Email: we all get a lot of it. However, do your customers read yours?
You want to write high-impact emails that generate clicks and ultimately lead to sales. Are your email campaigns working well compared to others in your field? That is one of the questions that's asked and answered by the IBM 2016 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study. How is insurance doing compared to other sectors when it comes to email marketing, and how is your agency doing within the insurance industry?
Tracking Open Rates
If you are working to develop your email marketing campaigns, one of the key metrics you must monitor is your open rate. This does not tell you if customers are inspired by your email, but it does indicate if they are opening it. In email marketing, open rates vary from a mean of 18 to 31 percent.
How does the insurance industry stack up? It is surprisingly close to the top, with an average open rate of 27.5 percent in 2016. This means that out of 100 people who receive your email, 27 will open the email.
Click Through Rates Show Customer Engagement
While it is important that customers open an email, when they click on a link in the email, you know that they have chosen to engage with your content. In email marketing as a whole, click through rates vary from a mean of 2.4 percent to 5.3 percent of all emails. The insurance industry typically enjoys click-through rates of 3.6 percent. One useful metric that combines your open and click through rates is your click to open rate. This examines the number of clicks compared to the number of opens.
For the insurance industry in 2016, the mean rate is just over 11 percent. This metric is helpful in determining the effectiveness of your messaging: you know those who open your emails are curious, and, if many click through, that means your message has been useful.
Lessons for Your Insurance Agency
What lessons does the 2016 IBM study have for your business? It reiterates the need for quality data. If you are not using an email system that automatically tracks information such as clicks and open rates, you are missing critical data that will allow you to inform future marketing campaigns.
It also highlights key times to interact with your customers. Transactional emails have mean open rates of over 47 percent, nearly double the usual open rates. These emails occur when the client has requested additional information or signed up for a newsletter. If your future client has signed up for your ebook about auto safety and insurance rates, that person is probably highly-motivated to open that email.
As you develop your email marketing, focus attention on these key moments when customers are highly motivated to interact with your company. Offer incentives for new customers, ask customers if they would like to join your club for further discounts, or connect them to extra information on your website.
When you're looking for information about the insurance industry, contact American Agents Alliance. We're a group of independent insurance agencies, and we're here to provide you with the insight you need to run your insurance business. Connect with other agents at our annual Alliance Convention & Expo and learn more about our extensive membership benefits : contact us today.
