Postcard Marketing for Lawyers

~ A Lesson in Professionalism & Dignity ~

 

Do you know why these postcards got a 0.00% response?


 

These postcards were actually mailed out by an attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah.  They provide a great lesson in what not to do.

 

Here's some more information about the postcards:

 

 

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Here were some of the suggestions that I had for the postcards:

 

SUGGESTION #1:  When mailing to dentists (or other professionals) -- you must present a dignified and professional appearance.  This does not mean that you should "subdue" your marketing message, but it does mean using a more "professional" choice of words, and using thick, "professional" cardstock. 

 

SUGGESTION #2:  When mailing to dentists (or other professionals), you must avoid an over-hyped tone, or you'll risk losing credibility.  Building crediblity is the most important, most central thing you should concentrate on in your marketing.  Therefore, you should spend a lot of time explaining your credentials in the advertisement.  Lawyers are not used car salesmen (although I can think of a few opposing counsel who could be...).  And you can't sell legal services like used cars.

 

Here's what my favorite copywriter, Clayton Makepeace, says about this:

 

 

Imagine for a moment that, driving down a busy city street, you encounter a familiar sight: A clown waving cars into a roadside business.

He’s replete with a funny hat, a bright red shock wig, a huge red rubber ball for a nose, big, floppy shoes and a handful of balloons. But as you draw nearer you realize, to your horror, that the business he’s waving cars into -- is a mortuary!

By way of contrast, try to imagine a grave, solemn, ponderous, Lurch-like “mortician” of a man on television – attempting to attract customers to a sexy lingerie shop.

Wouldn’t work too well – right?

But why?

Simple: If the tone, look and feel of a promotion is inappropriate for the subject matter and the prospect’s attitudes towards it, you might as well scrape your fingernails across a chalkboard!

And conversely, when the tone, look and feel of your promotion is appropriate to your subject matter and your prospect’s attitudes towards it, your copy has far greater impact and credibility.

Another way of saying the same thing: The look and feel of the promotion will both validate and add credibility to your sales copy, or it will undermine it.

 

Worthwhile advice.  (You can find out more about Clayton Makepeace at www.makepeacetotalpackage.com)

 

SUGGESTION #3: DO NOT COPY the way that I write on this website.  I am not selling legal services.  And, I do not care what people think about me.  This means that I write, rant, speak my mind... and tell you what I really think (instead of telling you what you think you should know).  I write what's called "conversational style" copy.  This may or may not be appropriate for your practice.  (Probably not.)

 

I repeat:  do not copy the way that I write on this website.

 

SUGGESTION #4:  Do not put crazy ideas into your prospective clients' minds.  In the postcard above, the attorney writes, several times, "do not speak with another attorney until..."  Is a dentist even thinking about contacting another lawyer?  If not, then don't put that idea into his head!

 

When writing advertisements, you must enter the conversation that is already going on inside the prospective client's mind.  Is a dentist thinking about hiring a lawyer for asset protection?  Is a dentist even thinking about asset protection?

 

SUGGESTION #5:  If you have typos, you'll lose credibility.  And we know how important credibility is, don't we?  The phrase "until your order" should be "until you order."

 

First of all, you should never use the word "order" for anything related to legal services -- and secondly, typos make people confused.  If a prospective client has to read a sentence multiple times to understand something, then you've done something wrong.

 

It was at this point that I stopped reading the postcard.  And, I bet that this was the point at which dentists threw the postcard into the trash.

 

SUGGESTION #6: The postcards tell dentists to do something, but they don't tell dentists why.  Your priority, when writing advertisements, is to tell people "the reason why."  The reason why you are sending the postcard.  The reason why people should believe you.  The reason why people should respond now.  THE REASON WHY.

 

In other words, you need to educate the prospective client.  People are smart.  They know that nothing is "free," and they don't want to request a "free report" only to receive junk mail, spam, and harassing phone calls for the rest of their life.  (Yes, cold calling is unethical, but most clients don't know that.  So they're scared.  Like furry bunny rabbits in a wolves' den.)  So, you have to explain and educate the reason why the report is "free," and the reason why they should request it now.

 

SUGGESTION #7:  Postcards are very, very tiny.  In fact, most postcards are too tiny to explain all of your "reasons why" -- and most postcards are too tiny to build your credibility.  You may be able to squeeze everything onto a large over-sized postcard with tiny font... but I would suggest that you just send a letter.

 

Mailmen have been known to throw away "junk mail," even though their legal duty is to deliver it.  Postcards look like junk mail.

 

SUGGESTION #8:  Most people try postcard marketing because postcards are cheap to send.  If you don't have the budget for a real direct mail campaign, then I suggest that you try various free or low-cost methods of marketing instead.  You can build strategic alliances, launch free publicity campaigns, and present seminars and speeches to trade associations and groups.

 

You might even want to give free speeches at the local public library.  Most public libraries have free conference rooms, and if not -- then explain the reason why giving you a free conference room would benefit the library and its patrons.  Most libraries will just give you a free room if you ask -- because most of the time, the conference rooms are empty, anyways.

 

SUGGESTION #9:  Most attorneys should hire a professional copywriter (instead of trying to write ad copy themselves).  Everyone thinks that they can write a good advertisement, but this just isn't true.  Writing good copy is very, very difficult.  That's why large corporations are willing to spend $30,000 on non-refundable retainer fees, plus hefty royalties for a good copywriter.  Fortunately, there are less expensive copywriters that you can hire for your law firm.  If you need a referral for a good copywriter, please contact me.

 

SUGGESTION #10:  The attorney did the right thing by testing small.  If he had sent a million postcards, then he would have lost a lot of money.  So, I do applaud this attorney for taking action and testing a potential marketing method.  My suggestion to you is: don't be afraid to try and test new marketing ideas -- you'll fail most of the time, but it's worth it to find the few techniques that'll flood your practice with new clients.

 

I hope that these postcard examples are instructive.

 

Warmly,

Attorney at Law


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