Insurtech has a marketing problem that, in my experience, few software categories share. The party that benefits from your product, the party that distributes it and the party that pays for it are frequently three different organizations with conflicting incentives. Good insurtech marketing treats them as separate audiences, with different proof for each and the trade press each one actually reads.
Sell risk-monitoring technology on a construction site and the contractor uses it, the carrier prices against it, and the owner may fund it. Sell underwriting software and the carrier buys it, the broker feels its effects, and the policyholder never knows it exists.
A single message that serves all three tends to serve none, and the resulting marketing is vague enough to be safe and too vague to be persuasive.
Key takeaways
- An insurtech product can affect carriers, brokers or agents, and end customers differently. Identify who buys the technology, who influences adoption and who benefits, then give each audience evidence relevant to its role.
- The broker channel is large: independent agencies placed 62% of US property and casualty premium in 2025, and 87.7% of commercial lines, according to the Big "I" 2026 Market Share Report.
- The end customer's own trade press can carry an insurance story: in January 2026, Engineering News-Record ran a news analysis on how builders' risk insurance was starting to dictate jobsite decisions.
What do carriers, brokers and customers need from insurtech marketing?
Carriers need evidence tied to the product's purpose. Underwriting tools require reliable data and validation over a meaningful period; workflow software may need to show faster processing and integration with existing systems. Peer references help, alongside answers about implementation and regulatory requirements.
Brokers and agents need to know it makes them more competitive and doesn't disintermediate them. That channel is large: according to the Big "I" 2026 Market Share Report, independent agencies placed 62% of all US property and casualty premium in 2025. If your product depends on broker distribution, explain how it helps brokers place business and serve clients. Messaging that suggests replacing them can undermine that relationship, and in my experience a lot of insurtech marketing sends that signal by accident.
End customers, whether a contractor, a homeowner or a fleet operator, need to know it saves money or prevents a loss, in operational terms with no insurance vocabulary at all.
Why doesn't leading with technology work?
The mistake I see recur in insurtech marketing is leading with the technology, because it's the one thing all three audiences share.
A pitch built only around technical features can miss the buying decision. Connect each capability to the outcome the audience needs, such as faster underwriting, easier placement or fewer operational disruptions. Claims about lower premiums or deductibles need evidence specific to the product and the insurer.
What works instead
What works is treating the three audiences as three separate campaigns.
Segment the material properly. Separate content for carriers, for the channel and for end buyers. Not the same deck with a different logo, but different proof, different vocabulary and a different definition of success.
Reach each through its own trade press. Insurance has a deep, well-read trade press that, in my experience, insurtech companies underuse in favor of general technology media. Carrier decision-makers read insurance trade publications. So do brokers. The end customer, meanwhile, reads their own industry's press. Construction publications can reach contractors who do not follow insurance trade media.
That last point is the one I see missed most often. If your end user is in construction, agriculture or logistics, your most valuable coverage may be in that industry's trade press rather than in insurance media at all. When we choose podcasts, my test is who in the audience signs the check, not how easy the booking is. Trade press works the same way.
Lead with the loss, not the product. Insurance is a business about things going wrong. In my view, the strongest story in this category is a specific, documented account of a loss that was avoided, told with enough operational detail to be believable.
Get the customer to say it. Carrier procurement, broker adoption and end-user trust all move on peer evidence. A customer willing to describe a documented result can make the evidence easier to understand. Use that account alongside validation data, not instead of it.
The funding announcement trap
A funding announcement tells buyers about the company. To make it relevant to them, connect the round to a change in their market.
That means using the moment to tell the industry story your product sits inside. The funding is the occasion; the story is what's changing in the market and why it matters to the people who buy.
We did this with Brickeye. They came to us with a $10 million Series B to announce. Rather than a funding story, we placed an exclusive in Engineering News-Record framed around how higher builders' risk deductibles and tighter terms were beginning to dictate jobsite decisions — the industry shift, with their platform as the answer. It ran as a trend piece. The coverage carried through Axios Pro Rata, TechCrunch StrictlyVC, The Logic and BetaKit, plus national syndication.
The difference wasn't the round. It was choosing the publication the buyers read and giving them a story about their problem rather than about a company's balance sheet.
Common questions
Who is the buyer in insurtech marketing? It depends on the product. A carrier may buy the software, a broker or agent may influence adoption, and a policyholder may benefit without buying or using it directly. They aren't always three separate buyers, but they apply different tests, so effective insurtech marketing addresses each audience's criteria separately.
How do you market to insurance carriers? Start with evidence of the outcome the product promises. For underwriting tools, explain data quality and validation; for workflow tools, show efficiency and integration results. Address the regulatory requirements that apply and provide peer references where available.
Should insurtech companies market around insurance brokers? Not if brokers are part of your route to market. According to the Big "I" 2026 Market Share Report, independent agencies placed 62% of US property and casualty premium in 2025 and 87.7% of commercial lines. Where agents distribute the coverage, show how the product helps them place business and serve clients, because messaging that suggests replacing them can undermine the relationship.
Where should insurtech companies focus press efforts? Insurance trade publications for carriers and brokers, and the end customer's own industry press, such as construction, agriculture or logistics. In my experience, the second is the one insurtech companies skip most often, though it reaches the people who feel the loss. Choose each outlet by who in its audience makes the decision.
What's the best way to announce insurtech funding? Use the round as the occasion for a story about what's changing in your buyers' market. The funding still gets reported, but the coverage that reaches carriers, brokers and customers is the story about their problem.
Sources
- Bryan Gottlieb, When Builders' Risk Insurance Starts Dictating Jobsite Decisions, Engineering News-Record, January 19, 2026
- Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Big 'I' Releases 2026 Market Share Report, June 23, 2026
- Salient PR case study: Brickeye (2026)
Salient PR works with insurance technology companies, including Brickeye's BuildersRiskIQ platform and its Series B announcement.
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