February marks the five-year month anniversary of my unnamed monthly newsletter. I did think about a name, Prism and The Edit were the top contenders but, in the end, I decided that monthly newsletter would give new subscribers a clear indication of what they were getting. What this space – a rebrand my still be on the cards.
The newsletter has become one of the most consistent and valuable parts of the marketing strategy of my legal PR business. Every month , it lands in the final week of my subscribers inboxes, sharing a plethora of legal comms insights from networking to AI guidance, crisis comms and the occasional behind-the-scenes reflection on life running a boutique consultancy.
In terms of my own business, five years of newsletter marketing has been a win win in that it showcases my expertise on a regular basis and it has held me accountable; the newsletter is a deadline I cannot miss!
Over time, it has developed my creativity and:
- Sparked conversations with potential clients and contacts
- Reminded senior partners and BD directors what I can do for them
- Reinforced relationships with existing clients
For law firms, consistency builds credibility. The same is true for consultants. A steady drumbeat of insight, rather than sporadic bursts of activity, is what builds trust in a crowded market and an e-newsletter provides a simple but powerful way to do this. What’s more, email marketing is still a core tool for professional services with Forbes’ reporting that 73% of B2B marketers say email is their most effective channel for contacting prospects.
Back in 2021, I was pleased to see open and click-through rates outperforming industry averages. Five years on, I still monitor those metrics carefully. I’m chuffed to track an average open rate of 39.7% which compares favourably to the average Mailchimp open rate of 28.5% and an average click rate of 5.5% which again compares favourably to Mailchimp’s average of 2.6%. Tracking these figures is important because engagement means that my content is relevant. I’ve also realised the importance of developing my own personal brand. Like the law firms I support, clients don’t just instruct a firm, they instruct people. Over the past five years, subscribers have got to know a little about me and it turn out that clients quite enjoy hearing about little snippets of my busy family life on a peninsula in West Sussex. Your positive feedback and encouragement has meant a great deal, thank you.
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