Email marketing for insurance companies shares common traits with other marketing channels within the industry. For example, whether you’re focusing on emails, social media, PPC, or print media, you should have an objective and set a budget ahead of time.
But there are also some unique opportunities offered by email marketing, as the tactics can be tailored so effectively to current policyholders and prospective customers. When used correctly, emails can build your business faster and more effectively than other marketing channels at your disposal.
In this guide, we’ll highlight the benefits and strategies associated with email marketing insurance-style. And there will be multiple insurance email marketing examples to help you see how they look in the real world.
Email marketing is the art of sending compelling messages from your business directly to people’s inboxes. These emails take many different forms. In some cases, you might highlight a common pain point for insurance customers and show your distinct solution. Other times, you’ll share a free resource that reinforces your expertise on a certain topic.
In the example below, an insurance company avoids an in-your-face advertisement and instead helps answer common questions about pet insurance.
Regardless of the details, each email serves the purpose of building connections with your customers. And there really is no better channel to pursue this goal than email. Consider these stats:
Because emails are preferred by customers, cheap for you to send, and generate such strong results, it’s only fitting that we’re dedicating an entire guide to these wonderful little marketing messages.
While email marketing is used in every major industry, it has special relevance for insurance agents. Due to the relationship-based nature of insurance sales, emails are needed to build and sustain those connections. Nearly all of your contacts have an inbox, and as long as they’ve opted in to your emails, you’ll have a direct method for reaching current policyholders or prospective customers.
This isn’t to say that email marketing is foolproof. There are a few challenges to be aware of, as they can potentially derail your efforts.
Lack of qualified email contacts: Your email campaigns can only succeed if they’re sent to the right place. If you have sloppy lists or don’t put in the work to build them up, you’ll be hampered by mediocre results.
The allure of cold emails: What could be better than sending out 10,000 generic emails to strangers with just a single click of a button? Uh, basically everything is better than that. Cold emailing is ethically dubious and can even run afoul of the law, subjecting you to serious fines. You’ll be much better off building your lists and then sending relevant messages to people who actually know who you are.
Negative sender reputation: If you send spam messages, your sender reputation will take a hit. The same fate awaits if your email lists aren’t healthy and too many of your messages are stymied by erroneous addresses. A negative reputation is bad enough in high school, but in the email marketing world, it can severely impact your ability to carry out your campaigns.
Hitting the spam folder: One way to end up in people’s spam folders is to earn a negative sender reputation. Another common culprit is sending low-quality emails that feel more spammy than helpful, causing recipients to quickly banish you. Either way, your emails become worthless once they hit this dreaded folder.
The good news is that you’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to your email campaigns. As long as you play by the rules and deliver quality content, you can consistently find success with this incredible marketing channel.
We’ve already established that cold emailing is a bad idea. So the next time a random person pops up in your inbox offering to sell you a list of great leads, do the right thing and send that message straight to the trash heap.
To build your list the right way, start with a lead magnet. As the name implies, this essential marketing element attracts leads like a magnet. It might be a free whitepaper on how to select the best life insurance policy. Or it could be an offer for a free consultation or access to an online insurance rate calculator.
Whatever the lead magnet, make sure that it’s enticing. Every time a new person enters their email to receive it, you’re adding a lead to your list who is interested in what you have to offer. It’s a true win-win.
One final note on your lists: Don’t forget to break them out into segments. This process is done by grouping contacts according to common characteristics. For example, if they live in the same geographic location, have the same type of policy, or are in a similar age range, you could have yourself a great segment.
In the email below, Ando targets pet owners with an email that is tailored to their needs.
Sending smaller batches of emails to unique segments always works better because it allows for more personalization in the messaging. Rather than sounding like a classic example of copy-and-paste blandness, your email will hit the right points and have a much better chance of getting a response.
With your lists in good shape, you’re ready to start building out your emails. A good email platform makes this step easy. For example, Twilio SendGrid offers a wide range of user-friendly templates that help you quickly put together beautiful emails like a veteran graphic designer.
And once you’ve created the messages for your campaign, your platform should also offer automation. Simply schedule when you want each message to go out, then move on to more important things. The tedious tasks that used to define the manual era of email are long gone, replaced by reliable tech that never takes a sick day.
Let’s look closer at some of the various message types that will be part of your email marketing for insurance:
1. Welcome emails: Setting expectations is important right from the start. Use these emails to introduce your brand and tease some of the valuable information that will be coming to everyone who has joined your list. These messages typically get high open rates and offer a great opportunity to leave a lasting impression.
2. Product recommendations: Your segmented lists will enable you to send targeted emails recommending the ideal insurance products for the recipient’s needs. To increase the value of your messages, consider adding exclusive offers such as discounts for those who bundle their policies.
Check out how The Zebra presents its personalized offerings:
3. Newsletters: These messages are the bread and butter of many insurance agent email marketing campaigns. Share industry updates, product highlights, or proactively address concerns with a helpful FAQ. As long as the emails are valuable and go out on a consistent basis, many of your contacts will begin to watch for them.
4. Reminders: One way that you can show your helpfulness is by sending quick reminders for things like policy renewals. Be sure to include details such as the policy name, amount payable, and expiration date, so the customer won’t need to do any additional searching for information before making the requested payment. Not only do these emails make life a little easier for your customers, but they can have a significant impact on your bottom line.
5. Surveys: In marketing, we often find ourselves guessing about our customers’ wants and needs. Why not just ask them? Survey emails make it easy to gather feedback and also build trust by showing customers how much you care about their opinions.
Beyond these five types of emails, there are many other kinds of messages to consider for your campaigns. Maybe you send out holiday emails at the end of the year. Or birthday emails to individual customers that include a $5 gift card. You know best what your customers need, so dig deep into those insights to deliver a wide range of great emails.
Twilio SendGrid offers all the tools and resources needed for your email campaigns to become easier and more impactful. Our library of expansive templates has perfect options for any type of email, and you can simply drag and drop elements exactly where you want them.
With Marketing Campaigns, you can then set up the optimal automations. Thanks to the centralized view, all the messages and their timing will be visible whenever you want to check in on the schedule.
Most importantly, we offer the industry’s highest average inboxing rate. So you can rest assured that your email strategies are given the best opportunities to thrive. With real-time tracking, you can quickly measure results and see where new improvements can be made.
Start today by creating a free account (we won’t even ask for your credit card). You’ll get immediate access to everything you need to succeed in the world of life insurance email marketing.
