Fourteen Law Firm Email Newsletter Ideas to Try

Email marketing should be a central part of your law firm’s marketing strategy as it provides a direct line to your target audiences. A newsletter sent out on a consistent basis is an excellent way for your firm to capture new business and stay top-of-mind with past clients. However, not all newsletters are created alike. Your law firm newsletter should strive to provide valuable content and keep your audience in the know. To remain impactful and ensure readers come back for more, we encourage lawyers to get creative and constantly test out new content ideas.

Whether you’re already producing a law firm newsletter or hoping to create one as part of your marketing mix, just following the same old, same old won’t cut it. Experiment with different email types, layouts, and content. After all, the average email user receives 100 emails a day. So it’s important that you make your newsletter stand out. Try these 14 formats, and then remember to collect data on the newsletter’s performance. As always, test, analyze, and optimize.

Highlight successes or interesting cases your law firm has worked on in your newsletters every so often. Doing so not only helps establish your firm’s credibility, but it can generate ideas for your clients or prospects, and provide education that they will value.

Are there certain questions that your attorneys get asked all the time? Maybe they pertain to your firm’s specific practice areas, or maybe they are questions that are commonly asked as part of an initial consultation. Whatever the format may be, it’s a smart strategy to lay out a few frequently asked questions – and their answers – in one simple newsletter for your readers. Practice social listening, and stay on top of trendy topics for your industry. Then, you can answer people’s most pressing questions in your newsletter.

by Noreen Fishman

If your law firm has an active blog, you can utilize your newsletter to promote your most popular posts. This adds a lot of value to your law firm newsletter, as now users can expect a wealth of information on the latest topics in your industry.

If you’re on Twitter, you see examples of this practice all the time. Newsjacking refers to piggybacking off of today’s news to bring attention to your own content. Newsjacking provides an immediate impact, and the legal industry is a prime sector for this type of marketing. There are so many stories in the news about policy changes, PR problems, lawsuits, and regulations affecting every industry from healthcare to finance. That makes it easier to find press about niches that your law firm specializes in, and share content along those lines.

Laws and regulations are always changing, and the average person doesn’t have the time or inclination to keep up with them. Especially when it comes to business dealings. There are constant updates that professionals should be aware of, but might not be. Make sure to include brief updates on these in your law firm newsletter.

According to Wordstream, 86% of people would like to see more videos from brands. Why not include some of this content in your law firm newsletter? As with all email content, it’s important to avoid simply promoting your

firm and instead offer valuable information via video. We recommend keeping your video under 2 minutes.

Readers are constantly looking for more in-depth information that they can digest on their own terms, or save for later. Publish links to download long-form thought leadership pieces created by your firm within your email newsletter. This may be an eBook, a checklist, a guide, etc. You can include some sentences teasing the content, with an easy button and CTA so they can go to the form to download.

A content roundup will be especially interesting to your subscribers. Choose a few items that you think offer practical insights, and create a brief post highlighting all of them to send via email. For example, you might develop a newsletter such as “The 7 Best Articles to Read if You’re Preparing to Patent a Product”, or “Our Five Favorite Posts on New Healthcare Regulations”. This is a great way to promote older content that’s still evergreen but maybe has experienced a drop in views. Content roundups are also great for capitalizing on timely seasonal topics.

Use your newsletter to highlight social media to generate more followers and engagement. You can tease some of the content you’ve been sharing on your social media, with easy links to your pages so users can follow. Also, don’t forget to include social sharing buttons as needed under other content as well like blogs. This will ensure if users see something they like, they can easily share it to their own feed.

For a more in-depth look at capitalizing on social media success, check out this free eBook: Advanced Social Media Strategies for Law Firms.

This is your one chance to be a little more self-promotional, so make sure you use this format sparingly. Using this method, you’re attempting to get more leads and build relationships. Highlight your expertise, include testimonials, and share any special offers your firm is running. For example, if you offer free 30-minute consultations, this is your chance to promote them and try to get some new meeting slots filled.

Constantly creating new content like blogs and eBooks may seem daunting for a lot of firms. Luckily, a big part of thought leadership is also engaging and replying to ongoing conversations. You can include links to relevant articles from non-competitors and then add your own thoughts on it in a few sentences.

If you’re planning on hosting an in-person event or webinar, your newsletter is the perfect place to highlight this. In the weeks leading up to it, make sure subscribers get all the info they need on the event with a clear CTA on how to RSVP. Then, after your event is over, you can give a recap and include any new content you’ve developed from the event/ entice users to sign up for the next one.

A big to-do in the legal industry is humanizing law firms/ lawyers and finding ways to ensure potential clients see how relatable they are. Sure it’s great to talk about recent cases and testimonials to show your chops, but it can also be useful to share news about internal events, PR initiatives, new hires, promotions, job postings, etc. Sharing these little snippets of law firm life helps users form connections with lawyers, and eventually see them as someone they’d like to work with.

If you’re stuck on ideas of what to include, chances are your audience has an idea of what they’d like to see. Try including a simple form in your newsletter so users can respond with what they’d like to see in the newsletter.

A strategic, consistent newsletter marketing strategy will ensure your law firm captures the right attention, from the right people, at the most crucial times. Incorporate some of these content ideas and most importantly, be a genuine resource for your target audience. n

Noreen Fishman is the director of client services at Good2bSocial. Her primary responsibility is to help clients achieve their digital marketing goals. This includes managing the Good2bSocial team, ensuring constant communication with clients and updating them on their progress. Connect with Noreen on LinkedIn or good2bsocial.com.