In the insurance world, there is a bad habit of treating email like a “lazy” way to get out of doing the hard work of actual prospecting. A lot of agents dump a list into a system, hit send on a generic blast, and then wonder why nobody is calling them back.
Since the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the game has changed. It is no longer just about legality; it is about deliverability. If you keep making these classic blunders, the big players like Google and Yahoo are going to shove your messages straight into the junk folder where they will never be seen. Stop being a “mystery meat” marketer. If you want to actually land in the inbox, you need to fix these major mistakes.
Blunder 1: List NegligenceÂ
If you did not earn the lead, you do not own the lead. High bounce rates and spam reports are like a “black mark” on your Sender Reputation that follows you around.
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STOP buying lists. This is the fastest way to hit a “spam trap” and get your domain blocked by every major provider.Â
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STOP hiding the Unsubscribe Link. Making it hard to find does not keep people on your list. It just makes them angry enough to hit the “Report Spam” button. That button is a direct signal to providers that they should block everything you send.
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DO use Double Opt-In. Have people confirm they want your emails. It is better to have 100 people who actually want to talk to you than 1,000 people who are going to delete your message without looking at it. Twilio SendGrid research shows that using a Double Opt-In process can slash your bounce rates by over 40%, keeping your domain reputation clean.
Blunder 2: The “Shouty” Subject Line
Your subject line is your digital handshake. If you walk in shouting like a late-night infomercial, the door is going to stay shut.
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STOP using ALL CAPS and “Spam Trigger” words. Phrases like FREE, DEAL, or DISCOUNT are red flags for filters. Your email will be flagged as junk before the client even sees it.
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STOP writing novels. Keep it between 30 and 50 characters. Most people check email on their phones, and if your subject line is too long, the most important part gets cut off. Twilio’s analysis states that the most effective subject lines during high-volume periods are two to four words long, while the average subject line is about six words.
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DO use Sentence Case. Write like a normal human. “Update on your policy options” looks much more professional than “ACT NOW TO SAVE MONEY!!!”
Blunder 3: The “Ugly” or “Lazy” Design
If you don’t care enough to make your email look good, why should a client trust you with their insurance?
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STOP sending one big image. If your whole email is just a picture of a flyer, spam filters can’t read it. Many people also have images turned off by default, so they will just see a big empty box. According to the latest email marketing statistics, 41% of all emails are opened from mobile devices.
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STOP using those 90s-style GIFs. They look amateur and slow down the loading time.
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DO use a 60/40 balance. You want mostly text with a few clean images. This proves you are a legitimate professional rather than a bot.Â
Blunder 4: Bad Timing and “Frequency Fatigue”
The only thing worse than a prospect not knowing you exist is a prospect being totally annoyed by you.
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STOP sending at the end of the day. If you send at 5:00 PM on a Friday, you are just going to be at the bottom of a very long pile on Monday morning. Data indicates that emails sent on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday see the highest engagement.
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STOP sending every single day. This is called “Frequency Fatigue.” People will get tired of seeing your name and they will tune you out.
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DO aim for the middle of the week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings are the “Sweet Spot” for getting people to actually open their mail.
Final ThoughtsÂ
At the end of the day, email is about building trust. You have to treat the inbox as a relationship channel, not a broadcast megaphone. When you respect your recipients’ time, you earn the right to ask for their business. But when you treat the inbox like a dumping ground, you’re just training people to ignore you.
Make your emails count. Personalize with a single, meaningful detail, offer one clear next step, and make it effortless for them to schedule a call or make a payment. Use your templates for routine check-ins, but lean into your role as an advisor during those “diagnostic” moments where your expertise really shines. Keep an eye on your open rates and appointment conversions so you can tweak what isn’t working. Do that, and you will see more conversations, better-quality appointments, and stronger client relationships. Act like a spammer, and you will get treated like one.
Agents
We hope that this information on spam is useful to you.
Empower Brokerage is dedicated to helping you make informed decisions about your health and finances. Whether it’s through webinar training, one-on-one calls, seminars, or marketing plans, we want you to be successful!
Give us a call at 888-539-1633 or leave a comment below if you have any questions.
Updated on 12/26/2025.
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