THE SCIENCE BEHIND
EFFECTIVE E-NEWSLETTERS
By Fred J. Cohen
I
f you’ve turned to the web to shop,
reserve a hotel room or even sign
up for a guest pass to your local
gym, you’ve likely become a recipient
of the vendor’s e-newsletters. From
mega-corporations like Pepsi all the
way down to one-person flower shops,
businesses across a multitude of
industries are spending big bucks on
e-newsletter campaigns. The reason:
e-newsletters are a highly efficient way
for businesses to stay top-of-mind with
members of their target markets.
I regularly hear from attorneys
who question the effectiveness of
e-newsletters; often they’ve tried
sending these out in the past with little
success or they detest e-newsletters
that they’ve received from other
attorneys and don’t want to follow that
trend. With the right strategy, however,
and an understanding of the science
behind developing and implementing a
sound top of mind marketing campaign,
your firm can craft an effective
e-newsletter that nurtures relationships
with clients, colleagues and prospects.
Consider the following:
The Subject Line Can’t Be an
Afterthought
Like you, your recipients receive
dozens of emails each day. To stand
out in a crowded inbox, your e-blast
must contain an attention-grabbing
subject line. Avoid generic subjects
like “August 2015 Newsletter” and
instead take time to craft a subject line
that will spark the interest of recipients.
Most of these individuals aren’t all that
concerned with the latest news from
your office but most are concerned
with their financial futures; take this
into consideration and design subjects
that are benefit focused. You might
also consider highlighting a date for
action (e.g. “One day left to sign up for
our free event on rebuilding your credit
after bankruptcy”) to increase open
rates.
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CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL
Timing is Everything
Many firms send out their email blasts
at times when most people won’t read
them. This is prevalent among solo
practitioners because they just don’t
have time during the course of the day,
so they wait until the evening when
they have a few hours to devote to
non-billable work. As a general rule
of thumb, avoid sending out e-blasts
very early in the morning (before
10:00am) or late in the evening (after
8:00pm). Many experts agree that the
start of the business day and during
the early afternoon hours (Tuesday
through Thursday) is best because
this is when most people check both
their professional and personal email
accounts.
The Right Software
On far too many occasions to count,
I’ve received e-newsletters from
attorneys sent through Outlook where
I was just one of about 27 recipients.
Besides the fact that this may be
unethical (if a client’s name and
email address i ́