Attracting personal injury clients in today's competitive legal landscape requires a strategic approach that combines traditional marketing techniques with modern digital tactics. With countless law firms vying for the attention of potential clients, how do you stand out and effectively communicate your expertise?
In this blog, we'll explore 28 proven tactics that can help you attract more personal injury clients, enhance your visibility, and establish your firm as a trusted resource for individuals seeking legal representation. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refresh your current marketing strategy, these actionable insights will set you on the path to success.
1. Website Design
Having a website is a critical foundation for any law firm marketing strategy in 2024. It serves as a hub for brand awareness, thought leadership, and a primary point of conversion. Making the most of the website is both a challenge and a desired goal for personal injury law firms and other businesses.
- Microsites: developing a niche-specific site; horizontal and vertical specialization tend to work best here. Here’s an example of a successful microsite (pictured below).
- A/B split-test landing pages: it’s particularly important for strong PPC strategies; you can use a tool like Unbounce for easy landing page creation.
- CMS (Content Management System)
- WordPress: our preferred/recommended CMS; WordPress is high-powered, easily customized, and well-supported.
- Justia: Justia has a proprietary platform for website design, which can be an easy way to enter the market. Read our full review of Justia's marketing services here.
- FindLaw: FindLaw also has a proprietary platform; we tend to dissuade clients from using FindLaw marketing services (but do recommend their directory in some situations).
- Scorpion: The design aesthetic of Scorpion's websites is better than the competition, and they offer some unique advantages, such as dynamic landing pages, that set them apart.
- Live chat: Live chat provides another conversion outlet, through which clients can easily access your personal injury law firm. Apex Chat has legal-specific chat solutions; if you’re looking to staff your own live support, check out Intercom and Drift.
- Speed up your site: Use a tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom to get a baseline figure. Once you have that, consider a CDN (like Cloudflare), image compression (such as WPSmushIt), or code compression (Autoptimize, for example).
2. Mobile Marketing
According to a recent study, mobile usage comprises nearly 60% of all site visits on the web. For obvious reasons, websites can no longer delay having a mobile-friendly site. In fact, a mobile-first design is preferable in most situations.
Mobile Apps
Many personal injury law firms (such as New York’s Andrews, Bernstein, Maranto, & Nicotra, PLLC) produce their own mobile apps (downloadable from the Apple App Store or Google Play). Common features include basic safety features, such as easy dialing for emergency services, automated searches for local hospitals, and emergency contact notification, as well as easy access to the firm itself.
Google Ads (Call Only)
Call-only advertising is a form of advertising in which you are charged only by the call rather than by the click. Be careful to make sure that your negative keywords are thoroughly optimized, specifically ad phrases like “free,” “car repair,” “vehicle repair,” “not injured,” etc.
3. SEO
With over 51% of all website traffic coming from organic search, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is more relevant than ever. Read our comprehensive guide to Law Firm SEO here.
Local SEO
Appearing in the Google search 3-pack (some of the best virtual real estate) is all about relevance (utilizing your category, content, and keywords properly), distance (proximity to the searcher), and prominence (derived from factors such as links, content, directories, images, reviews, etc.).
Citations
You can receive assistance with citations from such popular tools and services as BrightLocal, WhiteSpark, and Yext.
File DBA
Technically, it’s against Google’s terms of service to include a keyword in your business name. However, some firms are taking notice of a grey area: including a keyword within your legally filed DBA seems to be within acceptable limits. Examples: Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C., Michigan Auto Law, Philly Slip and Fall Guys, and AA Accident Attorneys, among many others.
Reviews
Tools like Podium, GatherUp, and BirdEye assist with review outreach. For the greatest likelihood of success, it’s also best practice to ask at the “point of delight” (that is, in person).
Celebrity Endorsements
Simply put, consumers want to work with businesses that they associate with celebrities. Firms such as West Coast Trial Lawyers and Benson & Bingham do a great job of showcasing their connections to fame.
