In 2020, the world experienced change like never before. This change impacted every individual, business and industry alike – and the legal market was no exception. With the need for digitalisation accelerated by the pandemic, many law firms were forced to stray from tradition and embrace digital marketing.
Whilst digital marketing was never a completely foreign concept for the majority of law firms, as we mentioned earlier: the pandemic has changed everything. And a big part of this is consumer preferences and habits. But what does this mean for your law firm? Ultimately, the channels which may have been most effective 18 months ago will have likely changed, as will the content your audience expects you to share on them.
So, let’s get to the reason you are here: which channel should your law firm be prioritising in 2021 based on conversion rates?
#1 Email
With an average conversion rate of 4.5% for law firms, email claims the top spot for 2021. And with the legal industry coming top of the class in terms of open (22.49%) and click-through ( 2.99%) rates (with the average across all industries reaching just 21.80% and 2.78%), it’s safe to say that out with the old, in with the new does not apply in this scenario. But don’t just take our word for it: in a recent interview for Boss to Boss, the godfather of content marketing, Joe Pulizzi, shared why he believes an email list will always be the number one digital asset for businesses. To find out more, head over to the Boss to Boss website to listen to the full interview.
So, whilst this timeless channel has proven to be a success for law firms in general, there is always room for improvement. With that in mind, here are five things your law firm can do to help improve your email marketing conversion rate:
- Segment your subscribers: whether it’s by location, industry or job title, you need to find an appropriate way to segment your subscribers to maximise the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. Not only will this help to enhance your personalisation capabilities, but it will also significantly increase your revenue, with segmented campaigns accounting for almost 60% of all email marketing revenue.
- Prioritise personalisation: one sure-fire way of grabbing someone’s attention is to reach out to them on a personal level. And with personalised emails delivering up to six times higher transaction rates, it’s clear in this case, personalisation goes far beyond just catching the consumer’s eye.
- Respond to change: times have changed. And so have consumer preferences and habits. More than half of all emails are now opened using mobile devices, so if your emails are not responsive, you can expect to see a lot of unsubscribers coming your way. There are a number of simple steps you can take to ensure your emails are optimised for mobile devices, including keeping your subject lines below 35 characters, keeping your copy concise, using a single column layout and optimising your images.
- Make a strong first impression: these days, people are inundated with emails, so standing out can be hard. If you really want to drive those clicks and get people to take notice of your emails, you need to start by perfecting your subject lines. For an in-depth guide on how to write subject lines that succeed, check out our Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing here.
- Write with purpose: every email should have a clear purpose. It’s no good writing about multiple things using thousands of words – people simply won’t read it. Not only will a text-heavy email likely end up in the trash folder, but it can also cause problems for those using mobile devices too. Instead, keep your copy concise and ensure everything feeds back to your purpose and is aligned with your CTA. Remember: your copy should compel readers to take action – don’t leave all the work to that call to action button!
#2 Organic search
Following hot on the heels of email is organic search with a conversion rate of 4.2% for law firms. Whilst the focus of this post is the highest converting channel for law firms, the numbers are so close, it felt only right to include both – call it a bonus. Now, the reason the conversion rate for organic search is so high compared to other sources of traffic is that these are people who are actively searching for the services offered by your law firm, meaning their purchase intent is high. So, if you nail your SEO, it’s a win-win: not only will your site receive a higher volume of traffic, it will also be higher quality, too.
If you want to learn more about SEO and the benefits it can have for your law firm, check out our Ultimate Guide to SEO here.
So there we have the top two highest converting channels for law firms – well, statistically speaking. It’s important to look at these things on a case by case basis; what works well for other law firms may not be as effective for you. By all means, use this data to help you make informed decisions, but when selecting which channels to prioritise, always take your audience and overarching strategy into account. It’s all about finding the means to achieve your goals.
