Email marketing is one of the most critical marketing strategies an insurance agent or an insurance agency to include in their digital marketing plan. Some insurance agents may think “email is dead,” but it is very much one of the most effective ways to gain qualified leads and catch your prospects’ attention. Because your prospective clients are exposed to many emails every day, understanding how to make your email marketing stand out from the competition is very important.
Agent Pipeline has compiled some quicks hacks to improve your open rates, click-throughs, and overall lead generation in your email marketing.
Hack #1: Write engaging subject lines.
The first thing a prospect will see is your subject line, and it has a significant influence on whether they open the message or not. A study by Chadwick Martin Bailey showed that over half of recipients decide to open an email based on its subject line.
The key to a compelling subject line is making it creative, engaging, and ensure it sparks curiosity. You want the prospect to be engaged with the subject line so that they are more likely to scroll through the rest of the email’s contents.
The question is: how do insurance agents do this? How do insurance agents compete with hundreds of emails in an inbox?
– Use a question as to the subject line, such as “Want a $0 Co-pay on Prescriptions?”
– Use captivating words such as “competitive,” “now,” etc
– Capitalize all words in the subject line (as you do for titles)
– Make it short, but have a clear message
Hack #2: Have one call to action.
A call to action is what you want your prospect to do. Do you want them to call? Do you want them to visit your website? Keep the behavior you want your prospects to take simple and singular. Too many calls for action can be overwhelming and confusing. It often results in opened emails that are never clicked through because the prospect is given too many options, or does not have a clear idea of what they need to do next. Give the prospect a single, specific call to action. With one call to action, the prospect has one option and can easily decide if they want to take action or not. One call to action provides the email with a more specific and clear purpose and direction. This way, the prospect is given a clear path of where to click and the use of the email.
When you use one CTA to focus the attention of the recipient, you are highly increasing the chance of recipients clicking through.
Hack 3? Make that CTA desirable.
The more desirable your CTA is, the higher the likelihood of click-throughs and sales are.
How?
What you write before and as the CTA are both vital. Here are some techniques that can be successful:
– Ask a question before the CTA (“Do you want…?”) or (“Are you ready…?)
– Make the call to action a personal choice (“I want to…”, “show me…” “I’m ready.”)
Always use a button as the CTA. They are more visually exciting and draw more attention to the CTA. Linked text can get lost in the other email text, and isn’t as encouraging to engage with.
Use attention-drawing colors. Warm colors such as orange and red are often prosperous. Depending on the design of the email itself, it is usually a good idea to make the CTA button a complementary color, such as a blue button in an email with orange or vice versa.
If you can, use buttons that change on hover to add visual interest. Some options move or change shape on hover, or simply add a color change on hover. Any of these options are visually exciting and will draw the prospect to be more likely to click-through.
Hack 4 – be personal
Your prospects and clients want to know that you genuinely care about them. Always craft emails in a more personal that corporate manner when sending out email marketing.
How?
Address recipients with their name, rather than with a generic “Hello!” Some people already understand that this is software-generated, but it still adds a more personal touch.
Allow and encourage replies and contact. Have your contact information in every marketing email, including phone number. Make it so that the answers to that email come directly to you, so replying involves little effort. Don’t use “Do Not Reply” types of messages. Let clients and prospects know that they can reach out at any time; this shows them that you care. It allows them to get help easily, in turn increasing sales. It also allows you to get feedback and make improvements
Hack 5? Resend and follow up.
An unopened email does not always mean the prospect was not interested in the product. They may have missed it in a cluttered inbox or forgotten about it after seeing it and saving it for later.
Don’t be afraid to send it again.
If it wasn’t opened, the customer has not seen it. Sending it again makes it have a higher chance of it being seen. If it is an email to an existing client, send them a personal follow up email checking to see if they got it, or give them a call.
These five email marketing hacks can take your email marketing hacks to the next level. You’ll be getting better leads and responses in no time. If you want additional resources and help with email marketing, reach out to Agent Pipeline at www.agentpipeline.com or call 800.962.4693 today!
