The who, what, when, where and why of insurance email marketing

Insurance email marketing often seems like a daunting task for insurance agencies and brokers, due to the complexity of the CAN-SPAM Act and opting for email marketing best practices. On the contrary, some agents think that you simply need to buy an email list and launch an offer. Today, email marketing is a nuanced method of engaging both clients and prospects, and should be a staple for any agency or broker.

The goal of these initiatives should be to build a trusted online relationship with both prospects and customers. Agencies and brokers can use email marketing to expand their reach, demonstrate expertise, and establish thought leadership. When you think of insurance email marketing, think of it in terms of the “Five Ws,” meaning the Who what when where and Why.

• WHO: Build a high-quality customer and prospect email list
• That: Relevant topics and content
• When: Date, time and frequency distribution
• Where: Calls to action
• Why: Conversion of leads, insurance leads

With this famous formula, agencies and brokers can focus on the following five critical tasks when it comes to implementing this marketing initiative:

1. Assemble a high-quality email marketing list and follow best practices for opt-in and CAN-SPAM regulations.

2. Digital content must be educational and relevant. Speak to your audience with content that they will find beneficial.

3. Determine a reasonable frequency – Wait at least two weeks between email campaigns. As of this writing, Tuesday and Friday mornings have the best open rates.

4. Provide clear “calls to action”. CTAs include “Sign up for a webinar”, “Click here for more information” or “Sign up for our newsletter.” Generally, it is best to have one CTA per email campaign, two at the most.

5. Determine the objective of your campaigns and measure the results. Use AB split testing to better refine open and click rates. Be careful not to include spam phrases or hasty words (buy now, hurry, offer ends soon, etc.).

As agencies and brokers begin their email marketing initiative, they should take the time to create a well thought out lead handling process. After all, how will leads for these campaigns be distributed, tracked, and tracked? Agencies and brokers must determine how to spread, track, and measure incoming email marketing leads.

• Prospects valuation: Which leads are your top priority?
• Lead distribution: How, why and to whom are leads distributed? What about: Requesting more information, getting a quote, newsletter subscriptions and other types of leads?
• Tracking potential customers: Producers’ preferred method of tracking by type of lead.
• Tracking potential customers: How will you track these leads? Do you have an agency management system that does this, or do you need to create a simple tracking system for all of your email marketing leads?
• Potential customer reports: How will your agency share the results with the executive team and producers?
• Main KPIs: Key performance indicators can be very useful for measuring lead generation campaigns. Examples include: Total Leads per Month, Scheduled Meetings, Quotes by Lead, Closings by Lead, Appointment Submission Rate by Lead.

Insurance email marketing is an important and nuanced lead generation initiative. Agents and brokers who lack the time, staff, or skills may consider outsourcing this lead generation initiative to a competent insurance marketing agency.