easy to build and navigate.

Harald
Yes.
Sorry for the noise, my dog is chewing his bone under the table.

Yasmin
That’s okay—he’s cute.
But I’m starting to understand why you love this topic. It’s really interesting.

Harald
Yes, because it allows insurers to become the orchestrators of their customer journeys.
No technical blockers.
You can launch challenges, issue rewards, or send useful tips.
Like: “You’ve been driving for over an hour. Stop at the next gas station, get a coffee—it’s on us.”
If you can think it, you can build it.

Yasmin
And it’s not intrusive. Since it’s based on data you already have, the customer won’t feel spammed. They’ll feel it’s personalized.

Harald
Exactly. The goal is to be useful.

Think of radio traffic alerts—if it’s about a place 500 km away, it’s irrelevant and annoying.
We want to make sure if a user gets a message, they know it’s important and valuable.

Yasmin
If I were an insurance company, I’d absolutely use this. It improves customer experience and loyalty.

Harald
That’s the idea.

Telematics is often misunderstood as just driver scoring with small discounts.
But it’s more: it’s about adding real value—warn about weather risks, offer travel insurance at the right time, give feedback proactively.

Yasmin
One last question. What’s the future of marketing automation with AI and predictive analytics? Will it change things significantly?

Harald
It already has. We’re using AI now to tailor messages to each user—right tone of voice, language, product name.

Some workflows are simple, but others are powered by large language models.
For instance, if a customer has incorrect app settings, AI can send a personalized message explaining how to fix them, tailored to their device (iPhone, Android, etc.).

Yasmin
Cool. Thank you so much, Harald. Thanks for taking the time and for explaining marketing automation to me.

Harald
And thank you for agreeing to do this episode unscripted.

Yasmin
I actually enjoyed it! I loved this topic. I learned a lot and I hope the audience did too.

We look forward to sharing more with you, and as always, feel free to leave questions or feedback in the comments.

Harald
We do appreciate it.

Yasmin
Thank you so much.