How to Start an Email Newsletter for Your Law Firm
An email newsletter is a remarkably easy and affordable way to promote any law firm. But the challenge of getting started keeps many attorneys from taking advantage of the numerous benefits a newsletter has to offer.
Fortunately, with the right approach, launching a newsletter doesn’t have to be a hassle. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Identify Your Target Audience
Newsletters have served businesses as a go-to marketing tool for decades, first in print and now online. The target audience for law firms are typically current and past clients, professional referral sources, family and friends, and anyone else who contacts the firm. There are many ways to build a list from this audience, some obvious and some requiring more creativity and work. Experienced email marketing professionals can help you build this list (see tips below).
Email newsletters are also used to expand a law firm’s network to prospects outside of a law firm’s established relationships. Target audiences here will depend on what field of law you practice. Do you primarily serve other businesses or individuals? What are the demographics of the people who are most likely to need your help?
2. Follow List-Building Best Practices
When building an email newsletter list, it’s important to be considerate and ethical. While it may be tempting to simply send your law firm’s newsletter to your entire email contact list unsolicited, this can appear unprofessional.
We suggest that you also review the rules of the CAN-SPAM Act and state bar guidelines on marketing to make sure you stay compliant. A best practice is to create opportunities for prospects to opt into your email list. Here are just a few common opt-in list-building tactics:
- Sending an email to past or current clients and colleagues, inviting them to sign up
- Adding a simple subscription form to your website (pop-up windows are a popular tool)
- Holding online events, such as webinars, where you can promote your newsletter
- Offering a free e-book or other downloadable materials that include a link to sign up
- Spreading awareness for your newsletter on your social media profiles
After you start building lists from your target audience, you can design an effective newsletter content strategy and delivery process.
3. Plan Your Content Strategy
No matter your target audience, the heart of every successful newsletter is relevant content that is valuable to your target audience. What information do you have that will make a difference in their lives rather than just promoting your practice. Content marketers often follow an 80/20 rule: 80% content that benefits the audience, 20% that promotes your business. That content could come in several forms, including:
- Informative articles, quick tips, or FAQs
- Updates about your firm
- News related to your niche
- Case studies
- Glowing testimonials and reviews
- Links to blogs or podcast episodes
- Recaps of community service or business events
Based on your goals, you may want to focus on one of these types of content or use several. Once you have your big-picture strategy in place, you can start producing content to support it. You could do this by:
- Creating fresh content yourself
- Repurposing existing content, such as blogs, social media posts, or promotional videos
- Hiring a professional to ghostwrite content based on your niche
4. Design Your Newsletter
Creating a winning newsletter isn’t just about content. Presentation matters, too. How you design your newsletter may be as important as what you have to say.
Choose a catchy color scheme, format the content in an appealing layout, and make sure the text is easy to read. Don’t forget to include some attention-grabbing images as well. Good design will help you connect with your audience and strengthen your brand voice.
5. Establish a Regular Publication Schedule and Stick to it
Repetition drives all successful marketing, including an effective email newsletter program. All too often, however, we see law firms take the proper steps to create a fabulous newsletter, publish every other month, then every two months, then every quarter … well, you can see where this is going!
Bottom line, results will fall off if a newsletter isn’t published regularly. The schedule could range anywhere from one newsletter per quarter to multiple newsletters per week. Most firms opt for a monthly program.
Of course, as with any form of marketing, there’s always room for improvement. Once you begin publishing, keep track of engagement metrics and then optimize your approach for maximum effect. Most email marketing platforms and services provide metrics such as open and click rates to gauge your newsletter’s engagement.
Are You Ready to Stay Connected and Grow Your Firm?
Starting a new newsletter may seem daunting, but armed with these tips, you should be able to jump right in and start growing your firm. However, maintaining an effective email newsletter can take plenty of time and energy.
If you’d rather let someone else deal with the hassle, we’d be happy to lend a hand.
At Let America Know, we help attorneys across the nation grow their practices through email and social media marketing. “You Should Know” is our monthly email newsletter, which we fully customize for every firm, then deliver directly to its:
- Former and current clients
- Professional peers
- Potential referral sources
- Other important contacts
We’ll handle everything from start to finish, including:
- Building your email list
- Designing an attractive newsletter
- Writing valuable content for your firm
- Strengthening your brand
…so you can focus on what you do best: serving your clients.
Are you ready to take your online presence to the next level? Click here to learn more about our fully customizable e-newsletter service for trial attorneys.