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The Long Game with Direct Mail Advertising for Attorneys
Many attorneys eager start a direct mail campaign expecting it to be an instant client generator that produces lots and lots of money right off the bat. Unfortunately, they are often mistaken. The reason is this: if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. It is definitely not that easy. Law firms that are operating in highly competitive counties are seeing ROI as low as 25%, which means that for every $1,000 they are spending on direct mail, they are generating $1,250 in revenue. Now that is not that bad, but handling $1,250 worth of cases to generate a profit of $250 is tough work.
What the most successful direct mailers know is that it is about the long game. For the first 5 or 6 months you spend out your advertisements and get clients. You do the best job you can for those clients. Then an interesting thing starts to happen around the 5th or 6th month mark. The former clients you obtained through direct mail start to get into trouble again. Maybe they have a lead foot and get a second reckless driving ticket in your main county in Virginia. Suddenly, you are getting repeat business. And guess what, you don’t have to spend anything to get this repeat business.
Not only do you start to get repeat clients, but your former clients start referring friends and work colleagues and family members to you. Suddenly, you are getting a case by means of referral every day. And remember, you never would have gotten the original client who referred the case to you without advertising to them through direct mail.
And what happens when you have been doing direct mail for many years? Well, some attorneys who have been using direct mail for 5 years can almost sustain their practice off of referrals that came from clients who received a flyer or postcard in the mail all those years ago.
The bottom line: referrals from happy customers are the long game of direct mail marketing for attorneys. Even if you don’t make a big profit from the first batch of clients that you get from direct mail, you are likely to get an endless stream of repeat clients and referrals.