These are the online marketing goals you need to achieve if you want to win:
- You need to get people to trust you
- You need to stand out from the competition
If you want to achieve these goals, ask yourself the following question: “What would have to be true for ____ to happen?”
For example:
- What would have to be true for the market to trust me so they want to hire my firm or refer people to my firm when they need legal services?
- What would have to be true for me to stand out from the competition in a good way that grows my firm?
These are the questions we're going to explore and answer.
Getting Started: Your Law Firm Marketing Strategy
Before diving into specific areas, it's essential to take a step back and establish a comprehensive law firm marketing strategy. This overarching plan will guide your efforts and ensure that each component of your marketing—from your website and SEO to your social media presence and content creation—works together to achieve your firm's goals.
Creating sound law firm marketing strategies involves understanding your firm's unique selling proposition, defining your target audience, outlining your goals, and deciding on the marketing channels to leverage. It's not only about promoting your legal services but also about exhibiting your law firm's values and personality, positioning yourself as a trusted advisor, and fostering robust relationships with prospects and clients.
Understanding Your Unique Selling Proposition
What makes your law firm stand out in the current saturated market? Pinpointing your firm's uniqueness enables you to focus your messaging and ensures you connect with clients that resonate with your philosophy.
Defining Your Target Audience
Understanding who your ideal clients are allows you to create tailored content and implement marketing campaigns that draw their attention effectively.
Outlining Your Goals
These serve as benchmarks for measuring the success of your marketing efforts. Goals could range from increasing leads, improving conversion rates, growing social media engagement, or enhancing brand awareness.
Choosing Your Marketing Channels
Decide on the platforms that will help you reach your target audience best. These could include your firm’s website, search engines via SEO and PPC, social media platforms, content marketing, and more.
With a clear law firm marketing strategy in place, you can stay focused on your objectives, make better use of your resources, and respond swiftly to changes in the marketing landscape. So, let's delve deeper into each aspect of a successful legal services marketing strategy and understand how they can contribute to reaching your law firm marketing goals.
Ideal Allocation of a Law Firm Marketing Budget
Whether you're a small law firm just starting out or a renowned firm with years of practice, maintaining a well-allocated marketing budget is vital. Your marketing budget is what fuels your outreach efforts, enabling you to connect with potential clients.
When setting your law firm marketing budget, it's essential to consider your office's overall financial health, the competitive landscape, and your business expansion plans. The budget should support your overarching goals while remaining flexible to accommodate the dynamic digital marketing landscape.
How to Invest (Wisely) In Your Marketing Strategy
So, where should you invest your marketing dollars? Well, the distribution of these funds depends largely on your specific goals and the nature of your legal services. An optimal budget typically includes funds allocated for website development and maintenance, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media marketing, PPC ads, content creation, and advertising.
Keep in mind that investing a substantial portion of your budget on your law firm's website is key, as it's often the first point of contact between your firm and prospective clients. An intuitive, professionally designed website can make a significant impact and lead to higher conversion rates.
Further, dedicated funds for SEO activities can help your law firm rank higher in search engine result pages (SERPs). Law firm SEO is a long-term investment but yet one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies. It helps your firm gain visibility and attract potential clients who are actively searching for legal services that you offer.
Additionally, allocate resources for PPC advertising campaigns. While PPC commands a substantial portion of the budget, it offers immediate results by driving targeted traffic to your firm's website.
Social media marketing and content creation, too, are integral areas where you must invest. Ensuring a robust social media presence helps in engaging with potential clients, while informative, well-crafted content helps position your firm as an authority in the legal field.
To navigate the specifics, consider partnering with a law firm marketing agency that has in-depth knowledge of the legal field and current marketing trends. They can help you craft the perfect budget that meets your law firm's marketing goals while optimizing return on investment (ROI). Being savvy with your budget allocation directly impacts your firm's growth and success in the competitive legal market.
4 Categories of Marketing Goals
Your business goals and marketing goals must complement each other if you want to win in your market. Otherwise, you can easily end up in a scenario where marketing is hitting all of its lead goals, but the business isn't hitting its growth goals.
When setting goals, they should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely (i.e., SMART Goals).
