Skip to content

Menu

HomeAboutServices
The Rainmaker Institute logo
Contact(480) 347-9800
Search
Close

The Rainmaker Blog

Law firm marketing and business development strategies

SmallLaw Pick of the Week #3: On New Benchmarks for Law Firm Newsletter Performance

By Stephen Fairley on December 21, 2016
Posted in Email marketing for law firms
This article received the SmallLaw Pick of the Week award as a must-read for solo practitioners and those who manage and work in small law firms.
This article received the SmallLaw Pick of the Week award as a must-read for solo practitioners and those who manage and work in small law firms.

SmallLaw, a popular email newsletter for solo practitioners and those who manage and work in small law firms, reviews hundreds of articles published every week. From these articles, they select one as their SmallLaw Pick of the Week — something they feel is a must-read for this audience.

While I’m making merry over the holidays, I’m going to reprint the posts that have earned us the SmallLaw Pick of the Week. Here’s the third one:

New Benchmarks for Law Firm Email Newsletter Performance

Sending a regular email newsletter continues to be one of the most effective and least expensive ways for attorneys to market themselves to prospects, clients and referral sources. Every year, email marketing service provider MailerMailer provides a report on email marketing metrics across 34 different industries, including Legal.

They have just issued their 2015 report, based on data gathered from 1.1 billion opt-in email newsletters sent between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014. Here are the results — and what should be your new benchmarks — for your law firm email newsletter:

  • Open rate(what percentage of your recipients opened your email): 6%
  • Click rate(what percentage of your recipients clicked on a link in your email):: 7%
  • Click-to-open rate(of the recipients who opened your email, what percentage of them clicked on a link): 12%
  • Bounce rate (the percentage of emails that cannot be delivered): 2%

Every email service (Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, iContact, etc.) provides these statistics for each newsletter you send out. If your newsletters are not delivering at rates that meet or exceed the benchmarks above, you have a problem.

Here’s what you should consider to improve your click, open and bounce rates:

Are your subject lines engaging to entice people to open your email? Short subject lines — no more than 39 characters — generate the highest open and click rates.

Are you sending emails on the right day and at the right time? The highest open and click rates occur on Mondays. Open rates peak are at their highest from 8 a.m. until noon and peak between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Is your email list updated regularly and cleaned of old, undeliverable email addresses? Bounce rates are inescapable but can be improved if you send out emails on a regular basis.

Have you segmented your email list so you can tailor your content to your different audiences? Targeted emails deliver 18 times more revenue than general blast emails.

Are your emails personalized? Personalizing the message content boost open and click rates significantly.

Do you use a responsive design template so your emails are displayed properly for every screen size? More than half of emails are now opened on mobile devices.

If your law firm newsletter is performing at or above these benchmarks, you still have some work to do: by discovering the exact reasons for your success, you can repeat it.

Rainmaker-Retreat-20-Landing-Page-Header

Tags: e-newsletter, law firm newsletter, newsletter
Print:
EmailTweetLikeLinkedIn
Photo of Stephen Fairley Stephen Fairley

Stephen is the CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, the nation’s largest law firm marketing company specializing in lead conversion for small & medium sized law firms. Over 18,000 attorneys nationwide have benefited from learning and implementing the proven marketing and lead conversion…

Stephen is the CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, the nation’s largest law firm marketing company specializing in lead conversion for small & medium sized law firms. Over 18,000 attorneys nationwide have benefited from learning and implementing the proven marketing and lead conversion strategies taught by The Rainmaker Institute, LLC.

Read more about Stephen FairleyStephen's Linkedin ProfileStephen's Twitter ProfileStephen's Facebook Profile
Show more Show less
Related Posts
  • 12 Email Marketing Tips to Help Lawyers Cut Through Inbox Clutter
  • 8 Email Marketing Myths That Are Truly 'Fake News'!
  • 10 Email Newsletter Tips to Make Your Law Firm Stand Out in the Inbox
  • 5 Elements That Will Make Your Law Firm Newsletter Stand Out in the Inbox
  • Don’t Neglect the Humble Newsletter for Law Firm Marketing

Sign up now to receive our complimentary monthly newsletter

Stay Connected

YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Subscribe to this blog via RSS

Blog Editor

Photo of Stephen FairleyStephen Fairley CEO

Stephen is the CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, the nation’s largest law firm marketing company specializing in lead conversion for small & medium sized…

Stephen is the CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, the nation’s largest law firm marketing company specializing in lead conversion for small & medium sized law firms. Over 18,000 attorneys nationwide have benefited from learning and implementing the proven marketing and lead conversion strategies taught by The Rainmaker Institute, LLC.

Show more Show less

Blog Authors Show/Hide

  • Stephen Fairley
  • Jeff Strong
  • Michael Manfredi
  • Cindy Greenway

Topics

Archives

Recent Upates

  • 5 Tools to Spark Content Ideas for Your Law Firm Blog
  • 5 Ways for Lawyers to Attract Your Ideal Client [Infographic]
  • How to Determine Which Social Media Networks Work Best for Your Firm
  • SEO Efforts a Bust? Here are 10 Reasons Why
  • 8 Simple Steps to Create a Referral Network of Other Attorneys
The Rainmaker Institute logo
1090 S. Gilbert Rd
Suite 211
Gilbert, AZ   85296
Phone: (480) 347-9800
YouTube Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Subscribe to this blog via RSS
Privacy PolicyDisclaimer

About the Rainmaker Institute

The law firm marketing consultants at The Rainmaker Institute specialize in helping small to medium-sized law firms generate more clients and increase revenue fast.

Since 1999, we have helped over 18,000 attorneys create successful and sustainable law practices. Over 35 of the largest state and local bar associations have sponsored our live law firm marketing seminars and Rainmaker Retreats to their members.

Read More...
Copyright © 2021, The Rainmaker Institute. All Rights Reserved.
Powered By LexBlog