I see the same mistake almost every time a firm starts email marketing
When a firm decides to start email marketing, it usually goes one of two ways. They start sending from the firm email, or they switch on the mass-email feature in their CRM.
Either way, it all goes out from their main domain. And that is the mistake.
The gist
Most firms send their first campaigns straight from their main domain.
When something goes wrong early, and it usually does, that domain's reputation drops.
Then you can't even reach your regular clients, let alone run your marketing.
Why this is the number one mistake
Your main domain is your firm's real email. It is how you reach clients, the court, and opposing counsel. It has a clean reputation because you only ever send normal, wanted email from it.
Then you push a few hundred marketing emails through it overnight. Now you look like a brand-new bulk sender, and new senders almost always trip spam filters at first. Most firms do. A few complaints, a batch of dead addresses, and the reputation takes a hit.
The bottom line: Your main domain runs the firm. Your sending domain runs the marketing. Never send marketing from the one your firm runs on.
The part that catches people off guard
It is not just your marketing that suffers. Once that domain's reputation drops, your normal email starts landing in spam too.
So you sit there wondering why you can't even reach your regular clients, let alone send a newsletter. And you usually find out the worst way, when a client says they never got your email.
What to do instead
If you are just starting, do not send from your main domain. Get a separate one and take the time to warm it up properly. That last part is the part most people skip.
Use a separate sending domain. A subdomain like news.yourfirm.com, or a domain adjacent to your main one. Your real domain stays clean.
Authenticate it. Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC so the inbox providers trust it.
Warm it up slowly. Do not rush it. Start with your most engaged clients and build the volume over a few weeks.
Do this week
Set up a separate sending domain, a subdomain or one adjacent to your main domain. Not your main one.
Add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Send your first email to a small group of recent, engaged clients, then grow from there.
Email marketing is absolutely worth it. Just do not start it by putting your firm's real email at risk. Separate domain, warmed up slowly, and you are set.
Reply and tell me how your firm sends email. I'll tell you the first thing to fix.
Talk soon,
Howard
P.S. Already been sending from your main domain? Move your marketing to a separate domain now. The sooner you split them, the sooner your main one recovers.