Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Should you start a
newsletter for your law firm?
Welcome to Legal Marketing 101.
I'm Toby Rosen.
Newsletters kind of feeloutdated, or do they?
Today, we're talking about whatis actually working in 2025.
Newsletters are something thatpeople mention every now and
then, and a lot of firms havethem up and running, but the
(00:26):
reality is there are some waysto do this really well and there
are some ways to do this reallypoorly.
So for any firm that'sconsidering more consistent
client touch points or somethingto help improve your referral
system or just to increase yourretention across the board, this
episode's for you.
Here's the thing aboutnewsletters they are a direct
line right into the inbox ofpeople who already know you or
(00:50):
have shown interest in you.
Think about it no algorithmsthat are deciding whether your
content sinks or swims.
You own the list, and socialmedia is great, sure, but every
year it feels a little bit morelike shouting into a crowd and
hoping that someone is going tohear you.
With newsletters, it'scompletely different.
(01:11):
We are having a directconversation with this person
and, let's face it, your clientsare busy.
You're busy, we're all busy,but they might need your
services again.
But unless you keep showing upwith this helpful content.
You are leaving it completelyup to chance that they're going
to remember you and rememberyour firm when that time comes,
and sure you might be reallypersonable and have good stories
(01:33):
and all that, but it is still abit of a gamble.
Newsletters are another way forus to nurture relationships.
They keep past clients andreferral sources warm and they
gently remind cold leads whythey reached out to you in the
first place, and they can evenstrengthen ties that way with
your strategic partners or yourreferral sources, whoever it is.
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Repetition and relevance arekey here, though we're going to
talk more about this, but a goodnewsletter, delivered
consistency always buildsfamiliarity over time.
That moves from this.
You know, we used to use thisfirm, or we used it for this one
random case.
It moves you from that categoryto the go-to legal resource
(02:14):
category for your clients.
It's like planting these littleseeds that sprout into
credibility, trust and,ultimately, more business.
So we're just getting started,and if you're still skeptical, I
get it, but newsletters dostill work, even right now.
So let's talk about some of thebiggest mistakes you can make
before we get into the goodstuff.
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This is the stuff that you'veall cringed at in your inboxes
and look the first one here.
You've seen it over and over.
It's writing like it's still2005.
And you know what I mean bythis Endless paragraphs that are
filled with dense legalese.
There's no call to action anddefinitely no personalization.
Nobody wants this mini lawschool textbook dropped into
(02:57):
their inbox on a Tuesday morning.
Keep the content short,skimmable and conversational.
Trust me, your readers willthank you for this.
Here's another common trapGeneric content.
Yeah, maybe it's kind of crappyand boring, but it can also be
generic, which is a whole otherthing.
We've all seen these emailsthat start with something like
Did you know June is NationalSafety Month?
(03:19):
Okay, but why do I care aboutthis?
And if you're sending this toone of your clients, why should
your clients care?
If you're not giving yourreaders actionable insights,
relevant updates or justsomething that is tailored to
them and their needs, you arewasting their precious time and,
ultimately, you're wastingyours.
And then there's theinconsistency issue.
(03:40):
Yeah, I'm skimming throughthese kind of quickly, but
you've heard all of this andyou've seen it all before.
If we send a newsletter everythree months or randomly, you
know, on a Tuesday, one week andon a Wednesday the next week
and it just doesn't make anysense.
This will not build anymomentum.
Readers need these regulartouch points to keep your firm
top of mind.
It's kind of like the effectiveTV 20 years ago Everybody sits
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down on Wednesday night andwatches the show.
You don't want your newsletterto feel like an unexpected guest
showing up unannounced orsomething that you have to rush
to catch because it was asurprise.
You want to make sure it'sconsistent and anticipated, and
that anticipation it's thefeeling we're going for.
And finally, one big mistake isignoring the numbers.
(04:24):
I know I talk about data allthe time, so I'm not going to
spend too much on it this time,but if you are not tracking who
opens your emails, which linksget clicks, which topics
resonate, you are flying blind.
Marketing is not guesswork, itis all data-driven.
Pay attention to your metrics,tweak your approach and you will
see a measurable difference inyour engagement.
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And if you avoid all thesepitfalls, we've got a strategic
asset here.
