Baloise Safe Lease: From POC to Lead-Generating Website with Hybrid

Background

Safe Lease is Baloise Insurance’s private lease solution.

With Safe Lease, individuals can lease a car at a fixed monthly fee through their local broker. This fee covers the cost of the car, maintenance, all taxes, tire changes, full roadside assistance, all repairs, and insurance. In short, the customer is fully taken care of.

The challenge

With Safe Lease, Baloise is responding to the ever-changing mobility landscape in Belgium.

Baloise Insurance considers the automobile market one of its main pillars. To go beyond traditional car insurance and offer drivers a complete solution, Baloise developed Safe Lease as an all-in-one package. Introducing this to the market was a challenge: moving from being known primarily as an insurer to positioning themselves as a total mobility provider.

In early 2018, Baloise approached Hybrid with this new idea. At that time, private leasing was still relatively unknown in Belgium, unlike corporate vehicle leasing. Using a lean-and-mean approach, the goal was to discover whether there was market potential and, if so, learn how to fully exploit it.

Only after a successful POC would Baloise expand the project on a broader scale.

Why Hybrid Agency?

Baloise chose Hybrid due to our expertise in digital strategy and growth-driven development. Our combination of technical know-how, marketing focus, and proven experience with lean POCs made us the ideal partner to quickly test and scale an unfamiliar concept like Safe Lease. Thanks to our integrated approach—from web development to lead generation—we were able to move fast without compromising on quality or results.

The collaboration

In November 2018, we purchased the domain safelease.be and launched a limited-content website (WordPress). This site served mainly as a business card for the brokers participating in the POC. In agreement with Baloise, we initially chose not to index this site in search engines.

The audience brought in by the selected brokers responded positively to the concept. We then ran a targeted Search Ads test to attract high-quality traffic through online channels, which confirmed the potential. A thorough keyword analysis and monitoring showed that search volume for relevant terms was trending upward. Consumers were clearly beginning to accept this solution.

Based on these insights, Baloise considered the POC successful and decided to accelerate the project.

The product was refined, and the service offering was expanded based on POC learnings. We developed a new website designed as a true lead-generation magnet, targeting consumers actively searching for private lease solutions. The information architecture was fully based on knowledge of how private drivers search for a new car. As private leasing solutions gained awareness in the market, this approach was used as a key strategy.

The new site was immediately indexed. By placing high-quality backlinks and supporting the concept through PR and additional links, we quickly built minimal SEO authority. Together with Baloise, we also defined a clear KPI framework. After the launch, we followed a growth-driven approach: data and metrics provided the insights needed to continuously optimize both acquisition and conversion. Detailed tracking and real-time dashboards offered a clear compass.

In November 2019, safelease.be officially launched.

Since there was initially no organic traffic or leads, our early focus (December 2019) was on paid channels. In parallel, we developed an SEO strategy to start capturing leads after roughly six months. Paid campaigns focused primarily on search (Google and Bing), supplemented with targeted social remarketing. Contextual and in-market targeting on display and social supported these intent campaigns, closely monitoring outcomes.

Continuous optimizations led to a steadily increasing volume of high-quality leads via paid channels, while cost per lead remained well controlled after three months. CPCs were kept very low, and conversion optimization (A/B testing) improved conversion rates. Meanwhile, content was created for chosen “money keywords,” internal and external linking improved authority (supported by a blog strategy), and technical aspects were fine-tuned.

After approximately six months (April-May 2020), the first SEO results began to appear. Top keywords such as “leasing particulier” steadily climbed the rankings until reaching the top positions.

Results and impact

Since the launch of the new platform (December 2019 – February 2020), the number of leads (appointments with a broker) has grown more than sixfold (+640%). At the same time, the cost per lead has decreased by no less than 88%.
Both trends—the increasing number of leads and the declining cost per lead—continue to progress.

The future

In the coming years, the focus will be on further scaling and strengthening Safe Lease’s position in the Belgian market. Continuous optimization, expansion of SEO authority, and smart use of data and automation will allow Hybrid and Baloise to continue building sustainable omnichannel growth. Safe Lease is evolving from an innovative proof of concept into an established reference in private leasing.

Conclusion

What started as an unknown concept in an uncharted market quickly grew into a successful lead generator with impressive results. Thanks to a lean approach, strong collaboration, and ongoing optimization, Safe Lease was firmly established in the market. The combination of a successful POC, a smart growth strategy, and a clear data-driven approach resulted in six times more leads and an 88% lower cost per lead. Safe Lease demonstrates that, with the right digital strategy, even a new market can be conquered quickly and efficiently.