Email marketing is a great way for professional service firms to provide a direct and personal communications channel and maintain relationships with their clients.
Whether you are an accountant, solicitor or other professional, keeping your firm’s brand at the forefront of your client’s minds is always a positive step towards effective marketing.
Here are some quick tips for using email to keep clients engaged and informed.
Understand the client’s journey
To make the most of email marketing, it’s vital to understand the steps a client takes from the moment they first discover your firm’s name to becoming a dedicated client.
This journey has several stages, and knowing what each stage entails helps you tailor your emails to fit perfectly with where the client is at that point in their journey.
By dividing your client list into different groups, or segments, based on what you know about them – like their preferences or past interactions with your firm – you can make sure that the emails they receive are relevant to them specifically.
Provide value with your emails
The essence of any marketing email you send should be to provide value.
Whether sharing insights on complex issues like Inheritance Tax or offering guidance on new legislation, the information you provide should reinforce your firm’s position as an expert in your field.
This approach not only educates the client but also builds trust in your services and shows that you know what you are doing.
Careful use of personalisation
Personalisation is more than using the client’s name – it involves crafting messages that speak directly to their circumstances.
Moreover, the timing of your emails should strike a balance between maintaining presence and avoiding inundation.
Trigger-based emails can also be effective, as they are sent in response to specific actions or milestones, making the client feel seen and considered.
These might include:
- Welcome emails
- Appointment reminders
- Event invitations
- Seasonal greetings
Having said this, studies have shown that personalising marketing too heavily tends to make clients feel uncomfortable – especially in the early stages of a client-brand relationship.
As such, it is important to tailor your personalisation to the level of closeness that you have with the client.
Some general rules might include:
- Long-standing client relationship = use their first name.
- Short-term client relationship = use Mr/Mrs [last name].
- Potential client = don’t personalise.
Again, this is on a case-by-case basis and might change depending on the circumstances.
Design
In today’s mobile-first world having a responsive design is vital to catching attention and holding it.
Emails must be easily readable on any device, ensuring that the client’s interaction with your firm is seamless, regardless of how they access their inbox.
A professional marketing agency, like JE Consulting, will be able to use coding and other digital techniques to ensure that your emails are always fully visible and easily accessible.
Final considerations
You should measure the success of your campaigns through open rates, click-through rates, and other relevant metrics.
This is key to refining your approach and ensuring that each message is more impactful than the last.
Compliance with data protection laws and regulations is also essential.
Clients should have opted in to receive communications, and the ability to unsubscribe should be clear and straightforward in every email.
Again, the technical side of these issues could be better managed by outsourcing to a professional marketing agency.
In fact, outsourcing your marketing needs to an agency has numerous benefits, from ensuring effectiveness to freeing up your time to focus on running your firm.
They can develop detailed marketing strategies, design your website and create personalised content for your specific needs.
To find out how JE Consulting could generate effective email marketing for your firm, please get in touch with one of our experts.
