Why use email marketing? In today’s digital world, it’s more important than ever for professional services practitioners and firms to use effective strategies to reach their audiences and grow their businesses.
While social media and other marketing channels have their place, email marketing remains a valuable and effective tool. In this article, I’ll explain why you should be using email marketing, and our top 10 tips for getting results.
Why use email marketing?
Targeted messaging
Email marketing or EDMs allow you to segment your mailing list and send tailored messages to specific groups of clients and prospects.
For example, if you are corporate lawyer, you could send a message about your expertise in mergers and acquisitions to people you know are company executives and business owners. In your email, you could highlight your past success in completing complex deals, your understanding of the regulatory landscape, and the benefits of working with your highly skilled legal team.
Additionally, you could include a call to action to schedule a consultation or attend an event on the topic of mergers and acquisitions.
By tailoring messaging to your recipient’s specific interests, you’ll increase the chance of engagement and the likelihood of converting them into a client. You’ll also position yourself as a valuable resource and a go–to source of information for businesses looking to grow and expand through strategic transactions.
Cost-effective
Compared to other forms of advertising, email marketing is a cost-effective way for your professional services firms to reach a large audience with a single message. According to the DMA, email marketing generates an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent.
Additionally, email marketing can save you time and resources, as a vehicle to reach out to potential clients and current clients regularly, keeping them informed about your insights and services.
Relationship building
Email marketing is an effective way for your professional services firm to build and maintain relationships with clients and prospects. Through regular communication, you can stay top of mind and demonstrate your expertise and your value.
This is incredibly important for all professional services firms, where building trust and credibility is essential to attracting and retaining clients.
According to Litmus, 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the past 12 months. This clearly suggests that email marketing remains an effective way to reach your clients and build relationships.
Measurable results
With email marketing, your professional services firm can track and measure the success of your campaigns. Metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions provide valuable insights into what’s working for you, and what’s not, so you can optimise your strategy accordingly and achieve better results.
Top 10 tips for getting results from email marketing
1. Build a Quality Mailing List
One of the most crucial aspects of generating success from your email marketing campaign is having a quality mailing list. You should focus on building a mailing list of engaged subscribers who have opted-in to receive your emails. This ensures that your messages are being sent to people who are interested in your firm’s services and are therefore more likely to respond positively.
To build a quality mailing list, your professional services firm can offer lead magnets such as eBooks or whitepapers that provide valuable information in exchange for your website visitor’s email address. You could also include opt-in forms on your email signatures, website or social media pages to capture interested subscribers.
2. Segment Your List
Segmentation allows you to send targeted messages to specific groups of subscribers based on their interests, behaviours, location, or other characteristics. This increases the chances of engagement and conversion as your messaging is targeted to the specific needs and interests of each recipient.
3. Keep Content Relevant & Ensure it Adds Value
The content of your emails should be relevant and valuable to each recipient. For example, if you are a lawyer or law firm, you could achieve this by sending updates on relevant legal news, updates to legislation, and offer tips or advice related to your services.
It’s important to avoid using these emails solely for promotional purposes, as it can lead to lower engagement and high unsubscribe rates. Instead, focus on providing value through informative and educational content.
4. Optimise for Mobile
According to HubSpot 41% of email opens occur on mobile devices, compared to the 39% opened on desktop. This means your professional services firm must ensure your emails are mobile optimised to reach a wider audience and improve engagement rates.
You can achieve this by using a responsive email design which adapts to different screen sizes, using clear and concise subject line, and using a single column layout that is easy to read on a mobile device.
5. Use Clear & Compelling Subject Lines
Your email’s subject line is the first thing each recipient sees, so it’s essential to make it clear and compelling. A great subject line will grab the reader’s attention and entice them to open the email containing your valuable content.
6. Use Professional & Consistent Design
The design of your email should be professional and consistent with your firm’s branding. This helps to establish trust and credibility with your recipients – so be sure to include your logo, brand colours and any other key elements from your other platforms.
7. Include Clear Call-To-Action (CTA)
A clear call-to-action (CTA) is essential to encourage the people receiving your email to do what you’d like them to do. This could be scheduling a meeting with you or downloading a resource off your firm’s website – but ensure you pick and focus on one.
The CTA should be a prominent and easy to find within your email. It’s even a good idea to have it appear more than once (above the fold, and again at the bottom of your message).
8. Personalise Where Possible
Personalisation can help you create stronger connections with your recipients. This in turn increases engagement and conversion rates because you’ve made the recipient feel valued and understood. You could personalise emails by include the recipient’s name, location, or other relevant information.
9. Test & Optimise Your Emails
Testing and tweaking your emails for optimisation is essential to improving their effectiveness. Your firm could test different elements for your emails, such as subject lines, content, and CTAs to determine what resonates best with your audience.
10. Monitor & Analyse Your Results
Tracking the results of your email marketing campaigns is crucial to understand what is working and what isn’t working… As mentioned above, your firm should track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to determine the effectiveness of your emails.
Based on these numbers, you can adjust your professional services firm’s email marketing strategy and optimise future campaigns for better results. For example, if you have experienced low open rates, you may want to experiment with different subject lines or sender names to improve engagement.
Conclusion: why use email marketing?
Email marketing is an effective tool for your firm to connect with your audience and grow your business. By sending targeted messages, keeping your costs low, building relationships, and tracking your results, you can effectively reach your clients and prospects.
It’s also an opportunity for you to stand out from your competitors and demonstrate your expertise and add value. By following these 10 tips, you can deliver relevant information that will keep you top of mind and contribute to building a strong brand for your professional services firm.
So, we urge you not to overlook the power of email marketing – it’s a straightforward method to attract and retain your client-base.