With incredibly high conversion rates (as most of your mailing list subscribers are those who are already interested in what you have to say), insurance email marketing is key to building engagement with prospects while nurturing lasting relationships with your client base.
Interestingly, about 99% of email users check their inbox every day, with 58% of them checking their emails first thing in the morning- all of which indicate the almost unmatched potential of a strategically implemented email marketing campaign.
Eye-catching subject lines and well-placed, precise CTA(s) are two essential elements of any successful insurance email marketing campaign. Nonetheless, depending on the different goals to be achieved, you will have to employ different types of email and use them strategically to connect and develop meaningful relationships with your potential leads or existing clients. Here are a few of them to help you get started.
8 Insurance Email Marketing Examples
Example #1: Thank You & Welcome Emails
Thank you emails are a great way of expressing your heartfelt appreciation for the time and resources invested by your clients in supporting your business. These will probably be among the first emails you send out to clients after they sign up for your services, newsletters, or other regular updates.
Welcome emails can be combined with thank you emails or sent separately. They are powerful engagement tools with 50% open rates and are 86% more effective than standard newsletters. The purpose of a welcome email is, however, more extensive than a thank you email. While the latter is more of an acknowledgment, welcome emails aim to acquaint the new clients with your business and your unique value propositions (UVPs).
How to Nail It!
Scenario 1- If you are sending two separate emails
- Thank you email - Keep your message short and sweet. However, make sure to include specific details to make your clients feel special. For instance, you can appreciate them for sharing valuable feedback during a survey. You should also include your contact information in case they need further assistance or have queries.
- Welcome email - Set the tone of all future interactions with a warm and engaging welcome email, reassuring your clients of their decision to partner with you by summarizing your value propositions. Let them know what they can expect from this association and inform them of any ancillary features or offers you will provide as add-ons to your insurance services.
Scenario 2- If you are sending a combined email
The aforementioned tips will apply with a slight change in the email structure, beginning with the expression of gratitude, followed by the UVPs that will enable you to meet client expectations and a definite CTA.
Example #2: Non-Salesy, Informative Emails
With a number of competitors making the same assertions as your insurance company, standing out with a unique brand image will require more than promotional emails. Sharing high-quality, informative content is a powerful way of connecting more deeply with your clients, resulting in an enriching experience that they will always look forward to.
How to Nail It!
- Share your brand values - Building trust is key to ensuring a long-term relationship with your client, and sharing your brand values, the principles that guide you in all of your undertakings will let them know what to expect in their dealings with you.
- Share experiences/testimonials - There can be multiple instances where a particular coverage helped another client (say, a roadside assistance coverage that paid for a flat tire). Share such experiences with your reader so that they know what to do in similar situations.
- Talk lifestyle! - Lifestyle topics such as health and fitness, travel, and holidays are some of the different genres you can explore in your informative emails. For instance, you can talk about healthy thanksgiving dinner ideas and end with links to your health insurance page.
Example #3: Post Purchase Email Drip
Your relationship with your client goes beyond policy purchase. In fact, signing up for coverage is the beginning of a series of long-term customer engagements to be made over and beyond the policy term. Well-crafted, post purchase emails ensure better client retention, repeat business, increased referrals, and renewals, all at once!
How to Nail It!
- Thank them first! - Let your clients know how happy and grateful you are for the new partnership. You can include a few FAQs or other useful resources (videos or blogs) to educate the new policyholders on the benefits/coverage they are now entitled to.
- Make it quick - Post purchase emails need to be sent out immediately, ideally within the same hour. This will show your proactiveness and genuine care for your clients, especially if you ask them for feedback, for instance, on their overall experience.
- Be specific - Confused clients make for unhappy clients. Always be clear with your post-purchase instructions, such as when to expect a hard copy of the documents, whom to call for assistance, how to access soft copies of the policy, and so on.
Example #4: Feedback Emails
Feedback email is an excellent way of knowing where you stand with your existing policyholders and all that you can do to ensure a better customer experience for each one of them. These can be collected at different points throughout the customer’s journey, particularly after they buy coverage and immediately after a customer service interaction. This way, you can provide them with a portal to voice their concerns and address them effectively on a real-time basis.
How to Nail It!
- Tell them why - Establishing the context is key to encouraging your clients to provide their valuable feedback. Use precise questions that highlight the objective, for instance - Was there any delay in the policy sign-up process? What could have been done better?
- Value their time - To ensure maximum participation, you will have to keep the survey as concise as possible, addressing key concerns and providing the participants a rough estimate of the total time required (ideally not more than 3 minutes) to complete it.
- Value their voice - Use feedback from happy clients and inform them by adding a footer note in the email stating that “Your feedback will be used for distribution and marketing purposes.” This will show your clients how you prioritize their needs and value their opinion.
