Increase Open Rates for Your Email Marketing

You’ve accomplished one of the most difficult aspects of marketing yourself as an attorney: you have added subscribers to your email list! But now, you’re noticing that far less than 100% of your newsletter subscribers are opening your emails. Branding and constructing the perfect newsletter to represent your firm only to have a select few subscribers see it can be beyond frustrating. So what can you start implementing in your next send-out to increase open rates and continue to grow brand recognition? Let’s take a look at a few simple ways to get more eyes on your emails and retain clientele.

Subject Lines:

What is the very first thing you notice when you receive an email? The subject line, of course! While this seems to be an obvious part of your email marketing campaign, an unappealing subject line can make or break your chances of it ever being opened. You must entice your subscribers with an interesting and unique opener that grabs their attention.

Keep these things in mind when writing subject lines:

Keep it short – Many of your readers are opening email on their cellphones. Most phones show up to 30 characters. This means you must put your most important words first and get right to the point.

Be Specific – You don’t have room to list multiple topics. Keep the subject focused and concise on one main, overall idea of your email.

Lose Filler Words – Eliminate unnecessary words, such as “hi”, “hello”, good morning”, etc. Again, get straight to the point.

Avoid Spammy Words– Excessive punctuation, such as including three exclamation points in an attempt to grab a reader’s attention, is a big no-no. Overuse of punctuation, using all capital letters, or including things like “…”  is a red flag for email service providers and could land you directly into a recipient’s spam folder.

Resend Unopened Emails:

Another great practice for increasing open rates is to resend the same email to subscribers who didn’t open it on the first attempt. The only change you make is to the subject line. Ask yourself why some people may not have felt urged to open on the first send. Create a new subject line you think will work more effectively. In one case study, Mailigen increased their open rates from 20% to 29% simply by re-sending unopened emails.

Segment Your List:

Segmenting means breaking up your list into smaller sections. This is highly effective because you can speak more specifically to the interests of each of your subscribers. The more targeted your marketing messages are, the better results you’ll experience with open rates.

An example: A family law attorney can segment by building lists that give tips and information about divorce, single parents, prenuptial agreements, juvenile issues, child custody, and visitation, etc. People dealing with a legal issue arising from their child’s actions will open emails about that before they open an email promising help for single parents.

Do some practical thinking about the best approach towards segmenting your lists. Create a list for each area of law you practice. Ask yourself how you can provide separate advice through your newsletters for each area.

Just by sticking to these basic principles, you should notice a vast improvement in open rates right away. Providing value to those entrusting you with their personal information is a great step towards building a more profitable and recognizable law practice through email marketing.

Be consistent and remember theses simple tips for email marketing success. To have future posts sent straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to our bi-weekly RSS feed.

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