My friends, instead of being aninbox annoyance, we have
something that we can actuallywork with.
So let's jump into the pros andcons the good, the bad and the
potentially ugly.
First, the good stuffNewsletters are one of the, if
(05:06):
not the most, but one of themost affordable marketing
channels that you can find,especially for something in
digital marketing.
You can start simple, you cantest the waters and you can
scale up, maybe for free, butdefinitely without breaking the
bank.
And that's a fantastic way toamplify and explore your brand
voice and show clients exactlywho you are, month after month
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or week after week, and overtime, your readers will start
recognizing your firm'spersonality.
It's going to start to feellike this helpful, approachable
expert that just shows up in myinbox in time every week.
And here's an underrated perkof this Newsletters are
brilliant for cross-sellingservices.
Do you have a seasonalpromotion, a new service area,
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something that you're doingthat's different than what the
client may be experiencedpreviously?
You can drop a quickannouncement or highlight in the
newsletter and you've instantlyplaced it in front of your best
prospects, your existing clientbase.
You know they'll spend, butlet's talk reality check.
Newsletters do come withchallenges.
First off, creating consistent,quality content takes time.
(06:09):
There are no shortcuts here.
Even if you use ChatGPT, youstill have to do some good work.
Your newsletter isn't somethingthat you're going to quickly
squeeze in between meetings orin the back of a car from point
A to point B.
It requires a genuinecommitment to regularity and
relevance to build momentum.
And then there's the technicaland the compliance side keeping
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your list clean.
This means removing people whoare bouncing emails that aren't
actually hitting the inbox orsomething is going wrong,
getting rid of inactivesubscribers.
None of this is glamorous, butit is absolutely essential for
long-term success.
And plus, if you're notsegmenting your list to target
the right message to the rightaudience, your readers are going
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to tune out anyways.
And let's not forget the legalcompliance.
That's a big one, especiallycrucial for law firms.
Most systems likeActiveCampaign or Brevo there's
a lot of these they're going tohelp you make sure that you're
following all the anti-spam laws, keeping your privacy policies
clear and respecting unsubscriberequests very promptly.
(07:12):
But you do have to payattention to this.
If your system doesn't dealwith the things that are
relevant to your jurisdiction,maybe switch or get somebody on
that program to make sure thatyou are going to be consistent
with the rules you need to beconsistent with.
And last, we have theuncomfortable truth about
newsletters.
If you don't do this right, itcan actually hurt your brand.
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Think about those emails thatyou roll your eyes at, from you
know, a yogurt shop down thestreet, a smoothie place or
Kedoba or Chipotle.
You don't want to be them.
So if you're going to do this,you have to commit fully, and
you have to do this well, ormaybe reconsider if it's really
right for your marketingstrategy, as I assume we would
(07:55):
say in North Carolina.
You need to go whole hog or nohog here.
So now that we've scared all ofyou into maybe not doing this,
let's talk a little bit aboutthe best practices, and I think
this is really where you candecide.
If the pros and cons that I'vebeen talking about haven't
really explained it for you,this is the area where you can
probably figure out if this isgoing to work for you or not.
(08:17):
So let's talk about theplaybook for this.
First is segmentation.
This is something we've talkedabout with email systems a
little bit in the past, and itis something that is
increasingly important with lawfirms, especially if you handle
multiple practice areas, if youdon't skip along.
But if you do, this is critical, because you wouldn't send the
same text to your mom as youwould to your best friend or
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your boyfriend, right?
Same principle here.
Maybe not with the content ofthe text, but same principle
right.
Same principle here, maybe notwith the content of the text,
but same principle.
Break your subscriber list intomeaningful categories, like
your existing clients, yourreferral sources and your
potential leads, and then wetailor the messaging we send to
each segment.
Tailoring this messagingensures that we're speaking
directly to the interests ofthat audience specifically and
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actually trying to help withsomething that they need.
Your referral sources maybethey appreciate insights into
recent case results or updatesand information about your
involvement in the community sothey can talk about it.
But leads are probably going tobe more interested in practical
tips for their scenario orfrequently asked questions about
the firm.
The bottom line here is thatrelevance is what equals results
(09:26):
.
It's a pretty simple equation.
Next, unlike what I do with thispodcast and you guys, we need
to respect our readers' time,aim for short, punchy and visual
content whenever possible.
