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What Apple’s New Privacy Settings Mean for Your Analytics This summer, Apple announced it is doubling down on privacy in its 2021 iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac updates. This change is a big deal for anyone who uses email marketing. Why? Well, after the updates, people with Apple Mail will have a LOT more power. They’ll be able to kill your ability to track their open rates and IP addresses with just a few clicks. IS EMAIL MARKETING DEAD?
There’s a huge movement around privacy right now. Apple’s new Mail Privacy Protection feature is just the beginning. My guess is that it won’t be long before other email platforms like Outlook and maybe even Google follow suit, making email marketing harder. I’m still wrapping my head around the full implications of the IP address piece of Apple’s announcement. But from what I know so far, if you have a lot of Apple Mail users on your email list and they enable this new feature …
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You won’t know who opens your emails. You won’t be able to accurately track open rates. You won’t be able to tie follow-up emails to opened/unopened status. Your email-based A/B testing won’t work anymore. You won’t be able to use tracking pixels to gather data. You won’t be able to use IP addresses to track user behavior after opening emails. And to add insult to injury, you may not be able to track click-through rates or retarget ads accurately.
“Apple’s new Mail Privacy Protection feature is just the beginning. My guess is that it won’t be long before other email platforms like Outlook and maybe even Google follow suit, making email marketing harder.”
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So, what can you do to adapt? How can you track the effectiveness of your email marketing now? In my view, the biggest tool in your arsenal is the landing page. Click-through and open rates may be out of your control, but you can still make sure your emails direct readers to landing pages decked out with analytics. You can set these up yourself, or create them with Leadpages or Unbounce. Even the Google Analytics on your website will do the trick.
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To really take this tactic to the next level, create a dedicated landing page for your email marketing (or ask us to create one for you). That way you’ll know exactly how many leads your email marketing generates, because they’ll all come from that same page. At this point, you might be wondering whether email marketing is even worth it any more. Are those extra steps worth the hassle? How many more “updates” should you roll with before you give up? To find out my take, turn to Pg. 3.
Are you freaking out yet?
To navigate this new reality, you need to accept that any email marketing you do based on open rates just got a lot more difficult. The old rules don’t apply any more, especially if a large percentage of your email list uses Apple Mail. (If you don’t send emails to many Apple Mail users you might be able to ride this privacy protection wave out a little bit longer. But like I said, I think these updates are going to make their way to other email platforms any day.)
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Along with our amazing Operations staff that delivers great service and executes our marketing strategy for our clients, we also have a fantastic sales team. That really stuck out to Katrina Zafiro of Zafiro Law. She took things at her own pace but never felt bombarded with sales calls or high- pressure emails like she had experienced with other companies. “I appreciated their no-pressure and transparent approach to selling their services,” says Katrina. “From the very start, they were clear about the price of their services, and there were no additional hidden costs attached to my account once I signed up.” Now that Katrina has been with us for a few years, she’s even happier with her experience from Day 1. In the past, Katrina worked with several companies and saw minimal results. Since working with Spotlight Branding, the results have consistently increased. She has more than doubled her caseload and hired two full-time staff members. Success Story: Zafiro Law How a Pressure-Free Sales Approach Has Led to a Long Relationship
WANT MORE REFERRALS AND BETTER CLIENTS? Visit SpotlightBranding.com/NL to schedule a call!
LESSONS IN INNOVATION FROM HENRY FORD Reignite Your Passion
As entrepreneurs scale their businesses, there is a lot to focus on: hiring the right staff, creating the most effective marketing strategies, and setting up efficient operations. With so much to do, it’s easy to lose sight of your initial vision for your company. If you’re stuck in a rut, know that you’re not alone. Plenty of the most successful entrepreneurs have endured the same struggles and, with a little ambition and a lot of creativity, came out on top. Take Henry Ford, for example. Henry Ford made the automobile accessible and appealing for the common citizen. This ignited interest in the market from consumers and manufacturers alike, which led to innovations like air conditioning and other appliances we can’t imagine living without today. There were some key factors that
played into his success, and if you apply them to your own journey, you could gain a new perspective and be inspired to create and innovate in your industry. CONSUMER-FOCUSED Ford realized cars were unreliable and unaffordable to most and set out to change that. After developing the first moving assembly line, Ford lowered the price of cars and made them accessible for people outside the upper class for the first time. As long as you keep the consumer and their needs in mind, you’ll find ways to make their experience better and increase your success. SMALL CHANGES, BIG IMPACT Unlike many companies today who sacrifice quality for quantity, Ford found ways to focus
on both. He looked at how cars were actually made and found that, if he could build more cars within a certain time frame, he could pay less per car, per worker. Thus, the moving assembly line was born. When looking for ways to innovate in your industry, rethinking even the smallest, simplest details can make a huge difference for your business. You may not be able to reinvent the wheel, but who said you couldn’t reinvent the brake pads? Henry Ford may have changed the automobile industry forever, but you don’t have to go to such lengths to innovate in your own. The next time you find yourself uninspired or stagnant, look to those who made your industry what it is today. You might just find the inspiration you’ve been searching for.
More Referrals. Better Clients . Higher ROI.