Superlative Keyword Rankings
In order to rank for superlative-based keyword phrases (such as “best car accident lawyer,” “top auto accident attorney,” etc.), you need to have a high Google review rating. Consider this: would you expect a 1-star restaurant to show up in a search for “best restaurants near me”?
Likewise, it’s critical that you maintain a high rating, as it enables ranking for superlatives and carries a higher likelihood of conversions.
Prominence
Reviews on third-party sites (such as Yelp, BBB, and Facebook) all contribute to prominence in Google’s eyes. BBB even allows for somewhat anonymous reviews (whole first name, last name initial).
Google Images
Google Images also contribute to prominence. With this emphasis on imagery, a Google-certified photographer is a good option. It also legitimizes your office space for local maps.
One of the most important aspects of local search is the proximity to the consumer (read: searcher). There have been numerous studies that show the importance of distance as a factor for local search engine optimization. As you add office locations, you cast a wider net for local search and increase the likelihood that a potential client is in your immediate vicinity. This is particularly important in larger metros, such as Chicago or Los Angeles.
Directories
Local website directories are frequently mentioned as a ranking factor for local search. Some directories (e.g., FindLaw, Avvo, Justia, Yelp) can act as a direct lead source, due to their ranking position. We have found them to be an important tool for an overall organic SEO strategy.
Here’s a list of some of the best free and paid lawyer directories.
Content Marketing
Content is king: it gives you opportunities to be seen in search. That said, content (on its own) is not as effective as when it’s paired with a comprehensive editorial outreach and link-building strategy.
Current event-based content (e.g., “Two Injured on Highway 51” or “Paul Walker Killed in Car Crash” type of articles) is the least effective form of content marketing. The primary reason for this is the search intent is predominantly for searchers looking for information, not to hire an attorney.
However, it can be a strategy to generate link bait, and that’s not wholly without value. Just be careful when utilizing this approach so that you don’t go overboard: you can end up with a lot of dead-weight pages that don’t provide long-term value (and deplete your overall backlink equity).
The post highlighted above covers a topic (and ranks for a phrase) that won’t bring in qualified visitors looking for an attorney. It will however generate link activity.The post highlighted above covers a topic (and ranks for a phrase) that won’t bring in qualified visitors looking for an attorney. However, it will generate link activity.
Blogging
This is a very effective strategy for content generation, as it has been for some time now. It works best when combined with content hubs that use a pillar/cluster style of linking strategy, which drives a consumer to a direct intent (“hire a personal injury lawyer”) practice area page.
Practice Area Page Content
These pages (e.g., “Chicago Car Accident Lawyer,” “Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer,” “Chicago Workers Compensation Lawyer,” etc.) are critical: when searched, they are more likely to attract a searcher with substantially higher purchase intent. Simply put, these “bottom of the funnel” pages are the bedrock of your website.
Legal Q&A
Answering common legal questions (“Do I need to hire a personal injury lawyer?”) from consumers can be an excellent source of blog topics. These kinds of questions tend to be evergreen (as individual consumers may be hitting on a common situation), which is a tremendous value for you as a content writer. They also can function to work a consumer down the funnel, ending with them eventually hiring you.
HARO
Help a Reporter Out is an excellent option for an inbound link building strategy. It helps you showcase your expertise, while at the same time, generating backlinks by acting as a source for reporters in articles relevant to your practice.
Legal Roundup
A legal roundup can be a strong content generation strategy and a method of obtaining niche-specific links. You ask non-competing personal injury lawyers to contribute to a discussion on a topic (such as “When do you need to hire a car accident lawyer?“), which produces phenomenal content from a panel of experts rather than a single source.
4. Social Media
Social media sometimes has a negative connotation, particularly as it pertains to marketing efforts. You’ll often hear how sporadic social media marketing efforts can produce results and qualified leads. However, with the right approach, it can make a valuable asset to your marketing strategy.
