3 Keys to Writing Great Email Content

Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome to Legal Marketing 101. I'm Toby Rosen. Today, we are talking about three keys to writing great email content, and we're talking about this because it's something that I end up talking to attorneys about. A lot is how to write good content. What should they write? What should they write about? And there's no one answer. But there are a few key things that we can be doing. Every time we write something whether it's for email or whether it's for the website or really any kind of content there are a few key things that we can be doing every single time we write. That really helps keep audiences engaged and, honestly, I'm not the greatest example of this. I don't always do this in the podcast, but when we do this for law firms, when we do this for their email marketing, for e-courses they're sending out after pay-per-click campaigns, or we do this in autoresponder campaigns for organic content, we get really great results. So let's dive straight in and talk about the three keys for writing this great content.

Speaker 1: 1:05

First up and it's something you've heard me talk a lot about before, but it's storytelling, and normally we talk about the client story, but today we are going to talk about storytelling a little bit more broadly, and I am by no means the expert here. We do use this a lot in a lot of the content we create and a lot of the work that I do, but if you look at people like Lee Rosen at Rosen Institute or other people who are talking about client story, there are some thought leaders that are a little bit ahead of me on this. But at its core, storytelling is about connection. In this world where our inboxes are flooded with email and we have text messages and updates from companies standing out amongst all this mess, even for somebody that's other than a law firm, this can be really challenging, and so what we want to do is draw readers in and actually make them feel something. So when we weave a story into our content, we're creating something that's just a little bit more than some mundane message about services. We're turning it into a little bit more of a memorable experience, and we want to do this because there are tons of studies. We're not going to get into this, but there are tons of studies that show that humans are wired to respond to stories.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Stories activate the part of our brain that is associated with emotions and empathy, and this makes the information more relatable to clients and it makes it easier for them to remember, and for us in the legal world, this means that our clients and our potential clients are more likely to engage with the emails that we send them in this particular case, and much more likely to remember who we are and why we exist. Just imagine you're receiving two emails. One is a straightforward update about a new service that your firm is offering, or a firm is offering, and the other tells a story about how this service helped a real client overcome a significant challenge. Instead of what it is, it's how it works. Which one of these two are you more likely to remember? The second email here it doesn't just convey the same information, but it creates this emotional connection with the potential client and that makes it so much more impactful and so much more likely to lead to a conversion. And at the end of the day, on top of all of the marketing benefits here, stories help humanize your practice. They show that behind the legal jargon, behind the formalities, the suits, there are real people who care about solving the real problems that your clients have. This human touch can make your content resonate so much more deeply with your audience and it really helps to foster that environment of trust and loyalty.

Speaker 1: 3:32

But finding and crafting these stories doesn't have to be daunting. So let's start by looking at your own experiences and those of your colleagues, those of the people in your firm. Think about the cases that had really significant impacts both on the people and on the people in your firm. There are probably some moments where you went above and beyond for a client, or instances where your firm has really shown through as super valuable, and so here are a couple of tips to get started on finding those stories so you can actually write them out, because you can create your archetypal client, or you can just find some real stories and integrate that into your content. So number one is identifying key moments. We're reflecting on cases and identifying moments that really highlight the firm's strengths, values and successes. These moments are the building blocks of our story. This is where we start. Number two is focusing on the client journey. That whole client story is really the center of what we're doing here. So we're describing their challenges, the steps we take to help them and the positive outcome. This isn't only showcasing your expertise, but it is really clearly demonstrating your empathy and your dedication to clients.

Speaker 1: 4:40

And number three is to be authentic here. You have to be truthful to what is happening and who you are, because authenticity is really everything in storytelling. People understand when it's not you, so you don't want to embellish or exaggerate facts, because people understand when you're lying, and genuine stories just resonate more with your audience and build credibility. A great example to look at here is comedians. When they tell stories, they are often not very pretty, but they resonate strongly with the audience to elicit that guttural emotional response of laughing like that.

