Firms of all sizes use email marketing to promote their brands. Email is an easy and cost-effective way to communicate with a large number of contacts. However, starting an effective email marketing campaign can seem daunting, especially for small to medium-sized firms that do not have in-house marketing and design professionals. Here are three tips that can help firms create meaningful messages that clients will read and appreciate.

Write an email that your client will want to read.

Email sent to your clients should contain something of value to them, providing incentive to open messages from your office in the future. This could include interesting information related to your practice area or stories that show your team’s community involvement. If you do choose to write about law, make sure that your writing is clear, and do not assume any specific knowledge on the part of the reader. Demonstrating your expertise in the field can impress your readers, but they will appreciate your ability to clearly explain any stories and examples even more.

Create a compelling subject line.

This point is related to the previous suggestion but warrants its own discussion. Your contacts probably receive many email messages in a day, and your subject line can help them decide if they will open and read yours. Writing a clear, interesting subject line will encourage recipients to open your message. This can directly improve the effectiveness of your email campaign.

This doesn’t mean that you have to create a special offer or dramatic headline. It does mean that a subject like “Jones Law Firm – July Newsletter” probably isn’t going to be as effective as an opening line that hints at the useful content you’ve created. Let recipients know at least one interesting point or benefit from your newsletter right away by including it in the subject, and clients will be able to see that your email is valuable.

Link to additional resources.

You don’t have to write very extensively to create an effective marketing email. In fact, most people will likely scan your newsletter for the main points or spend at most a few minutes reading it. If you have more detailed information that you would like to include, you can create a paragraph summarizing a topic and include a link to further information. The link could lead the recipient to a page where you have posted longer content, or it could lead to other resources in web or PDF format. This allows you to touch on helpful topics in your newsletter without overloading the reader. If a recipient is interested in reading more, they can click to find more information on a given topic and follow only the links they choose. This allows readers to become more engaged with your email when it incites their interest.

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