5. Pay-Per-Click
With a strong knowledge of how the PPC(pay-per-click) funnel works, PPC is one of the fastest methods of direct marketing. For personal injury marketing, that speed can carry a very high price tag. With Google Adwords’s CPC (cost-per-click) ranging well over the $100+ threshold, it’s particularly important to measure the analytics and ROI. That is, be careful to ensure that your case acquisition numbers match up to the cost that you’re paying to acquire them through PPC. Any PPC strategy should also be combined with a CRO (conversion rate optimization) strategy for maximum effectiveness.
Google Ads (formerly AdWords)
Google holds the lion’s share of search traffic in this area. While it’s not technically PPC, personal injury attorneys may be successful with a pay-per-call (mobile call only) strategy (that is, instead of paying per click, you pay per call). Disruptive Advertising and Legal Marketing Arm both specialize in PPC.
Bing Ads
Bings ads are often underrated, due to having a lower consumer usage than Google. Having said that, there’s a distinct advantage to using Bing: with fewer competitors, the CPC is typically smaller for these direct intent keyword phrases. While the number of searches is limited, it still provides a strong value through the lower CPC. You can also easily import your Google Ads campaigns directly into Bing’s interface.
Yelp Ads
In some geographies, the Yelp directory ranks very well organically. It can be an option for advertising, but again, be cautious: the targeting is not as narrow and focused as some other options.
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads have a massive presence, but their CPC is substantially lower than Google Adwords. As mentioned previously, retargeting is a very worthwhile investment.
LinkedIn ads
With LinkedIn advertising, it’s important to leverage the platform’s unique strengths. LinkedIn allows you to target a job role, so you’re able to more accurately zero in on your ideal clients. For example, if you specialize in worker’s compensation or construction accident cases, you could display ads specifically for construction workers.
Instagram Ads
Instagram is a powerful platform with growing ads. The native ads are particularly effective here, as they don’t distinctly appear to be ads. When done properly, they seamlessly mesh into a user’s feed.
6. Premium Placement Directories
There are some websites that represent an amazing organic presence in search results. The space that they occupy can’t be ignored. Like PPC, premium placement directories can give you instant visibility, as they’re already ranking for the core terms that your ideal personal injury clients are typing into search engines.
As with any strategic investment, you need to do your due diligence and be sure that the price (in this case, of the monthly subscription) is warranted by the analytics.
Premium legal directories like Avvo, Super Lawyers, FindLaw, and Justia often rank on the first page of Google search results for popular keyword phrases.Avvo
Before investing in Avvo-sponsored ads, do your best to obtain a 10/10 rating. This requires a fully optimized profile and, in many cases, numerous peer endorsements. Sadly, links on individual Avvo attorney profiles are no longer "dofollow" (i.e., pass link equity), so they aren’t as strong of an SEO play as they once were. Consequently, the value of the attorney profiles is somewhat reduced.
FindLaw
We’ve recently written a review of FindLaw services, but the short version is this: their premium directories can be a worthwhile investment, but steer clear of their professional marketing services.
Justia
As with FindLaw, we’ve recently produced a comprehensive review of Justia’s offerings with input from actual users. That said, the review doesn’t provide an in-depth analysis of their sponsored ads. In some geographic locales, Justia does rank well and thus, their sponsored ads can be a worthwhile investment. As always, due diligence and proper research is a must.
7. Geofencing
Geofencing is a marketing technique in which you drop a GPS pin that creates a virtual “fence” in a specific geographic radius. Those who tout the strength of geofencing say that it’s most effective in proximity to hospitals.
8. Re-Targeting
Re-targeting (also known as re-marketing) occurs when a consumer visits your website and gets a cookie (a piece of software, stored in their browser cache), which triggers ads from a corresponding advertiser when the user goes to other sites on the web.
