February 14, 2017 | Share

3 Best practices for your direct mail campaign

Obviously the most important thing is that your direct mail campaign comply with the Bar rules for your jurisdiction. No attorney wants to get in trouble with the Bar especially when it is so easy to make an effective yet complaint mail piece. The Bar rules in the various jurisdictions vary from strict to lax, but even in the strict states, complying with the Bar rules doesn’t decrease the advertising effectiveness of the direct mail piece by much. The Bar rules usually just put the potential client on notice that this is “Advertising Material” and not an official court document. Honestly though, 99% of potential clients would know this anyway just from reading a few lines of the content.

But this blog post isn’t about complying with the ethical rules that govern direct mail advertising, it is more about best practices. Things that may or may not be covered by the rules of the Bar in your jurisdiction. These are the things that you should be doing anyway whether it be to protect the reputation of your among your potential client base in the community or to protect your reputation among the community of attorneys.

Here are the 3 best practices for your direct mail campaign: 

1. Do not make your mail piece tacky, threatening, or over the top. Because a lot of law firms are now using direct mail advertising, there is a lot of competition. Naturally, this makes attorneys want to stand out, and to do so, attorneys frequently resort to mailing off flyers and brochures and postcards that are way too colorful. The mail pieces that I am talking about look like they would appeal to a 4 year old. There is too much gaudy color. The mail piece tries too hard to stand out and be notified. Sometimes it is not the color that is the problem. It is the language used in the letter. Content that bashes law enforcement or the court system often doesn’t have the intended result. Some law firms think that bashing law enforcement or the court system will make the defendant feel like this lawyer gets their situation and is on their side. However, some defendants just want a smart, competent, get-it-done-with-minimal-fuss kind of attorney. They don’t need the theatrics and are worried that their relationship with this lawyer would be a drama-filled one. Lastly, some attorneys try to make the content of the letter as threatening as possible. The letter will say that the client will forever have a criminal record, even when, in the vast majority of cases, it is really a minor charge that will be reduced from a criminal charge to an infraction. Or the letter will say that the client’s license will be suspended even though this is extremely unlikely in the vast majority of cases and assumes that this case will turn out differently than the 99.9% of other similar cases. When you threaten, some potential clients will see through the threat and go with an attorney whose letter is more calm and rational. Other potential clients may genuinely feel scared by what the letter is telling them but this doesn’t mean that they will hire that attorney. They may freeze up and instead choose another attorney’s direct mail piece that doesn’t seem so dire. Or they may go on the internet and find some other law firm that seems more welcoming and less intimidating. Don’t threaten. Don’t mail gaudy or overly colorful mail pieces. And don’t demean the court system or law enforcement.
   
   
2. If you expect to refer the case to another attorney, you must say that in the mail piece, loudly and clearly (if this is even allowed by your State Bar). A lot of the State Bars in the various jurisdictions require that you disclose the fact that you are advertising for business that you plan to refer. Some State Bars simply don’t allow advertising for cases that will be referred to another law firm. But some State Bars don’t have a rule one way or the other. And it is for these jurisdictions that you need to be careful. Telling potential clients that you plan to immediately refer their case to another law firm is just good business sense and helps protect your reputation. You don’t want your staff to be fielding phone calls from potential clients who expect your firm to take the case, and when they find out that your firm is just going to refer the case to another law firm, they lose interest. This wastes your staff’s time. It is also misleading. You were advertising your firm to the potential client. You were talking about the experience of the lawyers in your firm. You were discussing how conveniently your office is located to the potential client or the courthouse. And then suddenly, you refer the case to another law firm. This feels like a bait and switch and this strategy will backfire badly.
   
   
3. If you know that the potential client is already represented by an attorney, don’t mail to that potential client. This seems commonsensical but you will be surprised at the number of attorneys who don’t follow this rule. In many states, it is possible to know if the potential client is represented by attorney. The reason is that the source of the underlying data is the clerk of court and the clerk of court will enter that the client is represented by an attorney. Now if the potential client has not gone to court for the first appearance yet or the data on the new criminal charge comes from the jail or a central administrative office of the court, then you may not know that the potential client is represented already. Sending an advertisement to someone already represented by an attorney is a waste of money because the number of clients who will switch from an attorney they probably already know and have a relationship with to a new attorney is pretty low. In addition, mailing to clients already represented by an attorney is probably going to make that attorney pretty angry and will ultimately land up hurting your reputation among your fellow lawyers. Direct Legal Mail automatically filters out records when we know that the defendant is represented by other counsel.