The legal world is full of qualified experts and stellar firms. And yours is one of them. But the reality of modern-day legal practice is that it isn’t enough to simply be good at your job.
For a law firm to succeed in a crowded marketplace, it also must have a coordinated and efficient law firm marketing strategy in place.
Without one, you risk getting lost in the shuffle of law firms promoting their business. And you might consistently lose business to other firms who aren’t even as good as you.
It’s frustrating, I know. But there are several easy and distinct steps you can take to create a law firm marketing plan that will work to generate business. And more importantly, they won’t eat up your valuable time.
In this post, I put together a list of actionable steps your law firm can take to step up your marketing game, and be more competitive in your niche.
Sound interesting? Keep reading for more info!
Table of Contents
Show Your Credibility
This step will be relatively easy. After all, if you run a law firm, you’re already an authority on certain aspects of the law. But it’s not enough to simply retain this knowledge for when it’s useful.
You need to establish credibility online. This will create a sense of trust for current and future clients when they seek you out on the web.
Make sure your site has any applicable awards you’ve received. Put up positive reviews from any satisfied prior clients.
Have a section on your site where you cite relevant case studies as proof of your fluency in that area of the law.
Hone Your Messaging
It’s not enough to simply have your name, contact info, and specialty listen on your site. You need to find ways to essentially create a brand for yourself and your firm.
And the biggest component to this is making sure you are clear on what makes your firm stand out, and what you bring to the table that perhaps others don’t.
Maybe it’s a personality trait, like “Houston’s Fiercest Tax Attorney” or “Miami’s Most Caring Divorce Firm.”
Then you want to clearly state on your site why those attributes will translate into client satisfaction and happiness.
It might seem cheesy, but potential customers really do want to know they’ll be taken care of. And that impression begins the moment the click over to your site.
SEO Campaigns For Visibility
SEO campaigns are the lifeblood of internet marketing. They optimize your site so that when people search for lawyers in their area, your site ranks higher in the results.
And this is crucial, because it’s been shown that only about 25% of users ever scroll past the first page of Google search results!
Most likely this is something you’ll want to consult with an SEO company for. But if you are tech savvy, or someone in your firm is, you can easily take steps to improve your SEO.
You want to make sure there is schema (extra website code that search engines look for) that is attorney related. You also want markup and keywords in your heading, image and title tags.
Make sure your landing pages have action specific keywords like “legal advice for divorcees” and your images all have relevant keywords associated with them as well.
Run a Google AdWords Campaign
Running a Google AdWords Campaign is the modern equivalent of buying ad space in a print newspaper. But with AdWords, you can be far more targeted and precise with who sees your ads, giving you a better potential ROI.
Make sure you pick long tail keywords. Simply buying ads for “attorney” isn’t going to get you many clicks. There are too many people also using generic keywords, and you’ll get lost in the mix.
Instead use longer phrases in your Ad buy, like “San Diego Divorce Attorney Free Consult” and you’ll up your chances of people clicking through. It’s all about providing details that will make your firm more likely to show up.
You should also choose a lot of “negative keywords” to make sure your ad isn’t being shown to people outside of your scope or geographical area. Examples of this are cities and states far from where you have offices.
Utilize Video Marketing
As you can probably tell from the way you use the web, video content is more prevalent and more effective than ever. And one study showed your odds of ranking on the first page of Google are improved by 53 times if you use video.
One easy method is to have introductory videos of you and the lawyers in your firm. It will immediately garner rapport and a sense of trust with potential clients.
You can also do behind the scenes looks at your office’s inner workings, or do explainer videos on specific areas of the law that you are experts in.
And you can have customer testimonials if any previous clients will agree to speak about your firm on camera.
Utilize the Power of Newsletters and Live Chat
When anyone lands on your page, they should first be given the option of signing up for your email list.
The best way to encourage this is to give them something of value for signing up. Often it’s an e-book or legal PDF that might be useful for them to read.
And you should be regularly sending out newsletters to your mailing list. It helps keep you at the top of people’s minds, especially when they happen to be on the hunt for legal services.
It also shows you’re keeping tabs on the latest in the legal world, and it’s another way to show you are an authority in your area of legal expertise.
Communication is key when it comes to good law firm marketing. You should also add live-chat to your site so that when people visit, they can ask direct questions.
It adds immediacy to your site, which can help turn casual questions into genuine leads. It also means your office essentially never closes.
Law Firm Marketing In the Modern Age
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to law firm marketing, but they are solid, actionable steps you can take right away.
For some more tips, check out this blog post on marketing for lawyers!