This can be effective because most consumers don’t make a purchase on their first visit. Reinforcing the value of your brand can help them make a decision.
The following social media and paid ad platforms offer re-targeting features.
- Facebook
- LinkedIn
- Google Ads
- Bing Re-marketing
9. Email Marketing
Email remains one of the most effective ways to promote your business to consumers. Personal injury attorneys face some unique challenges with an email marketing strategy, however, in that consumers are looking for your services in the days or hours immediately following an accident.
Due to this, a broadcast/newsletter-style approach (that functions as a branding/top-of-mind strategy) can be particularly effective.
You can’t know when a client may need your help, so you can only do your best to ensure that your personal injury law firm is the one that comes to mind when legal representation is warranted.
Funnel-based marketing
This approach utilizes logic-based scenarios, where the information that you receive is based on the actions that you take. Consequently, this method offers more personalized targeting. These are the market-leading platforms for funnel-based marketing:
10. Video
There’s a huge opportunity for video production, as YouTube is now the second-largest search engine. YouTube ads are low-cost, ubiquitous, and can help your on-page signals for SEO rankings. They also help you more effectively communicate an idea in some situations. This is especially relevant for personal injury attorneys, where the particulars of cases are both emotionally resonant and heavy on legalese.
Lastly, they’re phenomenal for developing a sort of “virtual rapport.” Consumers want to work with a person that they know, like, and trust; being able to see and hear you helps with that aspect.
11. Podcasts
Podcasts, once a niche hobby, are increasingly popular and relevant, mostly due to their accessibility through mobile devices. They allow you to act as a thought leader and make marketing collaboration more seamless.
They’re also a great method of establishing referral relationships. Lastly, podcasts are a very underrated link-building strategy: typically, podcast owners transcribe interviews and post them on their website with a link to yours.
In this way, the podcast acts as a barrier of entry (meaning, you can replicate directory submissions very easily, but it’s harder to obtain a link on a podcast’s site without also being interviewed there) for your competition.
12. Banner ads
In some situations (i.e., on sites with very large audiences), banner ads can be a low-cost method for generating a lot of top-of-mind brand awareness. They are the digital version of a roadside billboard, passively advertising your personal injury law firm to all who “drive” by it.
13. Referral
Many successful personal injury law firms generate a high number of leads through referrals. There are strategies that you can employ to expand your opportunities for referrals, but even with the best networking and referral strategies, they frequently aren’t a dependable, standalone lead generation stream. It also goes without saying that your margins will be impacted by a referral system, as they typically involve a commission. Legal case management software can be incredibly helpful when managing referral relationships. You can identify who your best referral partners are and nurture those relationships.
Peer-Based Referrals
Becoming a known quantity (by speaking at bar association events, on marketing panels, through personal reputation brand building, mastermind groups, etc.) is the first step in a referral-based strategy. Individuals simply prefer to do business with those that they know, like, and trust, so establishing a personal brand is essential in a peer-based referral strategy.
Specializing in a particular type of personal injury claim (e.g., semi-truck accident litigation, traumatic brain injuries, etc.) is also advantageous because any time a peer has a good case to refer, they’ll want to feel confident in the referral partner's ability to perform. This affects not only their reputation but also their financial return.
Client-Based Referrals
When it comes to personal injury law, you can’t predict when an individual will need your services. However, you can put yourself in a position (through top-of-mind awareness) to best take advantage when those situations do occur. Small things (such as a monthly newsletter) can continually nurture your top-of-mind position with personal injury clients, making them more likely to seek you out again in the future or refer a friend or family member to you.
Build Your Tribe
Every individual has a personal tribe, if you will: friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. By expanding your sphere of influence through these connections, you may also find the tertiary benefit of increasing referrals.
14. Community Involvement
Involvement in one’s local community has broad marketing applications, but those go beyond referral strategies. Outreach like this can facilitate SEO and/or media-based opportunities.
