Ben Thomson* Marketing is crucial for law firms looking to attract clients and establish a strong online presence.
At LawFuel we know that only too well as an increasing number of law firms write about Google’s changing algorithms and the changing quicksand of the Internet.
Yet, in a crowded and competitive market, effective marketing can set a law firm apart and lead to increased revenue despite all those issues.
The benefits of marketing are obvious – good marketing creates new business and builds your law firm brand.
The Benefits of Marketing for Law Firms
One of the primary benefits of marketing for law firms is increased visibility and credibility.
Effective marketing strategies can help a law firm get noticed by potential clients and establish trust and authority in the industry.
And it creates new clients – the ‘legal lifeblood’.
7 Key Lawyer Marketing Tactics
Set Your Budget
Your marketing budget and how it is set is one of the keys to developing a great marketing plan. A well-planned budget can make all the difference to your success in the lawyer marketing game.
To figure out how much you need to invest in your law firm’s marketing initiatives, you first need to identify your goals.
Once you have a clear idea of your goals, determine how much revenue you need to generate to make those goals a reality.
Next, take a look at how many cases you need to bill per year to meet your revenue goal. Keep in mind that this number will vary depending on your practice area.
After you’ve done this initial groundwork, you’ll be able to figure out your overall marketing budget for your law firm. It’s important to take into account the stage of your firm and the level of competition in your space.
For instance, if you’re a business attorney trying to build a client base in a highly competitive city like New York, you may need to allocate more funds to marketing than if you’re the only family lawyer in Takoma.
Obvious, right? (But regrettably not to everyone. We know of many small law firms that just went gangbusters on the expenditure, but hadn’t done their budgeting properly).
It’s also important to remember that law firm marketing techniques may be part of your overall marketing strategy.
Legal Tech – Legal tech software and devices are emerging almost daily and many can make your marketing efforts easier and cheaper.
Make sure to factor those potential costs into your budget. For example, you may need content marketing solutions like HubSpot, or individual apps for SEO, social media scheduling, or email campaigns.
Once you’ve created your law firm marketing budget, it’s crucial to stick to it. Remember, getting more cases won’t help your firm grow if you’re overspending and not keeping an eye on the bottom line.
By staying within your budget, you can set your firm up for success and long-term growth.
Have a Good Law Website
It may seem obvious, but having a well-designed and top-performing website is crucial in the digital age when most new clients are using the Net to find the right lawyer.
Yet that basic fact is often overlooked by lawyers who fail to update or build a site that is well designed and functional.
Over one-third of users will use the Internet to find a lawyer (Clio report).
It’s crucial to make a great first impression on website visitors who are looking to hire a lawyer.
Some of the basics in good website design are to have quality photographs and a great law firm logo.
This will help to establish your brand and make your website look more professional.
It’s also important to clearly and concisely state the services you provide and the practice areas you cover.
>> See The Ultimate Guide to Good Law Firm SEO
This helps visitors quickly understand if you’re the right fit for their needs. Additionally, be sure to highlight any awards, recognitions, public or pro bono work that your firm has done – which will help build trust and credibility.
Contact Info – And, of course, make sure your contact information is prominently displayed so visitors can easily get in touch with you.
If you already have a website, or are thinking of building one, you’ll definitely want to check out our law firm SEO report for lawyers that covers the best practices when it comes to website optimization and website design.
Call to Action – Don’t overlook things like having a clear call-to-action, making your website mobile-friendly, and optimizing your website for search engines. By following this checklist, you can create a website that will help your law firm stand out and attract more clients.
Know Your Legal Audience
Knowing your target audience is key to achieving success.
Unless you know where you’re going, how do you get there?
So do your research and some hard thinking. Mostly, it will not be difficult to determine the sort of audience you’re looking to gain.
If you’re a proper lawyer working in Phoenix AZ you will doubtless focus on those involved in, or seeking to be involved in property issues in that city.
But if you’re a larger law firm handling a range of different work then you will be directing your efforts on different levels, as well as different practice areas and geographical areas.
The focus will be quite different and more granulated.
So do your homework. Know exactly who you are targeting.
Think about them and what they need to know – or want to know – when you write content on your site.
Deploy Great SEO
Build Your Law Firm’s Social Media Profile
Okay, so you’re not Kim Kardashian – nor do you want to be.
But social media plays a critical role in marketing your law firm.
You just need to know where to direct your efforts.
To expand your client base through digital marketing, it’s crucial to target your audience where they spend most of their time – on social media.
With countless social media platforms available, it’s important to identify the ones that best align with your law firm’s specialty and objectives. With a well-planned strategy and investment, social media marketing can significantly contribute to the growth of your law firm.
Here are a few effective ways to incorporate social media into your law firm’s marketing approach:
Engage in thoughtful discussions with legal influencers on Twitter.
Set up an exclusive LinkedIn page for your law firm. It’s important to ensure that your professional profile is distinct from your personal one, which should also be optimized to distinguish yourself from peers and attract potential clients.
Design a Facebook advertising campaign to establish your authority in your field and attract new clients.
You can acquire insights into acquiring new clients by exploring various strategies and techniques.
Be sure to abide by the ethical and advertising regulations of your law firm’s jurisdiction. This means avoiding terms like “specialist” or “expert” unless officially certified as such and maintaining appropriate boundaries with clients to avoid any ethical lapses.
Use Smart Content Marketing
Utilize your talent for writing to market your law firm through great content marketing.
You can check our (great) content marketing tips, but we believe that quality content through blogging and articles is the best way to build y our brand and your expertise.
Creating content is an effective method to exhibit your knowledge in a particular area.
By providing practical solutions to common queries that potential clients may have, you can establish trust and confidence with them.
Demonstrating your authority in a specific area increases the likelihood of clients hiring you.
If you opt to begin a blog, take a strategic approach and focus on evergreen legal topics for your content marketing.
Ensure that your content has a defined direction, adhere to a consistent schedule, and provide valuable information without giving specific legal advice.
To further explore the benefits of blogging for lawyers, refer to our comprehensive guides on starting a legal blog and mastering persuasive legal writing.
Track Your Results
Monitoring your marketing results is crucial.
By knowing how successful – or unsuccessful – your efforts are will guide you toward scaling up your marketing efforts and achieving greater results.
Use tracking tools and software to monitor your law marketing efforts.
Handling split tests, using Google Analytics and seeing what your uptake is for different campaigns or marketing efforts will help you focus your efforts on the marketing results that work.
Top content will always help build your law firm brand, but using good tools to see how the content and any advertising is performing will also make sure the effort and bucks you spend will result in positive returns.
Questions on Lawyer Marketing
Have a question about legal marketing? Or want to build your content marketing for your law firm?
Let us know in the comments (below) ort email us at lawfuel@gmail.com and we can have a specialist let you know how best to market your firm using powerful content strategies.
Author:
Ben Thomson writes on law firm and legal marketing software and developments. He may be contacted at webtrafficrules@gmail.com. He last wrote ‘Who Made The Cut As The Best Entertainment Law Firms’ for LawFuel.
