This month, I’d like to tackle a question that many law firm owners have asked over the years:
Should your firm’s newsletter be sent by email or by direct mail?
Before we answer that question, let’s start with a more important one.
Are you sending a newsletter at all?
If not, you should be.
Newsletters remain one of the most effective ways to stay top of mind with current clients, former clients, referral sources, and members of your community. While marketing channels continue to evolve, relationship-building remains at the heart of every successful law firm marketing strategy.
Whether you create your newsletter in-house, outsource it to a marketing company, or use templates and resources available through organizations like PILMMA, the important thing is that you consistently communicate with the people who already know, like, and trust you.
Once you’ve committed to sending a newsletter, the next question becomes whether you should distribute it electronically or invest in direct mail.
While email certainly has its advantages, I believe that print newsletters for law firms continue to provide the greatest opportunity to build relationships, generate referrals, and remain visible in a crowded marketplace.
Here’s why.
Why Newsletters Remain Essential for Law Firm Marketing
Many law firms spend a tremendous amount of time and money trying to generate new leads while overlooking one of their most valuable assets: existing relationships.
Current clients, former clients, professional referral partners, and community connections can become some of your best sources of future business. The challenge is staying top of mind after the initial relationship has been established.
Newsletters help solve that problem.
A well-written newsletter allows you to:
- Stay connected with former clients
- Educate readers on legal topics
- Demonstrate your expertise
- Showcase your involvement in the community
- Highlight firm accomplishments
- Generate referrals and repeat business
The firms that consistently stay in front of their audience are often the firms people think of first when legal needs arise.
The Challenge With Email Newsletters
There is no question that email newsletters are convenient.
They’re inexpensive, easy to distribute, and can be sent to thousands of recipients with the click of a button.
Unfortunately, that’s also part of the problem.
Everyone else is doing the same thing.
Today’s consumers receive an overwhelming number of emails every day. Between work correspondence, promotional messages, subscriptions, social media notifications, and spam, inboxes have become incredibly crowded.
As a result:
- Many marketing emails never get opened.
- Spam filters prevent delivery.
- Promotional folders hide messages from view.
- Recipients quickly delete emails without reading them.
Even if you spend time creating valuable content, there’s a good chance your audience never sees it.
A newsletter cannot generate referrals or strengthen relationships if it never gets opened.
Why Print Newsletters for Law Firms Stand Out
Physical mailboxes are far less crowded than email inboxes.
When someone receives a professionally designed newsletter from your law firm, it immediately attracts more attention than another digital message competing with hundreds of others.
A printed newsletter is tangible.
People can hold it, flip through it, leave it on a desk, set it aside for later reading, or share it with someone else.
That physical presence creates a level of engagement that email often struggles to achieve.
When your firm’s newsletter arrives in someone’s mailbox, you have a much better chance of capturing their attention.
Print Newsletters Are Less Likely to Be Ignored
One of the biggest advantages of direct mail is simple: people are more likely to look at it.
Most consumers receive far less physical mail today than they did twenty years ago. Because of that, many people take at least a few moments to review what arrives in their mailbox.
For individuals who already have a relationship with your firm, that likelihood increases even more.
Current clients, former clients, and referral partners are often interested in hearing from you because they already know who you are and what your firm does.
That gives print newsletters a significant advantage over email communications that may never be seen.
Print Newsletters Help Build Stronger Relationships
Marketing is ultimately about relationships.
The stronger the relationship, the greater the likelihood of repeat business and referrals.
When you send a printed newsletter, you’re making a visible investment in your audience. You’re spending time, money, and effort to provide information directly to them.
That investment sends a message.
It demonstrates that you value the relationship enough to communicate in a more personal and meaningful way.
Many marketing experts, including Dan Kennedy, have long taught that this type of investment creates a sense of reciprocity. People recognize when someone has invested in them, and they are often more inclined to remember and support that person in return.
Whether or not you subscribe to that theory, one thing is certain: a printed newsletter feels more personal than another email arriving in an inbox.
Print Newsletters Have a Longer Shelf Life
Think about what happens when most people receive an email newsletter.
They either:
- Open it and quickly move on
- Save it with the intention of reading it later
- Delete it
- Ignore it altogether
The lifespan of most emails is measured in hours.
Printed newsletters are different.
Many recipients place them on a desk, coffee table, kitchen counter, or waiting room shelf to read later. Some keep them for days or weeks before revisiting them.
Every additional day that your newsletter remains visible is another day your firm’s name stays in front of the reader.
That extended exposure creates additional opportunities for your marketing message to make an impact.
Print Newsletters Can Reach More Than One Reader
Another overlooked advantage of print newsletters for law firms is their ability to be shared.
After reading your newsletter, a client may hand it to:
- A spouse
- A friend
- A family member
- A coworker
- A business associate
That means one newsletter can potentially reach multiple people without any additional cost to your firm.
By comparison, email newsletters are generally viewed by only one recipient.
The sharing potential of print can significantly increase your exposure within the community.
Print Gives You More Space to Educate and Connect
One principle I’ve always believed in is that educational marketing works.
The more value you provide, the more trust you build.
Print newsletters allow you to include:
- Educational legal articles
- Client success stories
- Community involvement updates
- Frequently asked questions
- Staff spotlights
- Safety tips
- Consumer information
- Firm news and announcements
Because readers often spend more focused time with printed materials, they are more likely to engage with longer content than they would in an email.
That gives you additional opportunities to educate, connect, and reinforce your firm’s expertise.
The One Major Advantage of Email Newsletters
To be fair, email newsletters do have one clear advantage.
They’re cheaper.
There is no printing expense, no postage expense, and no mailing process.
For firms with limited marketing budgets, email can still be an effective communication tool and should certainly be part of an overall marketing strategy.
However, lower cost does not automatically translate into better results.
The real question isn’t which option costs less.
The real question is which option is more likely to be seen, read, remembered, and acted upon.
For many firms, print continues to win that comparison.
Should Your Law Firm Use Print or Email Newsletters?
If your budget allows, I strongly recommend using print newsletters as part of your law firm’s marketing strategy.
Email newsletters can certainly complement your efforts, but relying exclusively on email may limit your ability to stand out and build meaningful connections.
Print newsletters for law firms help:
- Keep your firm top of mind
- Strengthen client relationships
- Generate referrals
- Increase credibility
- Deliver educational content
- Differentiate your firm from competitors
If you’re currently sending email newsletters, take a close look at your open rates and engagement metrics.
You may discover that fewer people are reading your content than you realize.
If you haven’t started sending print newsletters, now may be the perfect time to add them to your marketing plan.
Final Thoughts
Successful law firms understand that marketing doesn’t end when a case closes.
In many ways, that’s when relationship marketing begins.
Former clients and referral sources can become some of your greatest assets, but only if they continue to hear from you consistently.
While email certainly has a place in today’s marketing landscape, print newsletters continue to offer advantages that digital communication simply cannot replicate.
If your goal is to stay top of mind, build stronger relationships, and generate more referrals over time, print newsletters deserve a place in your law firm’s marketing strategy.
Creating loyal clients and referral sources may be only a few stamps away.