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YES, EMAIL MARKETING STILL WORKS! 3 REASONS TO KEEP EMAILING CLIENTS DESPITE THE APPLE SETBACKS
You’ve done it — you’ve turned to Pg. 3, just like Marc asked you to on Pg. 1! Now we’ll answer that key question: Considering Apple’s new privacy updates, is email marketing even worth it anymore? Here at Spotlight Branding, our answer is “Hell, yes!” We’ve said for years that email analytics are overrated. Why? Well, because while knowing your open rate and click-through rates can be helpful, the No. 1 benefit of an email marketing campaign isn’t the data it gives you. It’s the valuable content it provides to your email list. This content educates your readers, positions you as the expert, and keeps your firm top of mind. Ideally, the people on your list will open your emails to get the full impact of that content, but in truth, open rates matter less than you think. Your email marketing will still make a significant impact and bring you referrals and repeat business even if no one ever opens those emails . Just seeing your firm’s name and a subject line related to your practice area is enough to build your brand, remind people of what you do, and make a referral or repeat business more likely. Plus, everyone has email! And they’re probably more willing to hand over their email
address than their phone number. This makes email just as valuable as the new, shiny strategy of text-message marketing. You’ll get better results if you use both.
To put it succinctly, there are three reasons to keep emailing your clients, prospects, and referral partners even if email analytics go to the dogs.
1. Content matters more than open rates. 2. Even unopened emails make an impact. 3. Email is a reliable, universal way to stay in touch.
Email may not be sexy or exciting, but it’s a tried-and-true marketing strategy that’s not going anywhere, and if it’s working for you today, it will still work just as well after the Apple update, even if you can’t track its impact.
To learn more about the power of email marketing, reach out to our team at SpotlightBranding.com/NL.
RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
FEATURED EPISODE From Our Newest Podcast, Center Stage
Never Forget a Follow-Up Again! Boomerang Keeps Your Emails Organized
Following up with all of your clients and colleagues can easily become a mess. How do you consistently remind yourself to follow up on an email if you haven’t heard back yet, especially before it’s too late? Boomerang solves this problem and more!
If you’re looking for more great resources to drive your business forward, take a look at this episode from our newest podcast, Center Stage .
024 – “ How to Generate Referrals Without Asking With Stacey Brown Randall”
We practice “zero inbox” here at the office, which means we always do our best to start and end the day with an empty email inbox. And while that may sound like a pipe dream, Boomerang allows us to make that happen. This low-cost app allows you to schedule reminders for yourself — Boomerang will return a sent email to your inbox after a specified time if you don’t hear back. It also allows you to simply return emails at a later date if you don’t want to address them at that particular moment. With Boomerang, our team now stays on top of their tasks and service approvals from clients with more dedicated follow-up, AND our inbox stays clean. This helps us be more productive and efficient, while providing us with that little mental health boost of a clean inbox. Learn more at BoomerangGmail.com.
Referrals are a huge part of a lawyer’s business, but many struggle with generating a good amount to help them grow. Stacey Brown Randall learned about the power of referrals the hard way and has now built her life around helping business owners generate more referrals, and do so without even having to ask! If you want more referrals, better clients, and higher ROI on all your marketing, call us today at 800-406-7229 to schedule a consultation!
Listen to this episode and find even more at SpotlightBranding.com/centerstage and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or over a dozen other platforms!
Want more tools for your law firm? Visit SpotlightBranding.com/rotm
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THIS ISSUE INSIDE 1
Apple’s New Privacy Settings Are Changing Email Marketing
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Success Story: Zafiro Law
How Henry Ford Innovated His Industry
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3 Reasons Why Sending Emails Isn’t Pointless
Resource of the Month: Boomerang
The Latest from Center Stage
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The Easy Way to Boost Your Team’s Efficiency
5 Do’s and Don’ts of Effective Task Management The Easy Way to Boost Your Team’s Efficiency
DO: Choose a firm-wide task management platform. It could be a software platform or a whiteboard setup — just make sure your whole team is on board. DON’T: Allow the use of multiple task management platforms. DO: Define what qualifies as a task. You can do this based on the time the project takes, its importance, or another metric. DON’T: Leave the term “task” undefined. If you do, your paralegal may feel like they accomplished 10 “tasks” when you think they’ve only done two. DO: Turn emails into tasks if needed. You can apply this to all emails, or only those that will require an action or an investment of time (e.g., 15 minutes or more). DON’T: Use your email inbox as a to-do list. This leads to scattered thinking if you already have a to-do list elsewhere.
Has your law firm established best practices for task management? If not, you could be falling victim to one of the most common mistakes law firm owners make: task anarchy. Marc sees this all the time when he consults with firms on boosting their efficiency, productivity, and revenue. “One person is using Clio, one is using pen and paper, and another is using Google Docs,” he says. “This is a recipe for disaster, because it makes it impossible for law firm owners to track and check in on their team’s work. Plus, no one knows how much they’re getting done!” Investing in task management software like Clio, PracticePanther, or Rocket Matter will help you set your team up for success, create more transparency, and boost your productivity and efficiency. Here are just a few task management Do’s and Don’ts to live by.
DO: Set hard deadlines and adjust them as needed. This will help your team stay on track. DON’T: Allow free-floating tasks. DO: Use your task manager to track productivity. You AND your team will have peace of mind because you will all be on the same page. DON’T: Make assumptions about your team’s productivity. This is inevitable without a task manager in place and makes it impossible to identify bottlenecks or increase efficiency. Note: Management does not mean micromanagement. As you implement these tasking tips, don’t forget to give your team autonomy, too!
More Referrals. Better Clients . Higher ROI.
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