If you want to sell more insurance, you know that you need to be sending more emails and texts to your clients. But where do you start? The good news is, you probably already have access to a great CRM/email marketing solution.
I should know – over the last 6 years, I’ve sent well over a million emails that have driven millions of dollars in revenue. And I want to help our industry have a deeper understanding of the number one driver of revenue in digital marketing.
So if you read this post, you’ll learn:
❇️ How often you should be emailing and texting your clients.
❇️ What types of content drives the most engagement
❇️ Actionable items you can implement immediately
Let’s get started!
How often should you be emailing and texting your clients?
There are two things that you need to keep in mind when emailing your clients: timing and frequency. You don’t want to bombard them with emails every day, but you also don’t want to go too long without reaching out.
Does it matter what time of day you email? Of course, but that time depends on your audience. If your ideal client is a business owner, I find Monday through Thursday from 7:30 am to about 10 am to be my sweet spot for sending emails that get opened and replied to.
For personal lines clients you’re probably going to laugh, but I recommend what I call “toilet times” for emails. And that’s exactly what you think it is, when people are probably taking a deuce, early morning, around 10 am, or after they get home from work.
A lot of ‘pro’ email marketers will say you should be sending emails daily…but that could be overkill, plus if you have never done it that’s a lot. So start off with just once a week to make it easier. If that still feels too heavy, start with every other week
What Types of Content Drive the Most Engagement
When it comes to the content of your emails and texts, there are three things that you should keep in mind: personalization, value, and brevity.
I like to remember the age old acronym KISS, but in this instance I use Keep It Stupid Short.
The majority of your emails should be short, concise sentences, with a maximum of 3-4 sentences per paragraph, with a max of 3 paragraphs.
If you can’t explain yourself in 3 paragraphs, you’re going to bore them to death with that wall of text.
Your clients want to feel like you’re speaking directly to them, so make sure that your emails and texts are personalized. They should also feel like they’re getting something out of it – whether it’s valuable information or a special offer. And finally, keep it short and sweet – they’re more likely to read (and engage with) an email or text that’s brief and to the point.
Before we dive too deep into this, do not get discouraged. All of us started off with very little content to work with.
But what should I send? I’m gonna break some hearts here, but nobody really wants to read emails about insurance topics ALL THE TIME. Break up the content you’re creating with community or niche “adjacent” content.
I know, we’re talking about emailing your clients every week, and OMG I know that sounds so overwhelming. (Here’s a list of 24 email and content ideas you can steal).
What is adjacent content?
It’s value added content kind of next to what you’re selling. Take a look at the content Nick Ayers creates for Better Agency, he almost never creates content about the product. It’s always content to benefit our customers. How to hire a VA, how to find the right carriers, how to find the perfect referral partner, etc..
What can an insurance agent send that’s “adjacent” to insurance? Well let’s think about who your client is, and what value you can bring to the table. If you’re a local personal lines agency, I would curate or create content based on seasonal or community focused things. If you’re a commercial agency with a niche, partner up with people in your industry and create content with them.
Actionable Items You Can Implement Immediately
Now that you know what goes into a great email or text, it’s time to put it into practice! Here are three actionable items that you can implement immediately:
1. Schedule time each week to write your emails/texts. This will help ensure that you’re staying on top of your communication with your clients.
2. Write down a list of questions that your clients and prospects ask! This will give you something to fall back on when you’re struggling to come up with ideas for your emails/texts.
3. Use a CRM/email marketing solution like ActiveCampaign or MailChimp. These platforms make it easy to create emails and track your results so that you can see what’s working and what isn’t.
Sending more emails and texts to your clients is a great way to stay top-of-mind and generate more business. By following the tips in this post, you’ll be on your way to becoming a pro at emailing and texting your clients in no time!
TL;DR
- Email and text communication is crucial for insurance agents to drive revenue
- Best practices include emailing clients once a week, considering timing and frequency, creating personalized, valuable, and brief content, and using “adjacent” topics related to but not directly about insurance.
- Agents should not be discouraged when starting to create content and to start thinking about target audience and creating content that resonates with them.