A Law Firm’s Guide to Email Marketing and Nurture Sequences

Law firms should be continuously exploring innovative methods to reach out to potential clients while retaining their existing ones. One method is to use email marketing to nurture clients who’ve engaged with you but haven’t secured your services. Strategic (never spammy) email marketing can establish trust and authority while providing touchpoints for contact throughout a prospect’s journey.

Yes, Law Firms Can Leveral Email Marketing

Although email marketing can be abused by many organizations, when done right it’s beneficial for both the reader and the sender. It’s more than sending out newsletters or promotional offers; it’s about building relationships, fostering trust, and proving your law firm’s value to your clients.

First, let’s establish that email marketing should only make up a part of your law firm’s marketing strategy, not the whole thing. You still need a clear, concise, and user-friendly website to establish a direct line of communication with potential clients. But, in addition to your website, email marketing can help as well as a platform to showcase your expertise, share valuable insights, and keep clients updated with relevant information. The personal nature of emails allows for targeted messaging, ensuring that your clients receive content that resonates with their needs and interests.

Using email marketing for law firms is a cost-effective potent strategy, capable of driving significant growth. With the right strategy, law firms can reach a large audience without incurring the high costs associated with traditional advertising methods.

How to Build a Robust Email List

The first step in setting up email marketing for your law firm is to construct an email list. This list should comprise individuals who have expressed interest in your services, either by subscribing to your newsletter, downloading a resource, or making an inquiry through your contact form.

If you don’t currently have a list of contacts to start with, you can create a conversion mechanism on your website. If you go that route, keep the following strategies in mind:

• Offer value: Entice your audience to provide their email addresses by offering valuable resources. This could be in the form of an eBook, whitepaper, webinar, or client case study that provides insights into legal matters or showcases your firm’s expertise.
• Add places to subscribe: Incorporate a subscription form on your website and within your blog posts. Make it easy for interested visitors to subscribe to your mailing list.
• Harness social media: Utilize your social media channels to promote your email newsletter, reaching a broader audience.

Remember, the effectiveness of your list is determined by its quality rather than its size. A smaller, engaged list is always better than a larger, unresponsive one.

What Type of Emails to Send

With your list in place, the next step is to create your emails. The content should be relevant, valuable, and engaging. 

Some types of emails you could send include:

• Newsletters: Regular updates that offer a mix of information about your firm, industry news, or legal advice. These can help keep your firm top-of-mind for subscribers.
• Promotional emails: Highlight a new service, a free consultation, or a special offer. These emails can directly drive business.
• Personalized emails: Messages tailored to clients on their birthdays or anniversaries. These help build a personal connection and foster loyalty.

How to Craft Your Emails

There are a million-and-one guides to crafting copy for emails, but there are a few general best practices that remain true, no matter the industry.

• Be strategic about subject lines: Everyone’s time is valuable and you have literal seconds to capture someone’s attention. Don’t make your subject lines ambiguous, try to showcase the benefit of opening your email. 
• Be clear and concise: In the same vein, being clear and concise is always better for email. Be liberal with your spacing, and use bold and italics to emphasize points vs. lengthy sentences.
• Make unsubscribing easy: Sometimes, people just won’t be interested in your services, and that’s okay. Make it easy for those people to unsubscribe so you can better focus on the readers who are engaged. 

The Power of Email Nurture Sequences for Law Firms

One email blast is a start, but no law firm email marketing strategy is complete without the consideration of an email nurture sequence. A nurture sequence is a series of intentional emails sent over time, designed to guide a potential client through their customer journey.

For example, let’s say a client downloads a resource from your website. The first email in the nurture sequence would be a ‘thank you’ email that includes a copy of the asset they downloaded. Other emails in the nurture sequence (spaced a few days to a few weeks apart) could include:

• Educational content: Provides valuable legal advice or insights related to the resource they downloaded, enhancing their knowledge and showcasing your expertise.
• Relevant case study: Presents a real-life case study demonstrating how your firm has successfully helped a client in a similar situation, building trust and credibility.
• Service offers: Offers a free consultation or a discount on your services, encouraging them to take the next step.

Once you get the hang of things, you can even create B2B nurture sequences for every stage of the funnel. 

Evaluating Email Marketing Success

Effectively assessing the success of your law firm’s email marketing and nurture sequences is a critical aspect of refining your strategy and maximizing your efforts. 

Evaluate your marketing campaign success by using:

• Lead Tracking: From the moment a potential client fills out a form on your website, their journey should be tracked. This process allows you to understand how well your email marketing is working in attracting and retaining interest.
• Communication Efficiency: Evaluate how effectively and efficiently you are communicating with your prospects. Are your emails being opened and read? Are they prompting the desired action? Efficient communication can help turn leads into clients.
• Conversion Analysis: A key measure of success is how many of your leads are being converted into clients. By analyzing this, you can identify which aspects of your email marketing and nurture sequences are working and which need improvement.
• Pipeline Management: Viewing your lead pipeline by status, practice area, and source can provide valuable insights. This allows you to understand where your leads are coming from and which areas are proving most successful.
• Lead Segmentation: By filtering leads based on various factors such as status, primary client, created date, referral source, and more, you can better tailor your email marketing efforts to suit different segments.

Evaluating success in email marketing for law firms is about understanding your leads, refining your processes, and continually improving your strategy. With a comprehensive approach, you can ensure your email marketing and nurture sequences are as effective as possible.

Get Marketing Today!

By building a high-quality email list, crafting engaging emails, deploying nurture sequences, and measuring your success, you can harness the power of email marketing to increase your firm’s reach and brand awareness. CARET Legal’s practice management software encompasses email management capabilities, making it easy to get started.