If your law firm is not currently taking advantage of email marketing, pay attention. According to the Direct Marketing Association’s “Power of Direct” report, the expected ROI of a well-run email campaign is over 4,000% (Conversion Insights). Few digital marketing activities have such a large and measurable ROI like email marketing does. Here are 10 tips that will help your law firm generate new leads through a targeted and effective email marketing strategy.
1. Make Subscribing Easy
Your first step to developing an email marketing strategy for your law firm is creating a list. Of course you probably already have an arsenal of emails available, but many of these will be current clients. Don’t get me wrong, current clients are one of your key audiences, but they are not the only audience. Implementing an easy signup button on your homepage will help you capture new email addresses. Requiring very little information from your subscribers (i.e. name and email) will help streamline the process and avoid high bounce rates. If you have a Facebook page, you should consider adding a signup tab there as well.
2. Share Special Offers
Who doesn’t love free stuff? If offering discounts, coupons, or free consultations is something you are able to do, then give it a try. Letting people know that there is a coupon in your e-blast or that they can quickly signup for a drawing will be enough to increase your open and click-through rates. This is also a great way to get new leads through the door where you will have the chance to convert them into clients.
3. Create a Catchy Subject Line
Your email’s subject line is one of its most important features. Without a catchy, targeted, and informational subject line, your recipients won’t even be opening your email. Always include keywords in your subject line for search purposes and let subscribers know what they can expect when they open the email. Also, keep it short and sweet. According to Amanda Augustine, career expert at TheLadders, “a typical inbox reveals about 60 characters of an email's subject line, while a mobile phone shows just 25 to 30 characters” (Business Insider). So as a golden rule, keep it under 60 characters, and even shorter if you can swing it!
4. Feature Testimonials
According to a 2013 BrightLocal study, 79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Along those same lines, trustworthy testimonials have the power to sway your subscribers to take action. You can help your testimonials appear more trustworthy by including name, location, or an image of the reviewer. An even better option would be to have a client submit a guest blog that you can link to in your e-newsletter!
5. Go Mobile-Friendly
According to Litmus, mobile now makes up the majority of email opens at 51%.With over half of your subscribers accessing your emails on their mobile devices, your design must be mobile-friendly. If your email template is not mobile friendly, the subscribers accessing it from their phones are sure to delete it. Services like MailChimp let you preview how your email will appear on a mobile device before sending so be sure to add that to your pre-send checklist.
6. Include a Prominent CTA
What is the purpose of sending out an e-blast if you aren’t including a call to action? Decide what the purpose of your email is and include a prominent button or link so that your subscribers can easily follow through. Whether you want people to contact your law office directly, read one of your attorney’s blogs or follow your Facebook page, make it known. Additionally, your email should have several CTAs to make things even easier!
7. Utilize A/B Testing
A/B testing will allow your law office to determine what your clients and prospects like to see. The concept of A/B testing involves sending an email to part of your list and changing one variable then sending to the other part of your list for the purposes of testing said variable. Testing the subject line will help you determine which keywords lead to higher open rates. You can also A/B test specific content within the email, the time of day you send it, or the “from” name. Once you determine which content produces the best results you can really begin honing your strategy.
8. Make it Easy to Scan
We just don’t have the time or patience that we used to. Nowadays, people expect to be able to scan for information in a matter of seconds to determine if they want to dig deeper. Keep your content short, truncated and scannable with bullet points, lists, and engaging imagery.
9. Offer Useful Information
This is an obvious one but you would be surprised how often it is overlooked. While email marketing is a great tool for generating new leads, you need to keep your audience in mind. Focusing on “me, me, me” will lead you to produce content that may not be interesting to your recipients. Understanding your audience and giving them what they want will dramatically increase your open and click-through rates.
10. Stick to a Schedule
Determining a schedule for sending e-blasts and sticking to it will help you stay regular and let your audience know when they can expect your emails. With a schedule you will also be able to test the frequency of emails. For example, if you send emails weekly and you notice your open rate dropping, you may want to pull it back to bi-weekly. On the other hand, if your open rate is staying fairly consistent, you can begin sending your emails more often and monitor the statistics to see how they perform.
If you are an attorney or work for a law firm and need assistance with designing your email template or managing your email marketing, contact Informatics.
View the rest of the attorney digital marketing blogs from this month:
How Your Law Office Can Get the Most Out of Social Media
Top 10 Blogging Tips for Attorneys
SEO for Attorneys: Do’s and Don’ts