Speaker 1: 5:14

So number four is keep it simple and clear, and I realize there are so many points here. That isn't really me doing my best, but a good story is easy to follow. That's the reality of this. You have to avoid all the legal stuff, the complex language, which forms or which court we went to. We don't care about any of that. We want to be aiming for clarity and simplicity, to make sure that the message is accessible to all readers and actually hits the mark. And number five whenever possible, try and use some visuals. This can really complement your story. Some photos, some infographics or, if you can, short videos can really enhance the whole experience and make the content so much more engaging. Now we're going to break a little bit of a rule here, because usually I like to focus on who the client is in a broad sense. Now we're going to break a little bit of a rule here, because usually I like to focus on who the client is in a broad sense. When we're talking about client story, we really want to be focusing on an archetype, so that we're speaking to a lot of people at the same time. But there are some ways to sort of cheat this and to really just help get your content beefed up if you don't feel like you can create that client story yet. So there are a couple of other types of stories that you may have and you may have as a result of what we've just done, going through and identifying key moments, and we're going to quickly run through these four types of stories that are really easy to use and that you may already have.

Speaker 1: 6:31

Number one is success stories. So we're highlighting cases where the firm achieved outstanding results. In some areas, this is large settlements. In some places, this is good outcomes for parents and family law. In some places, this is saving huge amounts of money if we're talking about some kind of insurance practice or some kind of Medicaid or elder law kind of thing, but these success stories showcase your expertise, and what they tell clients about is the tangible benefits that they can expect and yes, there are some bar rules to consider here, especially when I say the words expect, but you understand what we could do with these.

Speaker 1: 7:09

Number two is human interest stories, and that's just sharing stories that are humanizing your practice. This could be something about a pro bono case or something someone on the team did as part of a community initiative, or an instance where your firms actually made a difference in somebody's life beyond the legal services, so going the extra mile, or because of the legal services they were able to resume part of their life, or in MedMau. This could be a really interesting area to attack. Some stories is for human interest. Number three, though, is behind-the-scenes stories, and this is one I'm really a big fan of, especially when we're talking about social media, but it does work well in email in some formats too, and first off, behind the scenes, we can really give clients a glimpse into the inner workings of the firm, so they can see what the office looks like, see where they'll be having meetings, see what it's like after they leave a meeting and what is the team talking about what are they having for lunch. These stories are not just humanizing, but they also do show your team's dedication. They show the process that you follow to rigorously confirm all of the elements of somebody's case, or the innovative approaches that you use to solve complex legal issues for clients. These behind-the-scenes stories can really expand the picture of who your firm is and make that brand so much clearer.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Moving on to number four, which is one we all know and there are a lot of ways to share this, but it's client testimonials. And by email is a great way, but client testimonials are a really good way to get a story started because they can give you an idea of oh, this client was happy because this happened in their case, and the outcome is this, and the reality is we're letting the clients tell their stories. If we can extrapolate from that and create something that is a little bit different from it. So obviously we don't break any privacy rules. This can really add a lot of authenticity and it can make it a lot easier to write your client's story. And if you can actually use reviews, that provides social proof, that helps significantly reinforce your firm's credibility and reliability and all of that good stuff that we get from reviews.

Speaker 1: 9:12

There are so many ways to create great content for stories and for email and you're going to find a good one, but right now we're going to move on to point number two one of the next keys to writing great email and that's to answer questions and make your point, not your word count, because we all think about content in different ways. When we're thinking about email content, we often tend to bring in some of the stuff from website content and think we have to hit a particular word count, but the reality is we want to make an impact more than we do want to rank on something or, you know, get some kind of algorithm to treat us favorably. Email isn't like that. We have the email address, we are in the inbox. We do not need to rank better than anybody else. What we need to do is write a subject line that's better than anybody else, and we need to create content that actually is engaging.

