You might be surprised to learn that, despite being one of the “dinosaurs” of online communication, email is still highly effective when it comes to marketing.

It’s actually one of the most effective online marketing tools available, considering you can generate $42 for every $1 you spend, according to the DMA’s Marketer Email Tracker 2019 Report.  And the returns on investment keep getting better.  In 2015, the ROI for email marketing was $38 for $1 spent, a little less than in 2019 but still quite impressive.  The trend indicates that email will continue to be a powerful marketing tool for any business.

Want more evidence?   Eighty-one percent of small and medium-sized businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel, while 80% use it for retention purposes. Clearly, email marketing works, and it works well.

Is email marketing for insurance agents as effective as for other businesses though? Yes, it is. Insurance email marketing offers a wide range of benefits that will help you grow your business in 2021.

The Advantages of Email Marketing for Insurance Agents

Email marketing for insurance agents has one huge advantage over practically any other form of marketing. It allows you to connect directly with consumers with their approval.

Once a consumer has agreed to receive emails from you, it means they want to hear from you.  Now their guard is down.  Now that you have access to their inner sanctum, you can more effectively build a relationship with them.

By comparison, if the same consumer sees an online ad, their defenses engage because many perceive an advertisement as a company asking something from them without giving anything in return.

Here are seven tips for effective insurance agent email marketing:

1.      Put the Reader First

One mistake many agents make is focusing too much on their own goals, forgetting about the reader in the process. They think that if they just send out emails regularly and keep repeating the same offers and providing the same generic information, somehow they will convince the reader to become a customer.

It doesn’t work that way and certainly not in 2021 when your audience has so many other options. You must put the consumer first, which means providing them with value via informative and engaging content.

Offering value for free encourages trust. Consumers are also more likely to believe that you actually care about more than their wallets. Nowadays, with so many options available to them, consumers prefer doing business with people they trust and providing value is one of the best ways to build that trust.

2.      Personalize Your Emails

Emails that feature personalized subject lines have a 50% higher open rate, according to Yes Lifecycle Marketing. So, personalize your promotional emails.  That means customizing the greeting and making the subject line at least include the name of the recipient.  You may also be able to find additional opportunities to personalize the messages you send throughout the length of your text depending on the subject.

3.      Customize Emails for Different Stages of the Funnel

When you get a new customer, send a welcome email.  Welcome emails have an open rate of 82%, compared to the average 21% for all other emails, making them an outstanding opportunity to relay value quickly, to build loyalty and pave the way to making upsells.

Also, consider other situations where you can create customized emails.  Target prospects with particular needs, such as homeowners, automobile owners, business owners and specialty commercial groups.

4.      Send Out Insurance Newsletters by Email

Our core belief about insurance newsletters for agents is that print newsletters are more effective than email newsletters because nearly everybody sees them when they arrive (instead of glossing over them or never seeing them at all in your inbox) and spends at least a little bit of time with them.  However, email newsletters are the next best thing — and they cost far less.  A good open rate for an email newsletter is 25 – 35 percent.  Keep in mind that any newsletter should offer informative and helpful content targeted to your readers, well written and relevant to their current needs.

5.      Segment Your Audience

People respond differently based on a variety of factors, which means it’s essential to know your target market well. The more you know about their needs and desires and the more details you have about them, the better you will be able to create engaging content for them.

Thankfully, technology makes it easy to find out a lot about your target audience, including their age, gender, occupation, home ownership status, and estimated income.

Once you have the information, you can segment your email list and create emails tailored to each specific category that more effectively meets their needs.

6.      Become a Storyteller

People love stories. In fact, people tend to retain facts better when presented in story form than any other way. So, dust off your storytelling skills and instead of telling your audience about the insurance coverages you provide, tell them stories of how you have helped provide clients with particular insurance needs just the right insurance solutions.

7.      Automate Your Email Marketing

Automating email marketing for insurance agents is not a new concept, but it generates a lot of success. Many agencies have adopted email drip campaigns as part of their core marketing strategy.

According to a 2019 Campaign Monitor study of 1,000 small business owners, email marketing came in second in terms of effectiveness to increase awareness and came in first in terms of ROI.

Automated marketing is a big reason why agents focus on email marketing. ITC revealed that insurance agents who used their marketing automation platform saw a 26% increase in close rates and an almost 7% increase in policy retention.

The advantage of automation is that it saves you time but also ensures you are constantly in contact with prospects and clients, which helps you build powerful relationships and increase the lifetime value of every customer.

Email marketing for insurance agents is a cost-effective and immensely powerful approach to not only acquire customers but also for building loyalty with existing customers.

But the key to success is making sure that you do it right.  If not, by constantly bombarding your audience with promotional emails. you risk antagonizing them.  Instead, focus on providing value and personalizing your emails, which will help you thrive and enjoy the great ROI you can get from email marketing.