Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to consistently communicate with many prospects and customers at one time. When done well, it develops more meaningful, longer-lasting relationships and open, two-way communication so customers can share their pain points and you can demonstrate your expertise. Email marketing also increases the likelihood of future purchases and gathers information that can be used for improving customer service and retention.
Here are 7 tips you can use to create high quality, effective emails that will positively impact your agency growth.
- Ask for emails. To drive subscription, you need to be asking for your customers’ email addresses at every touch point – on your website, over the phone, in your office, etc.
- Be consistent. Emailing your customers on a regular basis will keep your agency at the top of their minds. Be careful not to overload them with constant messages. A good rule of thumb is no more often than once every 2-3 weeks. Less than that and it might be difficult for them to remember you. More than that and they might be tempted to hit the spam or unsubscribe button.
- Relevant content. It doesn’t matter if they gave you their email address and you’re only sending messages every three weeks. If your subscribers don’t find your content interesting, they’re not going to read it. We recommend implementing a mix of insurance specific content with general interest articles, such as tips to reduce gas mileage while driving or to make easy home improvements.
- Be yourself. People do business with people they like. Your customers already like you so don’t change your writing style because it’s an email. Keep the same style and tone as if the customer was sitting across from you in your office.
- Segmentation. It’s easy to create a general newsletter that appeals to most customers. However, specific messages sent to specific groups can foster even deeper relationships and make more sales as segmented emails are more likely to be opened and acted upon. Producing different email messages for different groups may be more work, but it is worth the extra effort.
- Track your results. You’ll never know which email messages are successful and which ones aren’t unless you’re tracking your results. Before you start an email marketing program, determine what your objectives are. They can be as straightforward (an open rate for driving brand awareness) or as complicated (tracking conversions and ROI) as you want. Just make sure to check your results against your objectives to determine your success.
- Be CAN-SPAM compliant. CAN-SPAM is the law. Violating it can subject your agency to criminal penalties. You are required to include clear instructions for how subscribers can opt out of future email and unsubscribe readers promptly. Also, don’t steal email addresses and don’t be misleading.
Additional Resources
- Best Practices For Bulletproof E-Mail Delivery
- 31 content tips and ideas for your B2B email newsletter
- To learn more email marketing tips and tricks read the AgencyBuzz blog.
