Is email marketing effective for solicitors? We certainly think it is, and here are our tips on how to help your firm benefit from a well-managed email campaign.
Email marketing is bigger and more accessible than ever and with considerate and strategic use, it can be an asset to your law firm's marketing. Email marketing is known for its high return on investment but getting started can be daunting if you’re unsure of how it will help your firm. One of the benefits to email marketing is that you decide exactly how you are going to use it, and with a few tips and tricks to keep in mind, it can be easily managed too.
Build Relationships
Most people will not need a solicitor every day, but for when they do, it is reassuring for them to know that they have someone that they are familiar with and trust on hand. Email marketing is a simple tool, but it can greatly elevate the way you communicate with your clients and remind them that they have the ideal authority on the subject when needed, be that for family law, conveyancing, employment law or commercial law.
Email has a large reach; most people with internet access have an email address. And unlike some forms of marketing, your subscribers have told you that they want to receive your content, presenting you with the perfect opening to strengthen these relationships. Designing your emails with your recipients in mind, email marketing is an effective (and cost-effective) way to establish credibility, build rapport and nurture current, previous and potential clients.
By giving you the opportunity to create customised content, encourage engagement and easily measure what your subscribers respond well to, you can develop trust and inspire potential clients to decide that they want to work with you. Coupled with increased visibility and a deepened awareness of your firm, they will think of you before anyone else when they need legal help.
Smart Messenger friendly and UK based team have been providing email marketing and supporting clients since 2003 and we are dedicated to and experienced in supporting our clients to get the most out of email marketing.
"Smart Messenger makes building emails a very quick and simple process, allowing us to send more regular updates to our clients." - Clapham & Collinge Solicitors
Smart Messenger's 9 tips with solicitors in mind
1. Define your focus and communicate it simply
Decide upon your objective for each email that you send. With a clear goal in mind, you can design the email to direct your reader to your call to action. For example, if your aim for an email is to get readers to click on a link to read a legal update news article, make sure that your content leads to an easily visible linking button. When you try to cover too many different topics in one email, readers may get overwhelmed and not act at all. By keeping your layout and content simple, and presenting a clear call to action, interacting with your email will be more appealing.
2. Segment your lists and provide custom content
One of the best advantages of email marketing is the analytics available about each campaign. Your recipients will have personal interests and concerns, so segmenting your list based on how each subscriber interacts with your emails in order helps to maintain and optimise reader relevance. As your subscriber base grows, you may want to offer different content to different readers, ensuring they remain happy to receive and interact with your emails.
Smart messenger offers full analytics, and you can see, for example, who clicked on a certain link to make it easy to group recipients by their common interests and send them content they will enjoy.
3. Keep it brief and provide an overview
Think of email marketing as an appetiser rather than the main course. While it can be tempting to send comprehensive and detailed newsletters, the reality is that the majority of your audience is not going to read it all. Short on time and with a high volume of emails coming in, people will automatically filter out what does not seem relevant or worth their time.
Using clear headlines, providing a content description and being concise can all make your content easier to skim; readers often just want to know the gist to see if it is of interest to them. Dense text is also not ideal for email, prioritise readability over detail and give them an overview so that they can decide for themselves which content they want to engage more deeply with, rather than dismissing your whole email out of frustration.
Remember your goal: To entice your readers to respond in some way, not to present them a dissertation!
4. Optimise for mobile
More people than ever before are opening their emails on mobile devices when they have a few spare minutes or are commuting to work. Make sure to test how your emails view on different devices to ensure a good and professional-looking experience for all of your recipients. Make a backup plan for a text-only experience as some subscribers may not have the best network coverage while out and about.
Smart Messenger makes mobile optimisation simple by offering a responsive template that will display differently on different devices so that you don't have to worry that readers on smaller screens will miss out.
5. Stand out with valuable content
If you were a subscriber to your firm's newsletter, what would an email have to do to pique your interest? People will only be happy to receive your marketing if it is beneficial to them in some way. You know your clients, and your analytics will expand your knowledge of their concerns so that you can adjust your content to what your subscribers want to see.
6. Remain relevant
Offer your perspective on current events such as a recent change of legislation and what exactly your clients and potential clients may be concerned about. Through this, you will demonstrate that you are a trustworthy and valuable authority, and you will be the first people they think of when a topic you have covered comes up in the news or they need advice.
7. Simplify complex concepts
People want to feel informed about what they are spending their money on, and this is even more important when it comes to legal aid. If you can show your expertise, potential clients will be more willing to put their trust in you.
8. Offer benefits
Encourage your customers to become involved and engage with your marketing by offering some gated content such as an exclusive guide to a particular issue or with a virtual consult. Rewarding client loyalty, for example with a discount on future service, can also induce customers to stay with you.
9. Show the human side of your firm
Clients value authenticity and are more trusting when dealing with people than with seemingly faceless companies. By engaging with your clients and remaining transparent, you can grow a loyal customer base who will be more likely to recommend you to others.
Setting expectations with a welcome email is another way to establish respectful and genuine communication. Being upfront about how often they will receive emails from you and what types of content you will cover will help your recipients feel that their time is being respected. You can make this easy with Smart Messenger's automation feature.
Talk to us
Our team at Smart Messenger are committed to providing the best support and service to each of our clients. With Smart Messenger you will be assigned a dedicated account manager who will get to know you and your business so that we can tailor our advice especially to your needs. So, whether you need a quick answer to a query or require some extra support, we are always happy to talk things through at any stage.
Ready to kickstart your marketing or inspired to explore what else you could achieve?
Our expert team are ready to help you achieve your goals – and get great results. Ask a question, book a demo or get an expert perspective today.
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