Speaker 1: 10:00

So we've talked about stories, but what we can do here that makes people really open the email is we can answer questions. So, as long as we're making our point and avoiding our word count, we can use this to answer questions, and there are a couple of ways to find those questions you may already be thinking of. Oh, clients automatically need this when they come in, and you know we have the resources for this. We know everything about this. We can answer this question via email, or you may have a page on your website about it already. Use it as an email so we can use all of the things you may be thinking.

Speaker 1: 10:33

But instead of waiting for these questions to come up, if you know, if you don't have them already in your mind, or you don't want to wait for a consultation or a phone call to hear what the client is going to ask, there are a couple of areas where we can quickly identify some questions that we can address in emails. First is FAQs, so anything that is common already. So if we're in a personal injury case, maybe it's the cost of legal services. If it's in family law, maybe it's how long a divorce takes or how much a divorce costs. The cost is going to be a common theme when we come to frequently asked questions, because lawyers do not have the best reputation when it comes to cost. I think you guys know that. But identifying these FAQs the stuff that you may have already put on your website. That's a great place to start.

Speaker 1: 11:15

The number two thing you need to be doing here is creating really clear and concise responses. So for each one of these questions, wherever you find it, you need to craft a response that is both informative and easy to digest. So, again, we're avoiding the legal jargon. We're focusing on providing really clear and really actionable information, even if the action is hire us, and the goal here again is to demystify the legal process, make it more accessible to clients, less scary and easier for them to pull the trigger. Number three and this makes it a lot easier for clients to just get through this information is to organize the content thematically, and most of you already do this. I see lawyers generally tend to be fairly organized with website content, even if the sub organization is not super clean. But we want to group our questions together in themed emails. So instead of perhaps doing one question, we can include a couple of key questions so we could have understanding the divorce process, common questions answered or, for PI, what to expect after a car accident. Your questions answered and the common questions answered, your questions answered. You can put that for any one of those questions and say your questions answered and expand that as much as you want to, and this makes it really easy for clients to understand what's coming in the email and when they go back and look at it on your website, it makes it easy for them to find the information they're looking for and to quickly understand their concerns and all the related concerns they may have after they get their first question answered.

Speaker 1: 12:44

But finally, and again, we're hammering on story here today, but we want to incorporate client experiences into the answers to these questions. So if we can give examples whether we change names or we change situations real life examples, case studies, are really powerful for users. If we're addressing a question about how long a particular legal process takes, share a story about a client who went through a really long version of the process and show this is what the maximum looks like. Highlight the steps that are involved, the outcome that can be achieved and why it might be worth it for them to take a longer time in their process. There are a lot of ways to do this, but when it comes to incorporating these experiences, it is one of the best ways we can get clients to be engaged and to really understand what it is we're talking about Moving on to our last key, number three, and that is making your point.

Speaker 1: 13:35

This is really one of the key things here. We understand that we have a limited time to engage with the user and we understand that we have to do something engaging to get them to open the email. We have to do something engaging in the content of the email so that we get them to engage with us, and that's why the third thing we can do here is kind of a repetition of number two, and it's because it's making your point. You really want to have a strong, essentially call to action. So, when we're talking about email right now, because there's so much noise, the importance of clarity and conciseness really can't be overstated. Clients really appreciate brevity and straightforwardness, especially when they're dealing with things that are kind of complex in the legal sphere. An email that gets to the point quickly, right at the top, is much more likely to be read and to be understood, which is a huge gap we have to bridge in the legal universe. This approach is not only going to save time for your clients so they get the information they need, but it also demonstrates respect for their busy schedules and it minimizes the possibility that they won't understand what you've told them because they're confused.

