Quick Thoughts on E-Newsletters and E-Annual Reports: Time to Send is Now
Because I’m an avid blogger, for years, I resisted sending an electronic newsletter as part of my law firm marketing portfolio. If potential clients wanted a sample of my legal analysis, they could follow my blog, I reasoned. Plus, I assumed that my newsletter would get lost in the hailstorm of big firm client alerts that swarm like locusts after a significant industry decision.
But I discovered that I was wrong. Many existing or prospective clients in my industry don’t read blogs or follow Twitter (despite heroic efforts at a steady stream of interesting content, including multiple daily news dispatches). So I decided to experiment with a newsletter and found a broader audience with several subscribers opening the newsletters multiple times or forwarding them on to others (thanks MailChimp for your great stats!) Moreover, in spite of the glut of other news services, I try to offer good POV which most of my colleagues either don’t take the time to do or shirk from for fear of offending a prospect.
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Ordinarily, I’m so grateful to get my newsletters out that I don’t care what time of day it is. But apparently, I should. As the above infographic depicts, the time of day that an email (and by analogy, an e-newsletter) is sent matters, with the highest open rates coming between 8am and 9am and again between 3 pm and 4 pm. Because e-newsletters are sent by email, And you can’t just send the email in advance; the open rate for emails that aren’t opened within the first hour drops from 23.63 percent to just 4.8 percent (a statistic I’ve noticed with my e-newsletters).
Even if you haven’t sent an e-newsletter out this year, why not experiment with an end of year Annual Report for your firm? Probably should aim to get it out this week to maximize visibility, but mid-next week might work as well. It beats an electronic holiday card and offers a good way to share what you’ve been up to with clients. And while sending an email, e-newsletter or e-annual report in morning or early afternoon is optimal, it’s even more optimal to send something now rather than never.
You’re right out most people not reading blogs I know UI get most of my content from blogs through email. May I suggest something for the site: more options for people to opt-in (or add their email address). If you look at an example of Social Triggers http://socialtriggers.com/ he has his on the top, right side, and bottom. Pretty ingenious. I hope that helps
oh, and now that i try to unsubscribe, it takes me to aweber.com something and Outlook says the link is unsafe and phishing. what a hassle!!!