I
hate
to
say
it,
but
it’s
true:
Marketing
professionals
love
to
give
“one-size-fits-all”
advice.
We
spend
so
much
of
our
time
urging
the
“best
practices”
that
really
do
work
for
the
vast
majority
of
situations
(and
many
of
which
clients
in
other
industries
find
easy
to
forget)
that
we
sometimes
find
it
challenging
to
take
a
step
back
and
assess
the
specific
needs
of
businesses
that
may
have
concerns
that
do
not
apply
to
other
business
types.
We
can
particularly
run
into
this
problem
when
we
are
addressing
the
very
precise
needs
of
law
firms
when
it
comes
to
email
marketing.
Email
sequences
can
be
a
crucial
component
of
any
digital
marketing
strategy,
but
the
special
nature
of
an
attorney’s
obligations
toward
even
prospective
clients,
as
well
as
the
obviously
area-specific
expectations
associated
with
particular
types
of
law,
need
to
play
a
leading
role
in
ensuring
that
the
sequences
work
as
intended.
Friendly
Reminders:
The
Function
of
Email
Sequences
in
Law
Firm
Marketing
Sales
professionals
will
tell
you
that
following
up
with
past
or
prospective
clients
via
email
is
a
reliably
effective,
low-cost
strategy
for
staying
“top
of
mind,”
collecting
positive
reviews,
and
generating
ongoing
interest.
One
of
the
major
advantages
of
email
marketing
strategies
is
that
they
allow
you
to
increase
name
recognition
(i.e.,
brand
awareness)
by
giving
you
opportunities
to
appear
in
front
of
likely
customers
(or
clients)
even
at
times
when
they
may
not
be
actively
looking
for
the
type
of
services
your
firm
offers.
Just
as
SEO
helps
law
firms
to
appear
in
front
of
prospective
clients
when
they
are
already
looking
for
legal
information
or
legal
services,
email
marketing
helps
to
“close
the
gaps”
in
coverage
by
creating
the
background
awareness
that
puts
your
firm
in
position
to
be
the
first
one
individuals
think
of
when
they
decide
it
is
time
to
hire
an
attorney.
In
addition,
usually
the
reason
your
law
firm
has
email
addresses
will
be
because
their
owners
have
provided
them,
which
serves
as
a
strong
indication
that
the
individuals
in
this
list
of
contacts
already
have
some
interest
in
the
type
of
legal
services
your
firm
offers.
The
Name
Recognition
Value
of
Email
Sequences
Exact
numbers
vary
from
study
to
study,
but
research
in
marketing
psychology
has
overwhelmingly
shown
that
most
people
need
to
encounter
a
brand
multiple
times
before
they
will
recognize
the
name
or
logo
when
prompted.
They
need
to
be
presented
with
the
same
information
even
more
times
before
they
will
remember
the
brand
without
prompting.
This
essential
truth
about
human
memory
is
why,
in
every
election
cycle,
you
will
probably
see
political
signage
strung
along
the
roadways
displaying
no
information
beyond
the
candidate’s
name:
The
signs
don’t
tell
travelers
anything
about
a
candidate’s
policy
positions,
and
in
many
cases
they
may
not
even
identify
the
party
on
whose
ticket
the
candidate
is
running,
or
the
office
they
hope
to
fill.
The
campaign
managers
are
not
worried
about
the
absence
of
these
details,
because
interested
people
can
easily
find
that
information
elsewhere;
the
purpose
of
the
signs
is
simply
to
make
sure
voters
feel
a
sense
of
recognition
when
they
step
into
the
voting
booth
and
see
the
candidate’s
name.
The
repeated
inbox
appearances
created
by
an
email
sequence
operate
on
the
same
basic
principle.
Tailored
Messaging
Opportunities
Luckily
for
law
firm
marketing,
the
space
constraints
of
emails
are
much
more
forgiving
than
those
of
highway
signage
for
a
political
campaign.
The
fact
that
emails
can
contain
a
great
deal
of
information
with
no
increase
in
costs
makes
them
an
especially
attractive
vehicle
for
client
outreach.
Beyond
the
name
recognition
benefits
of
showing
up
in
a
potential
client’s
inbox
on
a
recurring
basis,
a
well-structured
email
sequence
can
help
to
build
trust
and
foster
client
relationships.
Of
course,
all
email
sequences
are
not
created
equal!
Tailoring
your
strategies
to
your
target
audience
and
your
area
of
practice
is
crucial
to
maximizing
the
potential
of
an
email
sequence.