Speaker 1: 14:45

So, right at the beginning of the opening email, or the opening of the email, we want the first few lines to set the tone and determine whether the reader are going to continue reading. We're going to start with a really compelling, hook, clear statement of the email's purpose. This is why we are emailing you. This is what we have for you. So, instead of starting with an introduction about the firm or about what you do, we can open with the direct benefit to the reader. We can expedite your divorce process and secure a fair settlement. That's the first thing we can say. And then we want to focus on one main point. So, whatever it is, up top with that strong opening, it has a single, clear objective.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Whether we're informing the clients about a new service, providing an update on their case or a lot of the time we're supposed to not do this but offering legal advice, we just want to keep the focus on that one point. This helps us maintain clarity and prevents the message from becoming diluted or misunderstood, and we're going to use simple language, avoiding that legal jargon. We talk about complex sentences. We're not going to do that, so we're explaining the matter to someone who has no legal background. This is 99% of the time. Yes, you're going to get lawyers that are going to hire you and you're going to get people who have some legal background, but let's assume in most cases they have no legal background. So this is not only going to make your emails much more accessible to people, but they're going to be more engaging because they can understand what's happening.

Speaker 1: 16:10

Clear and simple language ensures that your message is understood by all the readers, all your potential clients, regardless of their level of legal expertise. And we're going to be specific and we're going to provide value. So this specificity enhances credibility and trust, instead of making vague statements about. It could be this, it could be this. We want to provide concrete examples and data, so it will be this. Last time I did it, it was this. We want to provide concrete examples and data, so it will be this. Last time I did it, it was this. So, instead of saying we handle many divorce cases in a marketing email, in that instance specifically, you could say we successfully resolved over 200 cases, helping clients achieve favorable settlements quickly, and then we need to edit ruthlessly.

Speaker 1: 16:51

This is something a lot of you really don't like to do, but it is an absolutely crucial step in the writing process. So, after we draft our whole email, we've already focused, we've used simple language, we've been specific, we have provided value, we've got a CTA in there. Even we need to edit ruthlessly. It's a critical step in this writing process. So after we draft our email, we're going to review it and eliminate any unnecessary words or sentences. If each part of the email serves a purpose, we can keep it. If it doesn't, we cut it.

Speaker 1: 17:24

This helps in maintaining that focused and powerful message and keeping it concise. Because after we do that editing, we're going to edit again. We're going to combine and condense and take any related ideas and combine them into single, concise statements. This is going to help us streamline our email, enhance readability, enhance engagement and so, as an example, instead of writing, our firm has extensive experience in family law. We also have a team of dedicated professionals who specialize in child custody cases. You could write our experienced family law team specializes in X, y and Z and child custody cases and then, after we do all of the editing, all of the combining and condensing, we're going to read it aloud.

Speaker 1: 18:04

If you're not a seasoned writer here, you haven't done a lot of email content or your email content just isn't performing. This is a really good exercise. Read your email aloud will help you identify any awkward phrases, or and really just ensure that the message flows naturally. This is really just an exercise that's maintaining our conversational tone. It's really good for that and it just makes the emails more relatable and more engaging. That's really all we're trying to do with all these steps.

Speaker 1: 18:31

And then, finally, we're going to use visual aids and we're going to seek feedback. So, when we can, we use photos, infographics. Even videos can go into emails or links to videos, so that there's a little bit of something to engage with. And then we're going to ask people in the office or on our team for feedback For new at this. We want to test it out. We want to see what kind of insights they can give on whether our message is clear enough or whether it's compelling to actually take action.

Speaker 1: 18:56

This kind of feedback loop can be a really critical part of refining your communication strategy. It's what big agencies are doing all the time. They're bouncing these ideas off of each other. Before they even send it to the client, before they even have data on it, they're trying to figure out if it's clear. And once we have all of that feedback, we're going to send it out to clients.

Speaker 1: 19:14

We're going to send it out with our email system, something like MailChimp or ActiveCampaign or even HubSpot. We're going to send out our email and we're going to see what the response is and from there you'll test. You'll get into A-B testing which we're not going to go into today because we've gone long already but you'll go from there and you'll do all of the normal marketing systems that you're going to apply to every piece of content that you put out. You'll go through and test, you'll go through and check back with users, see what kind of feedback you're getting and you'll adjust from there. So those are my three keys to writing great email content. And that's it for Legal Marketing 101. Check out RosenAdvertisingcom for more Thanks.