Let's say you set a business goal to grow revenue by 20% this year. After asking yourself what must be true in order to grow my firm by 20% this year, you conclude that you'll need more motor vehicle accident cases involving an injury. You could set both of these as SMART goals for your business.
- Business Goal: Grow the firm's revenue by 20% YoY.
- Marketing Goal: Increase qualified MVA leads from the website by 30% over the next 12 months.
Note: To determine how much to increase lead growth, you'll need to calculate your win percentage, average revenue per case, average time to settlement, and all of your marketing metrics, such as lead-to-case rate, website-to-lead rate, click-through rate, etc.
When planning your marketing goals, it's helpful to think of them by the outcome they drive. There are four basic categories for your marketing goals — creating demand, damming demand, capturing demand, and converting demand.
These categories help you build trust, stand out from the competition, or both. While each type is unique, all of them fit into the SMART goal model.
1. Creating Demand
Creating demand means proactively educating your target market about your overall category (e.g., personal injury lawsuits), the problems you help people with, how your services could improve their lives, and who your firm is in general.
The market you're going after here doesn't have an expressed need. You'll use your marketing to get people familiar with your law practice before they have a legal problem.
This aspect will be the most difficult for your industry since you can't make car accidents happen. The best you can do is increase the odds that people remember your name or firm if they ever have an accident.
That can be done by creating educational and entertaining content and promoting it across social channels like Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Podcasts. This type of content marketing strategy can include both organic posts on your social media profiles and social media advertising.
2. Damming Demand
Sometimes, people don't realize they need your firm's help. When you dam demand, you redirect prospective clients from what they think they want to you instead.
An example is ranking blog posts on Google for topics related to car accident claims with insurance. People think they want to call their insurance and file a claim, but when they click on your site, they learn that they should really speak with an attorney first.
3. Capturing Demand
You capture demand by being in the consideration set when someone is ready to hire a law firm and is actively deciding which one to go with. You do this by making sure they remember you first (i.e., create demand) and then making it easy for them to find you and get in touch.
An example of capturing demand would be a Google Ad at the top of a search result when someone who's already been to your site searches for a car accident lawyer later that week.
Another example could be a service landing page that details what you can do for them, how easy you'll make the process for them, what they have to pay, and a way to get in touch right then (e.g., live chat, a contact form you respond to in under 10 minutes, a click-to-call phone number, etc.).
4. Converting Demand
Conversion is when someone takes an action you want them to. Converting demand is when someone actually buys what you're selling.
You'll know when you've converted the demand because you'll have a new client. Until they sign the paperwork for you to represent them, you haven't converted them.
Now that we've looked at the different types of demand, we have a few goals you can set for your firm.
Master a Marketing Channel for Maximum Reach
How can people love your business and return for more unless they know who you are? Mastering specific channels will get you consistent leads without overextending yourself and your digital marketing efforts.
Optimize Your Law Firm Website
Optimizing your law firm's website for search engines is not a choice — it's a necessity. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can significantly help your law firm attract more organic traffic, improve your visibility online, and rank higher on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). The better your SEO, the more prospective clients can find you easily when they search for legal services that you offer.
Legal search engine optimization is also reliable because it automatically responds to demand, particularly damming and capturing. This tactic successfully redirects people to your services or makes it easy for them to hire you now. When a client types a keyword into Google for a solution, you appear as a relevant resource.
While SEO can take time to show results, the benefits are well worth the wait. It's also cost-effective, considering the potential return on investment. Keep in mind that SEO isn't a one-time task. It requires continuous effort and updates based on changing algorithms, market trends, and competitive landscape.
Use Social Media to Capture Demand
Social media marketing also works to generate and capture demand. The former is useful when customers don't want to use traditional marketing channels. Popular alternatives include searching hashtags or watching TikToks. The latter happens when a customer knows the service they need and wants to review your prices or ask questions. An example of this would be a Facebook ad geared to people who have seen your brand before.
A well-managed social media strategy enables you to showcase your firm's values, expertise, and unique selling proposition, strengthening your brand image. Regular updates, informative content, client testimonials, insights into your office culture, and interactions with your audience can build trust and credibility for your firm.
