Case History: LegalZoom E-zine Helps Clients Stay in Touch

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Try LegalZoom.com.

It will allow you to handle various legal issues online, and the relationship will continue long after you have solved the problem—via the firm’s e-mail newsletter. LegalZoom’s e-zine (titled, simply, LegalZoom) is sent to both purchasers and non-purchasers who have opted in on the firm’s Web site. The monthly was launched last November and initially went to 110,000 subscribers.

But the subscriber list now include the names of about 150,000 purchasers and about 550,000 “members”—those who did not make a purchase, but opted in to receive communications, according to Scott MacDonell, director of marketing. Clickthrough rates for the newsletter have been averaging between 5% and 6%, and MacDonell is pleased with the unique open rate of approximately 35% and a total open rate approaching 55%. “That’s encouraging because people are opening it more than once and coming back to read other articles,” he says.

Challenges

LegalZoom faced list challenges right from the start. The Web site was launched in 2000, and visitors have been asked since then if they would like to receive a newsletter. But due to other priorities, the e-zine was not up and running until last November.

Purchasers of LegalZoom services had since been in contact with the firm via cross sell e-mails and/or correspondence, so MacDonell knew they would recognize the LegalZoom name in their inbox. But some individuals who had not received any correspondence for some time.

“We had almost a million people that we were not communicating with,” MacDonnell says. Contacting those who may not have remembered opting in posed a challenge. The firm was worried about possible spam complaints and the need to stay below the AOL complaint threshold.

To jog memories, an e-mail was sent reminding recipients that they had subscribed to the newsletter. However, it also advised them that if they didn’t want to receive the newsletter now, this was their chance to unsubscribe. According to MacDonell, most of the opt-outs were individuals who had not had any correspondence with the company for some time. But even that mailing had to be handled carefully. “We could have sent out a million e-mails to the entire group with one blast, but I was concerned how AOL would treat it,” MacDonell says. “So we sent out different invites in 100,000 waves. That worked.” According the MacDonell, at least 200,000 names fell off the list immediately due to bad addresses. Today, there are just about 700,000 active subscribers. Yet another challenge was convincing colleagues that the e-newsletter should be soft on sales. Internally, staffers were torn between using the subscriber list to push product vs. using the newsletter for the sole purpose of staying in contact. But MacDonell was clear in his goal. “Whether subscribers buy this month is not the point,” he says. “My goal for the newsletter was to have subscribers not only remain customers but stay engaged over time. We want to keep the LegalZoom name in front of people as a trusted legal source.” Currently, the newsletter is 100 percent editorial.

Nuts and Bolts

Editorial for the newsletter is handled by two inhouse writers and a stable of five to ten freelancers. To keep content fresh, brainstorming sessions are held where legal issues are tackled and angles not covered in the mainstream press are explored.

“For example, if we’re running an article on Scott Peterson, it won’t be about his guilt or innocence,” MacDonell says. “Just as if we’re writing about legal issues, we’ll be writing about the Top Ten Craziest Laws on the books that are still there.” Topica is the newsletter’s service provider and database host. All HTML e-mail is run through the vendor, which also provides back-end reports.

To build the newsletter list, LegalZoom.com continues to have an opt-in opportunity on site pages where visitors fill out documents. In addition, it is adding opt-in opportunities on article pages for those who come through a search or a referral from a friend, allowing them the ability to sign up without a document process.

Lessons Learned

Online tracking gives MacDonell a clearer picture of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to newsletter subject lines. Previously, the e-zine had various stories in the subject line. But experience has shown him that the most effective subject lines lead with the sensational story of the day, or a list.

“What is proving not to work very well are e-newsletters with several titles in the subject line,” he says. The open rate on a recent mailing with The Next Pope, Bankruptcy Blues, and Top Scams had fallen to 20%, MacDonell adds. To get the rates back up, he plans on returning to a strong lead, possibly only one story.

“We’re testing,” he says. “By the end of 2005 we’ll have a much better picture. But I think we may want to keep the subject line short and lead with broad interest or sensational pieces.” Unique editorial seems to pump up open rates. The newsletters that ran “The Ten Craziest Laws” and “Millionaire Moms Stay At Home Moms” had “phenomenal open rates. “Once people landed on the Millionaire Moms Stay At Home Moms piece, it was also our most forwarded article,” MacDonell says. MacDonell has also learned that the best way an of keeping the e-newsletter from landing in the junk box is to provide obvious and immediate identification. That means using the LegalZoom name in the subject line as well as the from line.

And the future? MacDonell hopes that enhnaced tracking capabilities and segmentation will enable LegalZoom to customize the lead article of a newsletter to reflect reader interest. For example, if the subscriber’s request related to trademark services, the e-newsletter lead might have something to do with patent information on trademark laws. “It’s all technologically easy,” he says. “We just need to do it.”