Email Marketing Metrics That Matter: Tracking Success in the Insurance Industry

insurance email marketing

Insurance email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for insurance agents to connect with current and existing customers. However, you must focus on continuous measurement and optimization to get the best results from your email marketing campaigns. 

Tracking campaign performance starts with knowing what to measure. So, what metrics matter in email marketing for insurance agents? In this article, we’ll share the most critical metrics, why they are essential, and what you can do to improve them.

1. Click-Through Rate

Click-through rate (CTR) measures the percentage of people who click a link after viewing it. It’s an essential metric in insurance email marketing because it:

  • Provides a tangible measurement of your campaigns
  • Reveals what content resonates with your target audience
  • Helps you reduce your cost per lead through optimization

How To Calculate CTR

CTR = (Number of clicks / Number of impressions) x 100

How To Optimize CTR

  • Craft clear, concise, and compelling calls to action (CTAs).
  • Segment your email list, and send more targeted, personalized content.
  • A/B test different marketing emails to learn what content is most effective.

2. Open Rate

Open rate is a vital insurance email marketing metric that measures the percentage of delivered emails opened by recipients. It’s critical to track open rates because it:

  • Measures the quality of your email subject lines
  • Provides insights into how engaged your target audience is with your brand
  • Helps you understand whether emails are reaching your audience

How To Calculate Open Rate

Open rate = (Unique opens / Number of emails delivered) x 100

How To Optimize Open Rate

  • Write compelling email subject lines.
  • Personalize your email content.
  • Optimize email sending times.

3. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate measures the number of people who complete a desired action after engaging with your insurance email marketing content. It’s an important metric because it:

  • Measures the quality of your marketing funnel
  • Provides insights into your landing page’s effectiveness
  • Highlights issues with your CTA buttons, copy, or forms

How To Calculate Conversion Rate

Conversion rate = (Number of conversions / Total number of visitors) x 100

How To Optimize Conversion Rate

  • Optimize your landing pages.
  • Ensure your CTAs are clear and concise.
  • Clearly state the benefits and value proposition of your insurance products.

4. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of your emails not delivered to prospects’ inboxes. You can split bounce rate into two categories:

  • Hard bounces: Not delivered due to invalid or blocked emails
  • Soft bounces: Not delivered due to email size, server issues, or full inboxes

Insurance email marketing teams must monitor bounce rate because it:

  • Highlights email deliverability issues
  • Preserves your domain and IP reputation
  • Helps you stay out of spam folders

How To Calculate Bounce Rate

Bounce rate = (Number of bounced emails / Total number of emails sent) x 100

How To Optimize Bounce Rate

  • Regularly clean your email list.
  • Write highly relevant content.
  • Avoid spam filter trigger words.

5. List Growth Rate

List growth rate calculates how quickly your email subscriber rates grow over a particular interval. Tracking this metric is vital because it:

  • Tells you if your campaigns are working
  • Proves growing brand awareness
  • Provides a pathway to scaling revenue

How To Calculate List Growth Rate

List growth rate = ((Number of new subscribers – Number of unsubscribes) / Total number of subscribers at the start of the period) x 100

How To Optimize List Growth Rate

  • Offer lead magnets that resonate with your target audience.
  • Provide email signup links across all your marketing channels.
  • Use website popup forms to capture website visitors’ email addresses.

6. Email Sharing/Forwarding Rate

The email sharing/forwarding rate tracks the percentage of recipients who share or forward your email with their contacts. It’s an important metric because it:

  • Measures your organic reach
  • Helps you understand what content your target audience likes
  • Provides a low-cost way to reach new prospects

How To Calculate Email Sharing/Forwarding Rate

Email sharing/Forwarding rate = (Number of shares/forwards / Number of emails delivered) x 100

How To Optimize Email Sharing/Forwarding Rate

  • Include social sharing buttons in your emails.
  • Create content that audiences want to share.
  • Include CTAs that encourage email sharing or forwarding.

7. Overall Return on Investment

Return on investment (ROI) is a critical insurance email marketing metric that measures the profitability of your email campaigns. It’s essential to measure this number because it:

  • Tests the effectiveness of your campaigns
  • Justifies marketing spend
  • Promotes data-driven decisions about where to spend your marketing budget

How To Calculate Overall ROI

ROI = ((Revenue generated from email marketing – Cost of email marketing) / Cost of email marketing) x 100

How To Optimize Overall ROI

  • Create targeted and personalized emails that impact your audience.
  • Use list segmentation to ensure recipients get relevant content.
  • Drive clicks and content with great subject lines and content.

8. Unsubscribe Rate

The unsubscribe rate measures the percentage of recipients who opt out of receiving your emails after seeing a campaign. It’s crucial to track this metric because it:

  • Promotes good list hygiene by removing uninterested parties
  • Helps protect your email sender reputation
  • Highlights issues with your content or campaigns

How To Calculate Unsubscribe Rate

Unsubscribe rate = (Number of unsubscribes / Number of emails delivered) x 100

How To Optimize Unsubscribe Rate

  • Provide relevant, valuable content.
  • Be transparent about your email sending cadence.
  • Segment your list, and share tailor-made content for each cohort.

Improve Your Insurance Email Marketing ROI

Insurance email marketing is still a winning outreach tool. However, making it work requires tracking the metrics listed above and making the necessary adjustments. 

Breaking down your email marketing into bite-sized parts helps you identify mistakes and guides your email marketing strategy with data. Without clear and measurable tracking, you’re working in the dark.

Contact Neilson Marketing Services today if you want to improve your email marketing for insurance agents. Our team of experts can offer you the tips, insights, and guidance you need to take your insurance email marketing to the next level.

Written by:

Neilson Marketing Services

At Neilson Marketing Services, we deliver strategic insurance marketing solutions to agencies, brokerages, MGAs, wholesalers, carriers, vendors and insurtechs. Headed by Larry and Jeff Neilson, we've provided the industry with game-changing products and services that develop new business opportunities, boost revenue, and drive innovation in customer communications.

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