How to build an 'email strategy

Does your firm have an e-marketing strategy? By that I don’t mean ‘does your firm send out emails?’, but ‘do you send out emails to achieve a specific purpose?’

That purpose may be to ?use your emails simply as an interaction, a touch point, ?a reminder that you are still there. While this is a noble enough cause, is it really going to achieve anything? True, the fact your name is popping up ?in the relevant inboxes is not going to be detrimental – it may even provide the odd nudge here and there throughout the ?year. However, given the time, effort, and expense involved in putting together your content and sending it out, is this investment going to generate ?a commercial return?

It may be you feel that because your competitors are sending out emails, you cannot afford to be left behind. ?My argument against that ?point of view is twofold. 

First, the world is awash with emails, and people will only ever open a fraction of what they receive. If you are associated with the type of email that is always deleted before it’s opened, are you doing yourself any good? 

Second, if your competitors’ emails are viewed as being more readable, more practical, or of more value, how are they going to affect the recipients’ perception of your brand ?over time? 

Do you want your email to mark you out as someone who knows their clients (existing, lapsed, and prospective), ?feels their pain, and wants ?to provide relevant, practical content that people can use ?to resolve that pain? Now we’re getting somewhere.

Relevant content 

While the fact you have a new office or have moved three associates up to partner may ?be important to you, it is of ?very little benefit to your clients. They want to learn something they may be able to use, whether that’s how to evict a troublesome tenant, what to ?do when there’s a fracture in their company’s shareholding, or how to ensure they are compliant with the latest ?rules on parental leave. 

This throws up another essential email rule: one database is not enough. ?To be relevant, you will need ?to segregate your data so that you are only sending content ?to people who will actually be interested in that content. ?If your contact runs a restaurant, the latest trends in precision manufacturing are unlikely to drive them to your doors.

If you gain a reputation as someone who sends everything to everyone, people will soon learn to ignore your messages and greet their arrival with a ?swift click of the delete icon. ?More damagingly, the ‘one size fits all’ approach could call your attention to detail into question, which is not an outcome any ?law firm’s marketing should potentially engender.

Keep to the point

Your content needs to be short, punchy, and to the point. It also needs to be in plain English. People do not have the time to go through 2,000 word articles any more – they want the headlines, so try wherever possible to be definite (‘three things you need to know’ or ‘five things you should know about…’) and use bullet points and lists so it’s easy to read.

While many solicitors worry about sending out content that doesn’t cover every related point, the truth of the matter is that by identifying and raising the key points, you are creating an environment where people will be much more likely ?to follow up to ask you for ?more details. 

For any marketing-based strategy, this has to be the ultimate objective. If you can create content that generates conversations, your emails ?will start to deliver a tangible financial return and make a genuine contribution to your firm’s business development.

However, while a single response mechanism will encourage interested readers ?to come back to you, multiple response mechanisms will increase response levels further. As well as an ‘if you’d like more information…’ option, try to think what else your readers may respond to and add those options to your template, too. 

It may be the offer of a more detailed article or a whitepaper on the subject, an invite to a related workshop, or an initial free consultation on any subject – as long as they are credible, the offers themselves are largely irrelevant. What matters is that there is something for everyone and that the offers are as clear and easy to use as possible.

Douglas McPherson is a director at Size 10½ Boots @sizetenandahalf  www.tenandahalf.co.uk