Different social media platforms cater to different audiences. Leveraging the right platform that aligns with your law firm marketing plan helps you connect effectively with your intended audience. For instance, LinkedIn works well for B2B interactions and networking, while Facebook might be more suitable for reaching out to the general public.
Remember, consistency is key across all platforms regarding your brand's tone, visual elements, and messaging. This consistency fortifies your brand identity and helps you stand out from your competitors in the minds of your audience.
Increase Brand Awareness By Generating Demand in Your Lead Channels
One effective way to increase brand awareness is by creating demand in your lead channels. This can be achieved by offering value-packed content that not only captivates your audience but also positions you as an expert in the field. High-quality content, particularly if it's accessible (read: free), can enhance credibility and foster trust with your prospective clients.
Choosing a law firm is a significant decision and often involves rigorous research and consideration. Offering free content such as e-books, informative blog posts, webinars, and legal guides can impart useful knowledge to potential clients. This not only showcases your legal expertise but also conveys the message that you genuinely care about helping them make informed choices, thereby building a level of trust and confidence in your firm.
Brand awareness informs people of who you are, what you do, and why. These vital details are shown through your legal marketing channels and get people ready to work with you. Without a memorable personality, you risk being overlooked in favor of other law firms.
So, how exactly can you boost brand awareness through your marketing channels? Here are a few powerful marketing strategies:
- Offering a Behind-the-Scenes Look: Share a day in the life at your firm or a sneak peek into the background work that goes into a case. This makes your brand more relatable and approachable.
- Generating Shareable Infographics: Infographics are visually engaging and easy to digest, making them a popular tool for providing information. Creating high-quality infographics relevant to your services or legal issues and making them available for free can significantly enhance your brand's visibility.
- Running Interactive Polls: Engage with your audience by running polls on legal subjects, hot topics, or fun office questions. This not only starts a conversation but also provides insight into your audience's opinions and thoughts.
Regular Blog Posts: Consistently sharing informative, thought-provoking blog posts on your website or on platforms like LinkedIn articulates your knowledge and adds value to readers, enhancing brand perception.
Remember, the goal here is to generate organic traffic, engage your audience and compel them to share your content, expanding your reach and enhancing brand awareness in the process.
Make it Easy for People to Contact You 24/7 & Reply Within 10 Minutes
Clients hate waiting forever to get an answer, and it's even worse when they're redirected over the phone or have to follow up via email. 79% of consumers in a 2019 Legal Trends Report stated a fast response is an important factor to them.
Ask yourself, “Am I meeting this need?”
Social media is ideal for this. Setting up a 24/7 social media response team with a fast turnaround will make you competitive.
Only 32% of people get a response within twenty-four hours. Another 79% of people prefer live chat to email. Ideal turnaround times are between 15 minutes and an hour.
While every other law firm is taking their time—you should be taking their cases.
Another way to give your customers timely responses is with a chatbot. Nearly 70% of customers enjoy this feature for its speedy response. This tool appears on every page of your website to receive questions or feedback.
While a chatbot won't have the subtlety of a human being, they're useful for:
- Redirecting clients to relevant pages
- Answering common questions
- Redirecting the particularly frustrated visitors to a live agent
Make sure to use photos of your attorneys instead of stock photos. Generating trust is an absolute must for a smooth client-lawyer relationship.
Expand Your Market by Opening a New Office
How convenient is your law firm to find? If a large part of your client base has to take long commutes or plane trips, consider opening a new office. New offices do well to capture demand in a wider area.
Find locations where you can get your own standalone office. It's fine if there's competition in the area (the best places have good competitors). You just don't want to be in a building with dozens of other firms across various floors and suites.
Having a standalone office makes it easier for you to rank in the map pack on Google when people are searching for lawyers. You can learn about this phenomenon more in a study we published on the effect proximity has on local search rankings for law firms.
Establishing a successful presence in a new location involves understanding the local market dynamics, studying the intensity of competition, and identifying untapped areas that your law firm can cater to.
In the initial stage, your law firm's website needs to be optimized to show up in local searches for the new location. This will help inform potential clients about your new office and the services offered. Additionally, local PR activities can be an additional boost to create buzz about your new office and attract local clients.
