The subject line is the most important part of your emarketing message. Your campaign’s success or failure will depend on the subject line. The subject line of your email will be reviewed for a few seconds before the reader decides whether to open or delete it. If they don’t like it, they can opt out of future email communications. The subject line should be thoughtfully thought out, measured, analysed, and split tested. I recommend subject lines that are educational with a call-to-action for a white paper, webinar, or case study. These subject lines are not the same as those used in promotional emails, such as an email from Groupon, Staples, or Best Buy.
Tip #1: Keep it Short
Emarketers believe that a subject line should be less than 50 characters long, and should have a target of 35 characters. This rule can be influenced by the relationship between sender and recipient. If your insurance agency is well-known and your subject lines are about complex topics like healthcare compliance or mandates, you may be able to achieve admirable results with longer subject lines. A good subject line gives a brief overview of the topic and encourages people to read more. This results in emails being opened.
Tip #2: When Target by Segment Is Possible
Open rates will increase if targeted messages are used. It will be more effective to target a message that is important to a particular segment. To illustrate, the “New OSHA Rules For Heavy Equipment Operators” and “Hours of Service Modifications Effective January 1st” messages will be relevant to specific audiences. These subject lines will be considered relevant as we’ll discuss in the next tip.
Tip #3: Make it relevant and interesting
Relevant messages and timely messages improve emarketing open rate (and click through rate). This is usually more about education than selling. Emarketing for insurance agencies should be about building relationships. Marketing organizations and agencies that send out thousands of emails promoting their product, program, or pricing changes will be subject to spam complaints, opt-outs, and possibly “blacklisting” by ISPs. Your insurance agency email messages should reflect consistency, relevance, and frequency. Most insurance agencies should allow at most a week between emails to the exact same prospect.
Tip #4 Make it Informative
This tip could be considered “make it educational”. Your subject line should promise educational and informative content. The email body should fulfill that promise. Your goal should be to provide educational and interesting topics that are relevant to your prospects. Your agency will have many opportunities for further engagement with prospects once you establish a rapport.
Tip #5 Keep it simple and honest
We all know the KISS rule. It states that simpler is better. Emails should be easy to read, simple to comprehend and fulfill the intended purpose of the subject line. Agency subject lines should not promise anything (PPACA updates). Instead, they should discuss how they can provide the best service and rates to their clients regarding health insurance in the body of their emails. Your agency should offer a webinar for contractors. The subject line and content must match the purpose of the email.
Bonus Tip: Don’t Bury The Lead
This old saying is probably familiar to you. This is a great advice for bloggers, news reporters, and emarketers. Your email subject should be your headline. You can use the following:
- Five Critical Steps for Next Renewal
- New hours of service regulations for owner operators
- For small employers, ROI-based wellness programs
- Healthcare Compliance Updates and Mandates
These topics provide educational value as well as new and relevant content. These topics can be between 41 and 47 characters, including spaces. Use timely and interesting topics to make your subject line your lead. You can also measure your campaigns’ results for click-throughs, opens, and opt-outs. Split testing can be used to measure the effectiveness of your emarketing campaigns for insurance agencies.
