Lucy King* It’s incredibly important for lawyers and law firms to use a range of effective strategies to reach their audiences and grow their practices, including email marketing.
Why use email marketing? While social media and other marketing channels have their place, email marketing remains a very valuable tool to communicate directly with your audience. In this article, I’ll explain why you should be using email marketing, and 10 top tips for getting results.
Why should lawyers embrace email marketing?
Tailored Messaging
Email marketing and EDMs enable law firms to segment their mailing list and tailor their messages to distinct groups of clients and prospects.
For example, corporate lawyers could send detailed insights on mergers and acquisitions to recipients known to be corporate executives or business owners. In this email, past successes, understanding of the regulatory landscape, and the benefits of working with their highly skilled legal team could be highlighted.
By tailoring messaging to recipients’ specific interests, this will increase engagement and the likelihood of converting these people into clients. It will also position the firm as a valuable resource and go-to source of information for businesses looking to grow and expand through strategic transactions.
Cost-effectiveness
Email marketing is a cost-effective method for law firms to reach a wide audience with a single message. According to HubSpot, email marketing generates an impressive average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. It also saves valuable time and resources as a means of regularly updating clients and potentials about the firm’s insights and services.
Relationship Building
Landing in your client’s and prospect’s inboxes proves highly effective in building and nurturing relationships with them. Consistent communication keeps the firm top-of-mind while showcasing expertise and value. This is particularly vital for law firms, where establishing trust and credibility is pivotal to attracting and retaining clients. 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the past 12 months – which emphasises email marketing’s continued effectiveness in building client relationships.
Measurable Results
With email marketing, law firms can monitor and evaluate the success of their campaigns. Metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions offer valuable insights to optimise and fine-tune strategies to get the best results.
Top 10 Tips for Email Marketing Success
- Cultivate a quality mailing list: Success hinges on having a high-quality mailing list consisting of engaged subscribers who have willingly opted-in to receiving your law firm’s emails. Offer lead magnets like eBooks or white papers in exchange for email addresses and integrate sign-up forms across your digital platforms.
- Segment your mailing list: Segment your subscribers based on industries, interests, behaviours, location or other characteristics. That way you can deliver targeted messages that have been tailored to each recipient’s specific needs, increasing your chance of engagement and conversion.
- Deliver relevant and valuable content: Focus on offering content that is relevant and valuable to each recipient. For example, law firms could provide updates on legal news, legislative changes, and practical advice relating to their services. It’s important to avoid using these emails for solely promotional purposes, as that will produce lower engagement and higher unsubscribe rates. Instead, focus on providing value through informative and educational content.
- Optimise for mobile: Approximately 41% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Therefore, it’s important to ensure your emails are mobile friendly, accommodating various screen sizes with responsive designs, concise subject lines, and easy-to-read layouts.
- Craft clear and compelling subject lines: The email’s subject line is your first chance to grab the reader’s attention, so make it clear and compelling to entice the to open the email containing your valuable content!
- Professional and consistent design: Maintain a professional and consistent email design that aligns with your firm’s branding to foster trust and credibility throughout your messaging. Be sure to incorporate your logo, brand colours and any other key elements from your digital platforms.
- Incorporate clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Use prominent and easily accessible CTAs to guide recipients to take specific actions, whether that be visiting your website, contacting your firm, scheduling a meeting, or downloading resources. The best positions for CTAs seem to be above the fold, and again at the bottom of your message).
- Personalise where possible: Personalisation strengthens connection, increasing your engagement and conversion rates. Try personalising emails by including the recipient’s name, location, or other relevant information.
- Test and optimise emails: Be sure to continuously test and optimise elements such as subject lines, types of content, and CTAs to determine what resonates best with your audience.
- Monitor and analyse results: Regularly track the performance of your email campaigns by analysing metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Adjust your strategy based on these insights to achieve better results. For example, if you have experienced low open rates, you may want to experiment with different subject lines or sender names to improve engagement.
Conclusion: Why lawyers should use email marketing
Email marketing is an effective tool to connect with your audience and grow your business.
By sending targeted messages, having a focus on adding value and building relationships, and tracking your results, you can reach your clients and prospects very efficiently. It’s also an opportunity for your law firm to stand out from competitors and demonstrate your expertise.
Following these 10 tips will help you deliver relevant information, that will keep you top-of-mind and contribute to building a strong brand for your law firm. So, I urge you – do not overlook the power of email marketing – it’s a straightforward but highly effective method to attract and retain your client-base.
Author- Lucy King is an impact-driven marketing professional with experience working in the legal and NFP/for-purpose sectors. She is the Marketing Executive for The BD Ladder. Lucy enjoys working with clients to find creative ways to strengthen their company or personal brands online. She has both a law and marketing degree from the University of Otago, New Zealand and a Master of Marketing (Distinction) in 2021. She may be contacted through LinkedIn.
