Email marketing best practices

1. presented by: Joshua Fruchter, Esq. Principal, eLawMarketing www.elawmarketing.com September 22, 2009 The Top 10 Law Firm Email Marketing Best Practices

2. #1: Always provide a link to a web-based alternative to your email at the top of the email so if, despite your best efforts, there are display issues, a reader can click that link and view your email in his or her browser

3. #2: Render key messages such as headlines and calls-to-action (e.g., Register, Read more) in text. This way if image blocking is "on," the key point of your message can still be viewed in the preview pane since HTML text will always display.

4. #3: Keep the height of your banner around 200 pixels to reserve visible space in the upper lefthand corner of your email for your key text message. This recommendation is based on "eye tracking" research, which shows that the human eye scans email in an “F” pattern

5. #4: To reduce risk of horizontal scrolling, d esign email templates to be no wider than 650 pixels; ideally, aim for 600-625 pixels wide.

6. #5: Populate "ALT" tags for images so for readers who have image blocking on, at least they will see a short description of the image, which may encourage them to activate it.

7. #6: Include height and width attributes with your images, which will help keep your email intact even if image blocking is on.

8. #7: Don’t make your email a single graphic. If image blocking is on, subscriber won’t see anything but a big red “X”. Also, more likely to trigger filters.

9. #8: If you're including an embedded form such as an RSVP form or survey, make sure to also provide a link to a web-based landing page alternative for readers using applications like Outlook that don't support forms.

10. #9: Embedding Flash or video in an email can cause deliverability issues. It is also likely these elements will be stripped or disabled. If you want to use rich media, use a screenshot of the media linking to the “live” version on your website.

11. #10: Email is a “scanning environment” - email newsletter subscribers spend an average of 51 seconds on each newsletter in their inbox. Bulletize key points.

12. #11: Authenticate

13. THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING For more email “best practices”: http://www.lawyercasting.com/email_marketing/ To learn more about our suite of online marketing services for law firms: www.elawmarketing.com Joshua Fruchter (866) 833-6245 [email_address]