Sponsorships
While great for your personal brand, they can also help your SEO, if they carry a sponsored website listing. Examples of common sponsorships are athletic events, Little League teams, town/county fairs, concerts, and fundraisers (such as 5Ks).
In the recent past, scholarship campaigns were a very powerful SEO strategy, leveraging the power of .edu backlinks. We laid out this step-by-step strategy in an article here. That said, John Mueller has publicly stated that Google devalues .edu links in the present day (not to mention that financial aid pages are inundated with scholarship offers, thus diluting the authority of the link). Currently, the best scholarship strategy is one that is at the local level, where the primary value is community branding and word-of-mouth and less about link acquisition.
Scholarship campaigns can still work when implemented correctly (that is, with a unique angle, such as video or infographic submissions or targeting specific interest groups, such as veterans).
Volunteer Work
In addition to personal fulfillment and satisfaction, volunteer work can be a great opportunity to build your personal brand.
Group Associations
Participating in chambers of commerce and other local business associations can open channels of communication with many non-law firm businesses that can provide client referrals to you.
Scholar-Athlete Programs
These can be a great strategy for getting in front of a local audience, as you’re highlighting your appreciation for students who excel in two areas of their scholastic life. Meldon Law does a phenomenal job with this approach.
Unsung Hero Awards
Community-/local-based awards such as these highlight impactful members of the community who may otherwise go unnoticed. The Houston-based HUG (Houston’s Unsung Greats), for example, is designed “to recognize and encourage the greatness all over Houston.”
15. Professional Development Programs
Ongoing improvement and growth are essential for any personal injury practice. These organizations can help you improve the profitability of your law firm (increase intake, expand marketing, refine hiring processes, and other obstacles that personal injury law firm owners may encounter).
16. Outdoor Visuals
Outdoor visuals typically generate top-of-mind brand awareness. It’s not direct marketing, per se, but it does reinforce your brand when an incident occurs. The classic archetype for outdoor visuals is a billboard on the interstate.
- Billboards
- Vehicle Wraps
- Bench ads
- Bus stop ads
Outdoor advertising gets a bad rap these days, but we think that it's an underrated and overlooked marketing tactic. As other personal injury lawyers flock to shiny new tactics, the price gets cheaper, and you can take up more real estate.
17. Speaking Engagements
Speaking engagements have numerous advantages. They instantly create an air of authority about the speaker, which leads to immediate credibility and referral opportunities.
They also come with tertiary benefits, such as links on websites (through mentions of the panel), collateral for social proof, and general networking. This is all in addition to the fact that many speaking engagements are themselves paying gigs.
18. Phone Number Marketing
All phone numbers aren’t treated the same. While technological changes are making voice calls less relevant than in previous decades, they are still a crucial method of client advertising and intake.
- Memorable Numbers: A frequent issue when it comes to traditional marketing is the improper use of phone numbers. It’s best to keep it simple (e.g., Schultz & Myers’ 314-444-4444 contact number) or use a memorable vanity number (see below).
- Vanity Numbers: A perfect example is Page Law’s number: 1-800-CAR-CRASH. Our friend Paul Faust at RingBoost can supply vanity, local, and call-tracking numbers.
- Dynamic Numbers: CallRail offers DNI (Dynamic Number Insertion), a service “that assigns a unique phone number to each online source and then displays that phone number to visitors who arrive at your website via that specific source.” This helps you make better decisions (based on better data) about your digital marketing budget.
- “Dead” Numbers: Law firms go out of business for a number of reasons. Regardless of the reason for the availability, the number of a now-closed firm may offer some advantages that you can leverage for your firm’s benefit.
- 24/7 Phone Intake: Some services provide intake literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When it comes to an industry as ruthless and competitive as personal injury law, it’s important to give your potential clients as many opportunities to convert as possible.
