April 28, 2021

Why Lawyers Should Use Email Marketing

Email is 40x more effective at acquiring customers compared to Facebook and Twitter combined. With that in mind, you shouldn’t ignore email as one of your primary marketing channels for your law firm.

Email marketing helps you reach and connect with your target audience in a personalized way with ease, and without spending too much.

Why Is Email Marketing Effective?

Email marketing has several advantages, especially for law firms.

It’s Personal

Next to text messaging, email marketing is more personal and intimate than social media and ads. Typically, your contacts have opted into hearing from you meaning that you have a chance to be heard.

It’s Universal

Everyone uses email, but not everyone uses social media. By using email, you’re tapping into an essential communication function that almost everyone uses.

Business Development

Email marketing involves consistently communicating with your leads and clients, so when the time comes that they need a lawyer, your law firm is already top of mind.

Key Elements

Here are three vital components of email marketing you should focus on in order to achieve results from your campaign.

High-Quality Email List

A great email marketing campaign begins with an email list full of prospects who are truly interested in what you have to offer. For extra quality assurance, use a double opt-in list. This means that a confirmation email is sent to the person’s inbox and they have to confirm their address before they get any emails from you. This helps limit bad emails in your database and fraud.

Personalization

Remember, people don’t want to feel like they are part of a mass list. Sometimes, it’s hard to pull off but find ways to personalize the emails you send in any way you can. A simple choice is to dynamically add in a first name in the greeting. Instead of “Hello Customer,” write “Hello John,” or whatever the contact’s first name may be.

Automation

Choosing the right email marketing software will play a huge part in the success of your campaign. Using automation to send emails based on predetermined criteria is essential to set up lead and sales funnels. Automation saves you hundreds, if not thousands, of hours sending emails that can be personalized and sent at the perfect time. Consider using software, like HubSpot, to easily run your email marketing automation.

Building Your Email List

Lead Magnets

One effective way to earn emails is through a lead magnet—a free item or service that is given away to gather contact information.

This content should be original, relevant, and of value to work. Here are what lead magnets should do:

• Solve a real problem
• Offer high value
• Be accessible

Now, here are some examples of lead magnet types:

• eBooks
• Guides
• Cheatsheets/Tipsheets/Worksheets
• White papers
• Newsletters
• Community presentations
• Resource libraries

Black Hat Practices

Though it may be tempting to buy large databases of emails, do not do it! People don’t respond well to finding out their email was purchased in a bulk acquisition. Besides, you can’t expect people who have never heard of you to, all of a sudden, start becoming engaged with your firm. An email relationship has to be earned in order to have a chance at getting value from it.

Creating Engaging Newsletter Content

An email newsletter contains periodic content (announcements, blog posts, news, and more), in an effort to engage your contacts with fresh, exciting content regularly.

So, what should your newsletter say? What is going to keep clients informed and engaged? What is going to make them click?

Take a look at a few ideas below.

Repurpose

Do you have a blog post that has earned a lot of reads? You can summarize that and link back to it in the email so your clients can read more.

FAQs

Are there certain questions that you get asked all the time, such as those asked as part of an initial consultation? Answering these questions in an easy-to-read format is a great way to engage your readers.

Law Changes

Laws and regulations are always changing. Be the first to make them aware of it by making it easy to understand, especially if it’s going to potentially affect them.

Business Development

Informing clients of important updates on your business also makes for great content. Feature achievements or awards you may have received, or showcase raving testimonials. This will strengthen your credibility as well.

Industry-Related News

If you’re a lawyer who specializes in a specific field, you can use relevant news stories relating to that. You can simply and quickly search for them on Google, and include them in your newsletter.

Use Images

Images are more pleasant on the eyes as opposed to long text. You can use infographics, graphs, or tables that contain relevant and engaging information to break up text.

Mobile-Friendly

81% of all emails are opened on mobile phones, rather than a computer. With the vast majority of clients on their phones, make sure that your newsletters are optimized for mobile. If not, they’ll most likely close the newsletter right away and potentially refuse to open future emails from you.

52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company.

The Best Email Marketing Software for Lawyers

Choosing the right email marketing software plays a vital role in the success of your marketing campaign. A standard email marketing software should be easy to use and let you create highly engaging emails. It should also be able to:

• Maintain contact lists
• Have an email builder with templates you can work with
• Send emails
• Send basic automated emails
• Track your performance

Here are some of the best choices out there:

• HubSpot
• Constant Contact
• Campaign Monitor

There are many viable email marketing softwares out there, each with their own pros and cons. Try them out, see for yourself, and choose what works best for you!

Grow Your Practice

One of the pitfalls of most businesses is failing to maintain communication with both potential and existing clients. Use email to send your potential clients relevant and targeted content that is going to create interest with your firm as a brand and in your legal services. If you need help building a powerful email strategy, feel free to reach out to us—we’d be happy to help.

With email marketing, you’ll be able to attract, engage, and connect with clients, all the while making your business stick in their minds when it comes to lawyers. Plus, it’s also low cost-high impact. With controlled resources, you should be able to prioritize your time, money, and effort. Hence, email marketing is a strategy you simply cannot afford to miss out on.