Tailoring
Strategy:
Consider
the
Lead
Source
The
“lead
source”
for
any
email
address
is
just
the
mechanism
by
which
your
law
firm
obtained
that
information.
Common
options
are
contact
forms
posted
to
your
law
firm’s
website
or
social
media
accounts
(ideally
these
should
be
separate
contact
forms,
with
distinctive
URLs;
to
track
lead
generation
effectively,
you
want
to
avoid
linking
social
media
posts
to
the
contact
form
posted
directly
on
your
public-facing
website)
and
the
referrals
some
law
firms
are
set
up
to
receive
through
third-party
websites
like
Avvo
or
FindLaw.
Using
the
Technology:
Leveraging
CRMs
for
Audience
Segmentation
Many
CRM
(customer
relationship
management)
systems
record
lead
source
automatically
as
part
of
the
intake
workflow,
so
you
may
be
already
tracking
this
information,
even
if
you
are
not
actively
using
it
on
a
regular
basis.
If
not,
make
it
a
priority
to
set
up
a
standardized
method
for
ensuring
that
your
team
always
notes
where
each
new
lead/customer
contact
comes
from
as
the
information
is
entered
into
whichever
system
your
law
firm
uses
for
managing
contacts
(if
you
can
automate
this
part
of
the
process,
so
much
the
better!).
Segmentation
for
Customization
Many
people
intuitively
recognize
that
lead
source
is
valuable
information
for
evaluating
where
your
queries
are
coming
from
and
which
platforms
are
giving
you
the
highest
conversion
rates.
Less
obviously,
lead
generation
tracking
is
also
very
useful
for
helping
you
to
effectively
“segment”
audiences
(in
this
case,
lists
of
email
recipients)
so
that
you
can
send
email
sequences
that
are
customized
based
on
the
path
the
prospective
client
followed
to
provide
you
with
their
contact
information.
“Segmentation”
is
a
term
you
will
see
used
frequently
in
relation
to
mass
emails,
but
for
customizing
email
sequences
based
on
lead
source
what
you
will
want
to
do
is
set
up
an
audience
“segment”
for
each
lead
source.
You
could
stop
there,
and
set
up
an
automation
that
triggers
a
specific
email
sequence
for
each
new
contact
based
on
the
segment
to
which
the
contact
belongs;
ideally,
however,
you
will
want
to
further
differentiate
within
segments,
whenever
your
lead
generation
model
relays
information
about
the
contact’s
areas
of
interest.
Factors
To
Consider
in
Tailoring
Email
Sequences
by
Lead
Source
As
you
think
about
the
role
of
lead
source
in
conditioning
the
structure
of
your
email
sequence,
there
are
a
few
factors
you
can
consider
to
help
shape
your
decisions.
Any
email
sequence
will
also
need
to
be
structured
with
your
law
firm’s
specific
practice
area(s)
in
mind,
but
using
lead
source
as
a
tool
for
tailoring
the
most
appropriate
messaging
for
a
specific
contact
can
significantly
enhance
your
ability
to
connect
with
potential
clients.
Past
Clients:
Email
Sequences
to
Solicit
Feedback
and
Reviews
Past
clients
may
be
a
great
target
for
generating
future
business
in
some
cases.
Depending
on
the
type
of
law
you
practice,
however,
getting
repeat
business
from
former
clients
may
not
be
realistic;
business
clients
may
need
help
with
contracts
several
times
per
year,
but
if
you
are
managing
a
personal
injury
firm,
you
probably
hope
that
most
of
your
clients
do
not
find
themselves
needing
your
services
on
a
regular
rotation.
With
this
caveat
in
mind,
one
type
of
email
sequence
you
can
count
on
to
be
relevant
to
past
clients
is
a
request
for
feedback
and
a
prompt
to
review.
Consider
scheduling
3-4
emails
in
this
sequence,
with
increasing
periods
of
time
between
emails.
Social
Media:
Email
Sequences
To
Deliver
Value
Contacts
who
provide
their
email
addresses
after
clicking
the
link
in
a
social
media
post
are
often
motivated
by
the
promise
of
additional
“content.”
The
content
will
of
course
depend
on
what
your
law
firm
has
developed
and
offered,
but
many
digital
marketing
agencies
will
recommend
posting
short
videos
and
“carousel”
posts
comprised
of
sequenced
infographics
as
lead
generation
materials,
usually
with
a
CTA
(call
to
action)
inviting
anyone
who
pauses
in
scrolling
to
take
a
closer
look
at
the
post
to
sign
up
for
free
tutorials,
guides,
or
other
resources.
