If your law firm is considering a direct mail marketing campaign, we have good news. Targeted, mail-based promotions remain one of the most effective ways to reach people—even in the digital era.
However, not just any old campaign will do. To create a mailer that’s likely to generate strong leads for your firm, you’ll need to pay special attention to several critical components.
We’ll walk you through each of these essential elements in this four-step guide. But first, let's unpack the key reasons you might want to try direct mail marketing.
Direct Mail Marketing as a Competitive Edge
First, it’s important to understand why you’re doing a direct mailer...instead of, say, a series of emails.
Suffice it to say that the advantages of lawyer direct mail marketing are many. First, you can get highly targeted when determining who will receive your mailer based on geographic regions, income levels, and any number of other factors based on the data you collect.
Second, you automatically increase the likelihood your message will be seen when you put it on paper. A whopping 98% of people look at their snail mail the day it's delivered. That’s nearly double the amount of email users who regularly open and read messages—most of whom never get 20% of the marketing emails intended for their inboxes.
Perhaps most notable of all is the fact that your direct mail is more likely to stand out. With so many firms turning to digital marketing, the online competition is fierce and pay-per-click costs are high. While other law offices are bidding thousands on digital ads that consumers have become accustomed to tuning out, your $2-per-recipient mailer is far more likely to be opened, read, and acted on.
Whether it’s a postcard, letter, or brochure, several legal marketing tips will ensure you squeeze more ROI out of your direct mail campaigns.
4 Steps for More Successful Direct Mail Marketing
These four proven strategies will help ensure your legal firm’s direct mail campaigns are as profitable as possible.
1. Choose the right format.
While direct mail can take many forms, the right one will depend on your goals and budget for each individual outreach effort. Will you be calling attention to an important or potentially emotional issue? You might choose to send a long-form letter that allows you to connect with prospects on a meaningful level. Or are you simply trying to get more visibility for your legal team? In that case, an oversized mailer or folded brochure may be the better choice as a way to stand out in mailboxes.
2. Personalize each piece.
Every direct mail piece should have its own call to action. For some campaigns, you may have staff that’s trained and ready to take phone calls. For others, it might be best to create a corresponding landing page on your website where recipients can get more information or fill out a form.
Whether you provide a phone number or URL, it’s important to first decide what specific action you want people to take so you can customize your content accordingly.
3. Automate mailing.
No, you don’t have to pay a direct mail company to send your direct mail campaign. With document creators and web-based mail merge tools, you can easily automate those mailings in-house.
For example, many companies opt to use a combination of services like Formstack Documents and Lob to have promotional letters automatically generated, printed, and mailed all in one fell swoop. Once set up, this method makes it remarkably easy to regularly leverage the power of direct mail marketing.
4. Plan for follow-up.
No direct mail marketing campaign will be as effective as possible without some sort of follow-up. This can take on any number of different formats depending on the nature of your messaging. Maybe it’s a second mailing to enhance your offerings with a client success story. Or perhaps you follow up that long-form letter with a colorful brochure filled with testimonials. Just be sure you have a plan in place. If your law firm is going to invest in writing, printing, and mailing, you want to be sure you’re maximizing those marketing dollars.
Check out the video below to learn more about leveling up your document generation process with Formstack Documents.
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