Benefits brokers and employee benefit managers alike create content intended to keep employees informed about their benefits. The main goal is to help employees make the best use of the benefits available to them. But what if the content doesn’t convey that message? What if the content does not convey anything at all? If this is the case, it is time to adopt an SEO mindset.
By its nature, SEO is designed to both drive traffic and encourage website visitors to make a decision about something before they leave the site. When done well, SEO leads to high conversion rates. This same principle can be applied to the employee benefits arena.
The Email Newsletter
Brokers and benefits managers use a variety of means to connect with employees. For purposes of illustration, we will use the email newsletter. A typical newsletter offers benefit updates, tips, and tricks for using benefits, and perhaps a reminder or two about health and wellbeing.
The SEO mentality can be applied whenever the broker or benefits manager sits down to write the next newsletter. The following things would be kept in mind:
Subject Line
When creating web content, writers pay close attention to titles. They want attention-grabbing titles that are easily searchable by Google, Bing, etc. Subject lines for email newsletters should follow the same principles. They should be compelling enough to get an employee’s attention. They should be easily searchable too, guaranteeing that employees can find them for future reference at a later date.
Content Relevance
Next, the main body of the newsletter should offer relevant content. By this, we mean content that employees are actually interested in. Coming up with irrelevant content just to fill space is a waste of time. It is also a good way to train employees to send newsletters directly to the trash without reading them. Just as content is king in the SEO world, it reigns supreme when you are sending out benefits newsletters.
Call to Action
Not every employee benefits newsletter needs a call the action. But some do. For instance, the last newsletter sent out just prior to the start of open enrollment should absolutely have a call to action that reminds employees to take advantage of open enrollment as soon as its available.
Keep It Simple
Another SEO principle that brokers and benefits managers can apply to their content is keeping things simple. In the SEO environment, content creators that know how to get results also know how to communicate with the target audience in a way that resonates with them. They know how to speak their language, so to speak. And more often than not, this means keeping things simple.
If you are a benefits broker, you know all sorts of industry language you and your colleagues use all the time. Maybe you utilize Dallas-based BenefitMall as your general agency. You and your BenefitMall colleagues have no trouble communicating using industry terms. But fill your employee-facing content with those same terms and you will lose them.
When you are communicating with employees, use their language. Forget the technical terms and explanations. If you communicate in ways they understand, your attempts to engage will be far more successful. You might also find that your audience responds more frequently. They are just as interested in the conversation if they can understand what is being discussed.
Creating benefits-related content comes with the territory when you are a benefits broker or employee benefits manager. How you create that content will influence whether it is productive. Try adopting an SEO mindset and see what happens. You might be surprised by the results.