Seek Out Qualified Leads in an Underserved Area
The field of personal injury is a competitive one, but there are still niche areas and growing demand. Underserved areas are ripe with opportunities to help people who don't have many options.
According to Clio, the need for attorneys focused on elder law is growing. This field focuses on aspects such as disability and elder abuse.
The demand for cybersecurity specialists has shot up due to remote work, the pandemic, and cryptocurrency. Environmental lawyers are also seeing a fast-as-average 9% growth rate. Consider finding a personal injury angle you can take with these niches.
Start by creating targeted content around the issues faced by this group. SEO optimization of this content can help extract qualified leads from this underserved area. At the same time, it is essential to design PPC ad campaigns strategically to attract and convert these potential clients.
Gather Client Testimonial Videos
Chances are you have previous clients who've already left positive reviews of your firm on legal directories or your Google My Business listing. These satisfied clients may be willing to sit down and share their stories on video.
Video testimonials are more attention-grabbing than written testimonials. Video testimonials are more attention-grabbing than written testimonials. They have a higher information retention rate than other media. One study found viewers remember 95% of a video's information and just 10% of written text.
Video marketing is stealing the show for impactful marketing. With video testimonials, you can encourage trust in potential clients. People appreciate seeing others in their shoes and enjoying success stories.
The existence of a testimonial automatically shows potential clients you view them as individuals. Since gathering these videos involves follow-up and consent, you'll instantly stand out from other firms.
Digital Marketing Goals Beyond Lead Generation
It is vital to think beyond the traditional marketing funnel and leverage diverse resources to meet a variety of goals. This encompasses aspects such as professional development, exploiting networking opportunities, and adopting technology, as discussed, alongside implementing significant digital trends such as SEO, PPC, content marketing, and social media strategizing.
Continued Professional Development
It is crucial to stay updated with the latest developments, legal theories, and practice techniques. This continuous learning can be facilitated through various professional development opportunities, such as seminars, workshops, webinars, online courses, and legal conferences.
Reading leading legal journals or subscribing to industry-related newsletters can keep you abreast with recent advancements and happenings in the legal world. This fosters not only skill development and knowledge enhancement but also positions your law firm as an informed and updated entity in the legal field. It ultimately aids you in offering the best possible advice and services to your clients.
Networking and Peer Growth
Building an expansive network is an invaluable asset for any law firm. Networking fosters professional relationships with fellow legal professionals, industry experts, and potential clients, providing you with a platform to learn, share, collaborate, and solicit referrals. Engaging in legal associations, attending industry events and conferences, or participating in community initiatives can offer numerous networking opportunities.
Moreover, the digital space has widened the networking avenues. Engaging through professional networking sites like LinkedIn or participating in online forums and discussions can connect you with a global audience, opening doors for diverse opportunities and collaborations.
Staying Up-to-Date with the Technology
Adopting the right technology can dramatically improve your law firm's efficiency, service delivery, client satisfaction, and competitiveness. From case management software to research tools, marketing automation tools, and virtual meeting platforms, the scope is vast.
Incorporating technological advances like AI into research or predictive analytics to examine legal trends and forecast outcomes can unleash new dimensions in your legal practice. Utilizing suitable law firm management software can streamline administrative tasks, automate routine processes, enhance client communication, and allow for better tracking of your firm's goals.
Investing in technology can also help your team embrace the remote working model, providing flexibility and easy access to essential resources. With the increasing threats of cyber-attacks and data breaches, updating your technology infrastructure with the right security systems is key.
Partner with a Digital Marketing Firm Who Understands the Legal Field
Meet your clients' needs with a marketer that meets yours. A legally focused firm will understand your industry on a deeper level.
You don't have to worry about catching us up to speed on the legal industry. We provide specialized marketing with a focus on personal injury firms. Using a mixture of SEO and marketing fundamentals, we can help you develop a digital marketing strategy that increases traffic, gets more qualified leads, and grows your bottom line.
Our dedicated staff responds to all inquiries within 24 hours. If you want to see how we can help you hit your marketing goals this year, schedule a thirty-minute call with us during a time that works best for your schedule.
