Insurers spent more than $253.3 million of an estimated total spend of $327.6 million on TV advertising in 2012/13, according to an Australia Post report.

The industry also spent about $31.8 million on radio advertising in the year, $15.8 million online, $14.2 million on newspapers and $12.5 million on outdoor adverts such as billboards, the study shows.

About 51% of the 300 insurance marketers surveyed consider TV the most useful channel for obtaining new customers, followed by catalogues and flyers (49%) and websites (33%).

However, consumers regard websites as the most useful channel (68%) when considering buying new policies, followed by TV (44%) and personalised direct mail (43%).

The report says customer retention is important in insurance, with more than 95% of premium income derived from renewals. “With so much riding on retention, customer service is paramount to the insurance market.”

When consumers are deciding whether to renew or switch, websites are again considered most useful (72%). However, insurance marketers see direct mail (75%) as the most effective way to retain customers.

The research was carried out by Neilsen.