Example #5: Renewal Reminder Emails
Making policy renewals as convenient as possible is essential to building a long-lasting relationship with your existing client base. A renewal reminder email is one effective way to do just that! Unfortunately, there may be several reasons why your client might get notified of an impending renewal at the 11th hour, including the wrong mailing address, mail getting categorized as junk or lost amidst other emails. However, timely renewal reminder emails can save you from losing valuable clients while building a reputation for proactive care.
How to Nail It!
- Create a drip campaign - Sending a single reminder several months ahead of renewal will not be sufficient. Instead, create a drip campaign and send reminders before and during the policy renewal period to reach the right people at the right time.
- Include the basics - Make sure to specify all the details of the policy to be renewed, including the policy name, sum insured, expiration date, and other basic information.
- Explain the benefits - There needs to be multiple reasons why your client should consider renewing their policy with you. Therefore, explain the benefits of the renewal and if possible, add new offers (say bundling policies at discounted rates), thus encouraging them to stay.
Example #6: New Product Introduction & Offer Emails
Product launch emails are perfect for creating intrigue and communicating with both internal and external stakeholders about a soon-to-be-launched product/service. However, these emails should never be an after-thought, something that you remember to send off only after launching the product. Instead, following a strategic sequence in sending off multiple introduction emails will help create the perfect pitch for your products/services weeks before they are even launched.
An effective product introduction email should have the following basic components:
- Name and features of the new product/service
- Expected value to be derived from the planned product/service
How to Nail It!
- Space it out - Sending out a single email may cause your announcement to be lost in the bulk. Instead, send out multiple emails (3-4 ideally) at least 2-3 weeks before the launch with a final follow-up email, especially targeting those who didn’t respond.
- Test multiple subject lines - Your email needs to stand out from hundreds of others in the recipient’s inbox. A short and catchy subject line (within 50 characters) is a good start. You can A/B test different lines to identify the one with the highest open rates.
- Keep it sleek - Holding your audience’s attention is key to ensuring greater engagement. Keep your email brief with a short description, relevant images and videos, and links to more info (such as a free consultation with an insurance agent).
Example #7: Newsletter Emails
Whether you want to drive traffic to your website or establish your authority on a particular niche (say as, best-in-class business insurance providers), email newsletters are a powerful way of reaching out to your potential and existing clients. The frequency of these emails can be weekly, biweekly, fortnightly, or monthly and can be automated depending on the subscriber’s preference. Newsletter emails can be of several different types depending on their purpose, such as:
- Promotional newsletters - They are meant to increase brand recall and compel the recipients to take actions involving a sale.
- Industry updates - A great way of engaging potential clients, these newsletters contain concrete facts in response to the commonly asked questions in the insurance sector.
- Curated newsletters - As the most popular form of email newsletters, these contain well-organized information derived from multiple sources on a particular topic or niche.
- Newly published content - If you generate high-quality, unique content on your insurance website, email newsletters are a great way to share it with your subscribers.
- Office updates/offers - Signed up a new carrier? Announcing new discounts on policies? Newsletter emails can help keep your stakeholders updated on the latest developments.
How to Nail It!
- Keep your readers updated - Talk about the latest trends, for instance, the impact of increased lending rates on homeowners insurance, to ensure greater value to the reader.
- Build some buzz - Use social media platforms to reveal snippets of your upcoming newsletter and create interest even before you send out the email.
- Be consistent - Even though you may pursue different end goals in each newsletter, maintain consistency in terms of the quality and usefulness of the content. Doing so will help you establish your brand voice and stand out from your competitors.
Example #8: Birthday & Anniversary Emails
Not every email has to be educational or promotional. Birthday and anniversary emails are a great way of showing your clients that you value them beyond the precincts of a formal relationship. You can send personalized messages on their birthdays that wish them all the health and luck in the days ahead or celebrate the anniversary of your partnership with fun emails telling them how much you appreciate their consistent business with your firm.
How to Nail It!
- Make it personal - Customize your email template to emphasize the uniqueness of your relationship with the client. Add their name and your company’s name in the email so that they know who sent it.
- Don’t sound salesy - Keep the tone friendly and engaging; remember this is not your sales pitch. The message itself should be as simple as possible to avoid any superficiality, so keep it within 2-3 sentences.
- Send it on the right day! - As their trusted insurance provider, you are expected to know your clients’ ins and outs, including days that are most important to them. Therefore make sure to celebrate their special days on the right date!
Final Thoughts
With an average ROI of $38 for every dollar spent, insurance email marketing can help you grow your client base exponentially with one strategic email at a time. Greater brand loyalty, long-lasting relationships, greater client retentions, increased referrals, more website traffic, enhanced customer experience are a few of the several benefits that can be enjoyed through a thoughtfully designed campaign.
Our experts at Stratosphere are always prepared to address your unique digital marketing needs and find the best email marketing solutions for your insurance agency. With years of experience, extensive knowledge, and countless proven strategies, we will help you connect more deeply with your clients while establishing your agency’s online presence and unique brand image in the insurance world. Contact us today to get started!
