Whatever made you think that email newsletters were going out of style, forget it.
In fact, e-newsletters have become a great method of marketing ever since smartphones started showing up in just about everybody’s pockets.
For law firms with big news to share and new clients to bring in, a great newsletter can be your ticket to the next level of business development.
So was it the advanced technology of spam filters that scared you away from email marketing? In a way, you were right to do so. Spam filters can be difficult to avoid altogether and you run the potential risk of having your law firm blacklisted by ISPs. But don’t give up all hope just yet. There’s still a way to run a trustworthy email campaign, and it actually starts before you ever send your first e-newsletter.
Spam filters are smart enough to block out any emails that sound too much like a sales pitch or too inappropriate for the general population. From monitoring the frequency of emails to the color of the body text, spam filters know how to spot a straight up phony. Therefore, to show them that your emails have only the best intentions in mind, you can earn their trust and that of your subscribers with the following tips. After all the hard work you’ve put into your email marketing, it would be a shame to let a few valuable clients fall through the cracks.
Use An Email Marketing Service
If you get too excited about email marketing and just start sending out a bunch of emails from your inbox, a few things are going to happen. First, you will most likely get blacklisted. ISPs don’t like email marketing to go over their heads and not following the rules can get you blocked, spammed, and outcast in just about every way.
Second, you might have trouble hiding your email recipients. And when you’re in the legal business, exposing your client list can be a major faux pas. Not only might you break attorney-client confidentiality, but you might be opening up your clientele to the highest bidder. Nobody likes their privacy disrespected, especially anyone with an attorney.
Save your clients and yourself the trouble and go about email marketing the right way. Sign up for an email marketing service like MailChimp or Constant Contact. You’ll be able to keep track of your subscribers, analyze their actions, get through most ISPs on the “whitelist,” and even send a “Thank You” email once someone has signed up to receive your wonderful e-newsletter. You’ll also be able to offer an “unsubscribe” link in every email, which is necessary and just plain good form.
Ask For Their Trust
The absolute best way to avoid any spam filter is to ask your email subscribers for their trust. If they add you to their address book, you can send just about anything you want and still get right into their inbox. Now I’m not telling you to gather up some subscribers, earn their trust and a comfortable spot in their address book, and then abuse their good faith by plaguing their inboxes with requests to buy Girl Scouts cookies from your daughter. When somebody subscribes to your email list, they do so with certain expectations. If they were under the impression that they’d be receiving weekly updates on the latest in medical malpractice, then that is what you should provide them. If they signed up because your website promised helpful tips on contract writing, then you better be sending helpful tips on contract writing.
But even when you do send exactly what you promised, there’s always the chance that you miss a typo, attach the wrong file, or forget the subject line. Even with the best intentions and the most honest mistakes, your email can still be sent to the spam folder. That is, if you’re not in the recipient’s address book.
Remember when I said email marketing services let you send an automatic “Thank You” to your new subscribers? Use that opportunity to ask to be added to their address book. Giving them an introduction to your e-newsletter, what they can expect, and how often they can expect it might be a great persuasion tool. Furthermore, include a small blurb in every e-newsletter you send out asking for their trust and to be added to their address book. The more trusting subscribers you have, the more effective your emails can be.
Internet marketing changes quickly and your law firm has undoubtedly felt the need to catch up. Jumping from one social media profile to the next, cashing in on the latest SEO techniques, and trying to blog as much as humanely possible – your law firm has probably “been there, done that.”
But instead of hoping the next big trend will work in your favor, give tried and true email marketing another chance. You can earn the trust of your subscribers and their email filters by going through an email marketing service and asking to be added to their address books. Once you’ve earned their trust, they’ll be valuable supporters for years to come.
This post was written by Pete Wise for the Douglas and London Law Firm; whom represent clients across the entire US, taking on cases no one else will. They have decades of history as an New York law firm and it translates into the courtroom.
About Kiesha Easley
