Like most business professionals, insurance pros use a lot of email in communicating with colleagues, customers, and prospects. With that in mind, here are five email marketing tips you may want to consider, if you’re not already following them.
GET PERMISSION
If you’re planning to send a mass email communication like a newsletter to your customers and prospects (no matter how you may have gotten their names and addresses), be sure you have their permission to send them communications. You don’t want to run afoul of the CAN-SPAM rules.
If you’re offering online quotes or downloads on your website of useful articles or videos, you can include an email sign-up form as part of the download request. In any large-volume communication you send, be sure to include an opt-out to allow readers to remove themselves from your future distributions. (Of course, this doesn’t apply to one-off or private messages.)
PERSONALIZATION IS IMPORTANT
Email personalization is a great way to connect with your customers and prospects when you send them targeted, relevant messages that are more likely to appeal to them. If your readers don’t feel you’re making an effort to get to know them, their needs, and their goals, they’re less likely to view you positively, and you and your brand won’t matter to them.
Personalization can drive up your ROI. A January 2017 article by Campaign Monitor says personalized emails increase open rates by more than 25 percent and generate a whopping 760 percent increase in email revenue. Email list segmentation and responsive design are two other tactics that can help you increase your results.
If you’re looking to warm up an older lead that may have turned cold, an automated email campaign could help.
AVOID LONG EMAILS
Lengthy emails often won’t get read or will only be skimmed, reducing their effectiveness. When you’re composing your message, be targeted − and add links where readers can go for details. (If they’re interested, they’ll go; if not, you won’t bore them on the way.)
Your first 80 to 100 characters are especially important, with so many people reading emails on their smartphones. As suggested in a LifeHealthPRO newsletter story last month, “get to the good stuff” right away, and don’t throw away your opportunity to grab the reader at the beginning. It’s more likely to motivate them to read on.
SUBJECT LINES ARE CRITICAL
Put some thought into your email subject lines. Be direct and not overly clever. The goal is to get recipients to open and read your message. HubSpot featured an article last year with 17 tips and best practices when it comes to subject lines.
STAY POSITIVE
When you’re putting together your messages to prospects and current customers, always be positive and uplifting. You don’t know what the mood of your reader may be when he or she is looking at your email, newsletter, or other communication. If your message is unclear, experts say it could be read as negative − and nobody willingly likes to read negative things. If your objective is to get the reader to take some action − call for a quote, act before an open enrollment deadline, or something else − make it easy for them to see why you’re the person they should call or your website is the one they should visit.