Nobody really wants to scrollthrough endless walls of text on
their phone.
I do, but I'm a Wikipediaperson, so that's a different
(09:47):
scenario.
And on phones we need to assumethat's where our newsletter is
going to be read, so we need tooptimize to be on phones,
optimize for mobile first,bullet points and images, short
paragraphs, bold headlines,color All of this makes your
content much more easilyskimmable, increasing the
chances that it actually getsread and maybe shared, because,
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remember, our goal is to delivervalue quickly and clearly.
That doesn't necessarily meanwriting a lot of content, and if
we do something that's reallysticky, as we say in the digital
marketing world, it might getshared, and that's a great side
effect for us.
So what kind of contentactually works?
I hear you asking this already.
I'm going to give you fiveproven winners that you can
(10:33):
recycle.
You might already have this onyour website and you can
generate these quickly.
Number one FAQs.
These are quick, digestibleanswers to common questions that
clients regularly ask.
I'm sure you have a hundred ofthese in your brain right now.
Put them in an email newsletter.
Send three of them out onMonday.
Number two is recent wins, andof course, we have to anonymize
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here and be very careful, butsharing these success stories
and highlighting our expertisewithout bragging it's the best
bragging we can possibly do.
Number three is upcoming eventsor webinars.
This encourages engagement andit helps keep subscribers in the
loop about these potentiallyvery valuable opportunities for
them, but in general, we're alsotrying to fill up our events,
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for our webinars anyways.
So this is a great place toadvertise these and it gives
these people something toactually call them to action
without having to make thatretention.
Number four is law updates.
We can simplify complicatedchanges in the law.
Whether that's at a state or afederal level, or even at a
municipal jurisdiction, ittotally doesn't matter.
(11:39):
We can simplify these changesand explain to the reader why
they should care or what part ofit they should care about and
how it affects them.
Number five is strategic guidesor checklists.
These are practical, they'reeasy to use and they're
resources that can genuinelyhelp your audience.
People are going to feel likethey're getting something for
free and of the items on thislist, this is definitely the
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most marketing focus.
That is what we talk about alot of the time as a lead magnet
.
These kinds of things do stillwork really well in newsletters,
and if you're already doingupdates or recent wins or FAQs
in your newsletter newsletters,and if you're already doing
updates or recent wins or FAQsin your newsletter, don't be
afraid to tack on a strategicguide or checklist to the bottom
.
If you've already got somecontent but you want to give an
extra call to action that couldwork and here again is the big
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secret weapon for these emails.
I talk about it a million timesand you should be able to guess
it because I just said it 10seconds ago, but it's a clear
call to action and it can bejust one.
Whether this is scheduling afree consultation, forwarding
the email to somebody who'dbenefit from it, downloading a
helpful resource, you just needto make the next step obvious.
Your newsletter isn't going tojust be informational yes, it's
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going to be really great andit's going to educate people and
it's going to help but itshould still drive an action and
clarity.
As much as I would like todisagree with this, clarity
always beats cleverness in thesescenarios and because, like
many things, I've sort of beatenthem to death.
We need to talk about automation, but I'll keep it quick.
(13:11):
When you build this system,lean on the automation tools to
keep things consistent.
Platforms like Brevo, mailchimp, hubspot all of these make your
list easy to manage, easy totrack the performance and really
easy to schedule out theseemails, so you don't have to
write one every week.
You could write your 12 for theyear or write your 50 for the
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year, depending on how you wantto schedule it and schedule them
all in January and be done withit.
Automation in these tools helpsyou maintain the crucial
consistency we talked aboutearlier and it ensures that your
readers come to expect and thenlook forward to hearing from
you regularly.
So if you stick with these bestpractices, you build great
content, you deliver itregularly and you work hard to
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make sure that the people inyour audience are actually
getting what they need.
Your firm's newsletter, it'snot going to be just another
email.
It's going to be a valued,trusted resource for your
clients and for potentialclients, because, whatever year
it is when you listen to thisepisode, I think there's
something I can say that willwork pretty much forever.
Newsletters aren't outdated.
(14:17):
Bad ones are.
That's it for Legal Marketing101.
Check out RosenAdvertisingcomfor more Thanks.