19. Buying Leads
One of the quickest ways to accelerate your personal injury law firm is, quite simply, buying leads. While it does require you to sort what is and isn’t qualified, and what does or does not justify the ROI, it’s a shortcut. Be cautious, as some lead-gen companies will sell the same lead to multiple personal injury firms.
20. Talk Trigger
In the words of Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin, talk triggers are “bold…differentiators to create customer conversations.”
When it comes to the legal vertical, here are a few examples that stand out:
- The Greenberg Law Firm of New Orleans famously has a very low fee. The 19% figure is specific; it’s more memorable (because it’s so oddly specific and very low) than, say, 20%.
- Michael Mogill (of Crisp Video) has killed it with his referral program, giving away multiple Teslas.
21. Radio
Every day, potential personal injury clients are commuting and listening to the radio. Ads and jingles placed on the radio are particularly effective for generating top-of-mind awareness, as they reach those clients in a very receptive moment (i.e., sitting in traffic, bored). One of the most common methods is auditory, and radio marketing takes advantage of that.
22. TV
With the average American spending five hours per day (on average) watching television, you can’t completely ignore TV as a marketing outlet. That said, the impact of ads on TV has dramatically decreased in recent years: not only are streaming services (such as Netflix and Prime Video) consuming an increasingly large percentage of American TV-watching time, but DVRs are widespread, allowing most viewers to bypass ads altogether.
On the other hand, this may provide an opportunity for lowered costs.
- Ads
- Jingles
- Cellino & Barnes have one of the most long-running and successful (not to mention viral) jingles in the personal injury field.
- News coverage
- Not all TV advertising is paid. If you have a case or service that is of compelling interest to the community at large, local news can provide exposure to a large demographic. Stewart Guss of Houston generated an accident map of his geography and landed himself on KPRC News.
23. Safety/Awareness Campaign
Personal injury attorneys often carry a negative connotation (the old “ambulance chaser” stereotype persists to this day). A great way to counter this in part is through a safety/awareness campaign. Here are some examples:
- Bicycle helmet giveaway
- Car seat checkup
- Breathalyzer giveaway
24. Print
Print has gotten a bad rap recently (no pun intended). When you think of receiving mail, you often think of junk mail (endless catalogs and credit card offers). While the volume of parcel mail has decreased recently, this provides an increased opportunity to be seen.
In some cases, print can be a more formal or personal approach to getting personal injury leads. Someone taking the time to write you a thank you card is worth more than a form email.
- Newspaper/local ads
- Legal magazines
- Phone books/magnets
- Mass mail
- Direct mail
- Business cards
25. Write a book
Writing a book will help get your foot in the door for speaking opportunities, media-based interviews, podcast guest appearances, and numerous link opportunities.
Here’s a company that provides a number of elite authorial tools (all the way up to ghostwriting). They run the gamut from getting published to setting up press tours.
26. Awards
Legal awards can help you in recruiting talent to your firm, assist in conversions, and provide backlink opportunities.
Be aware: there are numerous legal award scams, so when you’re solicited, do your due diligence and evaluate what is being offered. Choose lawyer awards based on tangible accomplishments instead of vanity scores.
27. Firm Acquisition
Firm acquisition is often an overlooked tactic. There are many circumstances (e.g., partner disagreements, retirement, lifestyle change, life event, relocation) in which a firm might consider being acquired by another.
28. CLE
While most attorneys don’t love CLE (continuing legal education), it does provide an opportunity to establish authority and generate speaking engagement opportunities. Attorney Credits pairs its CLE events with marketing initiatives.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, you're not just trying to get more leads — you want more high-quality personal injury cases. If you’re ready to take your personal injury lawyer marketing and SEO efforts to the next level, contact Ranking.io today.
Our team of experienced professionals is dedicated to crafting customized strategies tailored to your firm’s unique needs, helping you dominate your local market and achieve sustainable growth. Don’t wait— reach out to us now and start turning potential clients into loyal advocates for your personal injury practice!
