In today’s insurance market, one of the most overlooked growth levers for carriers and MGAs is modernizing broker communications. For most organizations, the baseline is simple: send out email bulletins with critical updates on rates, coverage changes, catastrophic events, and other operational notices.

But here’s the reality: that’s the bare minimum.

Companies are missing out on major opportunities to educate their brokers, be relevant with their communication strategies, and ultimately stay top of mind amongst every other provider.

Why Broker Communications Matter

When done well, broker communications don’t just inform,  they influence. They can:

  • Faster adoption of new products, services, and self-serve platforms
    By delivering targeted campaigns that walk brokers through the “why” and “how” of adoption, you can accelerate usage and reduce reliance on calls/emails or manual processes.
  • Increased broker loyalty and retention
    Consistent, relevant communications reinforce your role as a trusted partner. This keeps your organization top-of-mind among 20-30 competitors.“Broker communications are often overlooked, left unread, or filed away for ‘later.’ The feedback is consistent, they’re not relevant, too text-heavy, unengaging, and ultimately easy to ignore.”
  • Higher quote-to-bind ratios through targeted product promotion
    When broker communications are segmented by goals, roles, or lines of business, they become more relevant and actionable, driving stronger results.
  • More consistent brand presence in a highly competitive inbox
    Instead of sporadic, one-size-fits-all bulletins, a structured communication engine creates a steady rhythm of brand visibility that brokers come to expect and rely on, when done well.
  • Education around key appetite and claims
    Timely updates and digestible resources on product appetite, guidelines, and claims handling processes make it easier for brokers to do business with you, particularly for those who are still building their knowledge.
  • Promotion of unique coverage segments
    Specialized product lines (e.g., cyber, agriculture, or environmental) often go underutilized because some brokers aren’t educated on these deeper, more complex product lines . Regular campaigns highlighting these segments drive awareness and open new revenue streams.
  • Ongoing training and development
    From new broker welcome streams to refresher campaigns on lines of business, portals, and services, structured education ensures brokers continue to build knowledge and effectiveness as partners.
  • Onboarding and lifecycle programs
    Automated workflows can nurture brokers through different stages of their journey with your organization, helping new partners ramp up quickly, supporting mid-tier brokers to grow, and rewarding your top brokers with loyalty and incentives.

The opportunity is there, but several challenges are holding carriers and MGAs back from getting to an innovative place or re-thinking how they approach broker communications and campaigns.

The Current Challenges

1. Competing in an Overcrowded Inbox

Most brokers work with 20–30 carrier and MGA partners. That means they’re bombarded daily with communications—bulletins, rate changes, marketing offers, training invites, etc.

Without differentiation or more importantly accuracy, your messages risk becoming part of the background noise or worse, not landing in the inbox at all. Many organizations choose to reduce the volume of broker communications rather than improve their relevance—missing the chance to deliver high-value, high-impact information that cuts through the clutter.

2. Fragmented and Outdated Broker Data

  • An overcrowded inbox
    Brokers juggle messages from 20–30 markets. Bulletins, rate changes, and offers blur together, and without differentiation your communications risk fading into background noise.
  • Fragmented and outdated broker data
    Broker data lives across disconnected systems, leading to:

    • Incomplete contact records — sometimes only a handful of names when 100+ staff at a brokerage could benefit.
    • Minimal profile data — little to no segmentation by region, role, or specialization, making personalization impossible.
    • Stale data — with broker turnover, databases can decay by 30% each year.

This lack of accurate data limits relevance and reach. Worse, modern email platforms track engagement. Ignored or deleted emails are a negative signal, pushing even valid communications into junk or spam folders.

3. Outdated Email Strategies

Even with the right audience, outdated practices reduce engagement:

  • No CRM or portal integration for data enrichment or event triggers
  • Lack of segmentation beyond basic lists
  • Low open and click-through rates due to irrelevant content. For a broker base—which should perform more like a strong partner or customer audience, an average 25% open rate and 15% click-through rate is simply too low.
  • No use of dedicated landing pages to improve deliverability, engagement, and tracking. Without them, emails become overloaded and harder to read, while landing pages provide a structured experience with clear performance data.
  • Email preference gathering. Even though broker bulletins may not be subject to CASL or CAN-SPAM in the same way as marketing emails, it’s still wise to ask for and map email preferences. Allowing brokers to choose the type and frequency of communications (outside of bulletins) creates more personal experiences, which in turn strengthens engagement.

What’s Next

These challenges may explain why many carriers and MGAs struggle to move beyond basic bulletins.

In Part 2: The Tools and Tactics Behind Better Broker Communications, we’ll explore how marketing automation, CRM and portal integration, and continuous data hygiene can help carriers and MGAs create communications that are precise, timely, and measurable, supporting broker engagement, growth, and long-term retention.

If you’re ready to move beyond basic bulletins and unlock more from your broker relationships, Contact Goose Digital today to explore how we can help you modernize broker communications with data-driven marketing automation.