Newsletters have once again become a popular method for lawyers to reach their referral audience. This isn’t just idle marketing talk. Statistics back it up.
Recently, publishing platform Medium posted an article entitled “How on Earth Did Email Newsletters Become Popular Again?” The piece looked at some of the attitudes held about newsletters—a plague to inboxes everywhere in the internet’s early days. The article also took a look at the ways in which email marketing is evolving. It noted that:
“today’s best newsletters have rabid followings and actually deliver useful information that people look forward to….”
This article is for attorneys interested in getting more referrals. Keep reading to find out why newsletters have found their way back into favor with legal marketers, and why you might want to add a newsletter to your own marketing tool kit.
Our Increasingly Mobile World
Not surprisingly, it appears that advances in smart phones are driving the resurgence in newsletter marketing.
Medium sited Quart’z Global Executive Survey, which found 94 percent of top executives get their news from newsletters. Consumers are increasingly checking their email on the go. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said they use their smartphones to check the news.
Newsletter design has changed as screens have gotten smaller. This means newsletters have become more “sleek and focused.” Furthermore, because smart phones come with a wealth of distractions, a newsletter has to be damn good to grab (and keep) someone’s attention. In other words, cell phones are forcing marketers to do better work.
Medium also noted that as the newsletter format has changed, so has its mission.
“A decade ago, newsletters were thought of more as marketing tools meant to bait people back to websites. Nowadays, the best ones are thought of more as tools to provide short and digestible information that is useful for readers to consume.”
Good Lawyer Newsletters Remind Colleagues, Former Clients, and Friends to Refer Work
A resurgence in newsletter popularity represents a great opportunity for attorneys to include this tool as part of their marketing strategy. Attorneys have unique potential to offer valuable bits of information to their contacts, and newsletters are the perfect tool with which to share this information.
A successful monthly newsletter might include a punchy 250-word write up about a change in family or bankruptcy law. This might include a link to a piece of content highlighting the change in a way that’s easy for readers to understand. Those who practice criminal, personal injury or worker’s comp have even more opportunities to offer something attention grabbing with each monthly newsletter.
By staying on the top of the contacts’ minds, the attorney is more likely to generate referrals and repeat business. This is relationship marketing 101.
Newsletters Get Higher Conversion Rates Over Other Methods
If newsletters didn’t offer a return on investment, they would have fizzled out years ago with the dial up modem. But according to a report by marketing firm Montetate, newsletters drive more conversions than any other marketing channel (i.e. social media, advertising, etc.).
According to 2018 statistics maintained by online advertiser WordStream, 80 percent of retail professionals indicated that email marketing is their greatest driver of customer retention. 77 percent of consumers prefer to get permission-based promotions by email as opposed to phone or social media.
With the number of email users in the US projected to grow to 254 million by 2020, there’s plenty of reason for businesses to invest in email marketing for the near future.
Newsletters Work – So, Why Aren’t You Doing One?
Maybe it’s a matter of not having enough time. Maybe it’s the fear of staring at a blank screen. Not convinced that newsletters can bring enough value? Whatever the reason, it’s important to consider the money you’re leaving on the table by omitting a monthly newsletter out of your marketing strategy. You have little to lose by giving it a shot.
That said, you need to make sure your newsletter is done right if you want it to be effective. Here are BAR Digital Media, we know what works and what doesn’t. Generally, our newsletters are short, punchy, and entertaining. They stand far above the legal dribble written by most attorneys.
Our newsletters are engineered to offer value to your network which will keep your name on the top of your contacts’ minds. After all, your greatest source of clients is your referral network. If you’re not continuously reaching out to them, no wonder you’re not getting more cases….
Have Questions About Doing a Newsletter? Give Us a Call
If you’ve decided to start a newsletter for your legal practice, but don’t know where to begin, that’s ok. Don’t be afraid to start the process by doing some research. Our blog posts and videos will get you started.
Often, an attorney will delegate the task of drafting a monthly newsletter out to a junior associate or paralegal. This is fine too, but not ideal. It becomes expensive and frustrating trying to manage the process. The better option is to outsource it to a company like us.
So… yes, we’re biased – but we know what we’re talking about. A practicing lawyer created and runs BAR Digital Media. We’re not a bunch of marketing blow-hards. We are passionate about our work. Just give us a call and find out. If you have questions about using our service to produce your monthly newsletter, give us a call.