That
format
will
often
mean
that
the
first
message
in
an
email
sequence
directed
at
contacts
from
social
media
needs
to
deliver
the
free
item
promised
in
the
post.
If
your
firm
offers
more
than
one
free
resource
via
social
media,
consider
setting
up
an
automation
that
will
select
the
subsequent
messages
in
an
email
sequence
based
on
the
specific
resource
a
contact
has
requested.
Keep
in
mind
that
contacts
who
provide
their
emails
in
response
to
a
social
media
prompt
tend
to
be
interested
in
informative
and
educational
content;
frequently
they
are
providing
their
contact
information
because
they
are
hoping
for
more
materials
that
are
similar
to
the
post
that
initially
caught
their
interest.
For
law
firms’
marketing
strategy,
this
means
that
email
sequences
directed
at
contacts
from
social
media
lead
generation
can
often
capitalize
on
the
topics
covered
in
the
lead-generating
posts.
Consider
setting
up
automations
at
two,
four,
and
six
weeks
after
initial
contact
inviting
each
recipient
to
view
a
related
post,
schedule
a
discovery
consultation,
and
sign
up
for
a
newsletter
(which
would
keep
the
contact
receiving
regular
emails).
Website
Contact
Form
Emails
addresses
entered
in
the
contact
form(s)
on
your
law
firm
website
indicate
an
especially
high
level
of
interest
(what
marketing
professionals
sometimes
call
“high-intent”
actions).
Often
you
will
be
wanting
to
follow
up
with
these
contacts
right
away;
sometimes
the
information
collected
by
your
contact
form
can
structure
the
form
that
follow-up
takes.
Consider
designing
your
contact
form
with
a
dropdown
menu
that
allows
site
visitors
to
indicate
their
level
of
intent
and
urgency,
for
instance
“just
learning”
vs.
“need
legal
advice.”
You
could
also
add
a
checkbox
inviting
visitors
to
indicate
that
they
would
like
a
callback
within
a
set
time
period
(e.g.,
24-48
hours).
If
you
are
soliciting
any
type
of
written
description
of
their
reason
for
reaching
out,
make
sure
that
you
practice
good
digital
security
in
protecting
that
information
(you
will
likely
also
want
to
set
your
contact
form
up
to
include
disclaimers
and
advise
against
entering
any
identifying
details).
That
said,
information
written
by
site
visitors
themselves
can
sometimes
be
difficult
for
CRM
automations
to
parse
accurately,
but
it
can
also
be
a
rich
source
of
information
for
tailoring
both
initial
follow-up
messages
and
the
email
sequences
that
follow.
Correlate
topical
interest
with
level
of
urgency
to
structure
email
sequences
that
align
with
the
information
site
visitors
have
provided
you;
try
immediate
contact
for
high-urgency
form
submissions,
and
emphasize
building
trust
with
authoritative,
topically
relevant
content
over
a
more
extended
sequence
for
“just
learning”
submissions.
Points
To
Remember
There
is
no
one
“right”
number
of
messages
to
include
in
an
email
sequence,
any
more
than
there
is
a
perfect
frequency
at
which
to
send
them.
The
crucial
thing
for
law
firms
to
remember
is
that
messaging
that
speaks
directly
to
the
concerns
and
interests
a
contact
has
already
expressed
will
always
be
in
a
better
position
to
build
trust
and
cement
reputation
than
a
“cookie-cutter”
message
that
could
apply
to
any
member
of
the
general
public.
Structuring
high-quality
email
sequences
that
deliver
high
conversion
rates
and
set
your
law
firm’s
office
phone
ringing
is
often
going
to
be
less
about
the
number
of
emails
and
the
schedule
on
which
you
send
them,
and
more
about
the
understanding
of
prospective
clients’
concerns
that
each
email
in
a
sequence
conveys.
Pay
attention
to
how
your
contacts
are
reaching
you
and
providing
their
information,
and
demonstrate
your
law
firm’s
value
by
responding
with
emails
that
show
topical
knowledge
and
situational
awareness.
Annette
Choti,
Esq.
is
the
founder
of Law
Quill,
a
legal
digital
marketing
agency
that
helps
growth-minded
law
firms
increase
their
online
visibility
and
convert
more
clients.
She
is
also
the
author
of
“Click
Magnet:
The
Ultimate
Digital
Marketing
Guide
for
Law
Firms”
and
Click
Magnet
Academy.
Annette
used
to
do
professional
comedy,
which
is
not
so
far
from
the
law
if
we
are
all
being
honest.