The 6 Emails You Should Be Sending to Clients
When you think of marketing your law firm, you tend to think only of promotional marketing campaigns and drip email campaigns. These are foundational online law firm marketing elements, to be sure, but they don’t constitute the full range of email communications at your disposal.
Add the following six types of email messages to your existing arsenal of online attorney marketing elements and you may find that you engage clients more deeply, enjoy effective communication throughout the course of your relationship, build a stronger reputation, and gather more business.
Appointment Reminders and Follow-Ups
Consultations are the bread and butter of your law firm’s business. They introduce new business into your sales funnel and ensure that you’re continually expanding your network to contacts who can source referrals for your firm. However, scheduling consultations can obviously be a huge time waster if potential clients don’t show up.
Appointment reminders circumvent the frustrating process of arranging consultations only to watch them fall through. As a rule, you should send appointment reminders 24-48 hours ahead of time. Be sure to include:
- The date and time of the appointment
- Name and contact information of the attorney or case manager heading the meeting
- Any items or pieces of information the potential client should prepare beforehand
A simple email with this information can increase your consultation follow-through rate and clear your schedule of noncommittal clients. And once you have lured potential clients with a discussion about their case, a simple wrap-up email can continue to boost your client conversion rate. Simply reiterate the discussion, focusing on any important points or essential action items on their plate such as reviewing your retainer agreement.
Overall, follow-up emails ensure that your law firm’s name is at the top of a potential client’s inbox and mind so they are more likely to move forward.
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Client Retained or Lost
When a client decides to partner with you, be sure to reach out and say thank you. It is a small but important gesture that shows you are excited to work with them and that you value their business.
On the other hand, if a client showed significant interest and decides to pull back at the last minute, reach out over email to ask why. Uncovering the answer can help you improve your communication or legal marketing system in the future and avoid losing another client for the same reason.
Checking-In Notes
Throughout the course of your relationship with the client, your team will be working on their behalf… but there is no way for them to know that without follow-up from you. Email check-ins are a quick way to:
- Demonstrate case progress
- Address any questions or concerns
- Provide great client service
- Demonstrate your law firm’s values
- Wow clients so they want to provide a testimonial or referral later
A legal CRM (client relationship management) tool can make the process of regularly sending checking-in emails fast and straightforward. For instance, your law firm can establish a template for these communications that is branded with your look and contains your contact information, so all you have to do is plop a message into the body. Then, you can schedule campaigns on your online attorney marketing calendar so that each client receives a customized email every other week or when their case hits specific milestones.
Case Closed
Not only is closing a case a milestone that should be celebrated on both sides, but it’s also a great online attorney marketing opportunity for your law firm. Whenever a case wraps up, send a communication asking for feedback. Ask questions such as:
- How can I improve in the future?
- What were the greatest benefits of working with my law firm?
- How likely are you to recommend my services to others?
Also included in the email should be links to your social media pages including your Yelp business page, so recipients can stay connected with your law firm and post reviews that could attract more business.
Holiday/Birthday/Thank You Cards
Not every email needs to be about a client’s case. A friendly message saying thank you or happy holidays can demonstrate that you care about your clients even if you’re not currently working together. Going above and beyond by emailing clients on their birthdays or sending a final thank you email after they pay their final bill will help your law firm make a good impression, not to mention demonstrate your commitment to great client service.
Referral and Testimonial Requests
Garnering positive online reviews and testimonials and managing your online reputation are two of the most impactful elements of online attorney marketing. They enable you to double down on the business you already have, expanding your reach and strengthening your brand simultaneously.
Through tools like the James Online Reputation Management (ORM) system—part of the James Legal CRM—your law firm can establish an automated email system to gather referrals and testimonials without all the work. Simply create the message templates and set up the email schedule, and you can instantly start collecting feedback that can help to generate even more satisfied clients. Another perk: you can also address negative reviews quickly and easily!
Send these 6 types of emails out automatically, with little effort.
5 Law Firm Marketing Tips to Craft the Best Email Subject Lines
You dedicated the time to crafting stunning email templates, maybe even hiring a web designer to perfectly represent your law firm’s skill set and brand. You built a valuable list of leads to contact via email and sent at the most optimal times. You sat back and waited for the response, confident in your hard work… And all you heard were crickets. Responses barely trickled in.
What happened? It may have everything to do with your subject line. Don’t risk your emails going unopened—craft subject lines that catch your readers’ attention using the tips below!
1. Avoid “red flag” verbiage.
Quick law firm marketing tip: you may already know that the word “free” should be avoided at all costs (it’s nearly guaranteed to route your email right to recipients’ spam boxes), but did you know that there are a handful of other words to exclude from your subject line vernacular? According to the email marketing service provider MailChimp, terms like “percent off” and “help,” and “reminder” will not trigger spam filters in the same way that “free” does, but they will lead to a noticeable decrease in open rates.
2. Keep it under 50.
Most legal marketers make it a habit to keep subject lines fewer than 50 characters, as emails with subject lines within this constraint tend to be more widely read than those with longer phrases.
3. Mention that you’re neighbors.
Most people care more about the happenings in their neighborhood than somewhere across the world. Similarly, featuring a geographic location in your law firm’s email marketing can help to increase readership rates. Try “5 new laws that Nashville residents need to know,” for example, if you’re a firm located in the Nashville metropolitan area.
4. Don’t be a stranger.
Although this isn’t strictly a subject line best practice, it’s still a valuable law firm marketing tip: be sure to include a name in the “From” line that would be familiar to recipients, and remain consistent over the long run so readers become accustomed to receiving communications from that person. For example, recipients should see emails from their case manager(s) or even the office manager, if that person contacts clients the most regularly. Another option is to simply have your law firm name in the “From” line. Inside the email, include the email signature of the person that can help answer the recipient’s questions and concerns.
5. Iterate rather than recycling.
Law firms sometimes find legal email newsletters more challenging than regular email marketing campaigns. That’s because recipients become bored with reading the same old content. If you are crafting new content for each newsletter (you should be in order to achieve marketing and branding success!), then your subject line should be fresh as well—be sure to whip up a new phrase to pique readers’ interest and prevent your newsletters from appearing stale.
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