Law firms spend so much time and money fighting for their clients’ rights. Representing your clients is, after all, what you are in business to do. But there is more to operating a profitable law firm than winning cases. It is also necessary to market effectively every day to bring in new leads and clients.
If you want your law firm staff to handle your lawyer marketing, the tips highlighted in this article can increase your law firm’s revenue and client base. However, if you let the expert marketers do the work for you, Forward Lawyer Marketing is ready to assist.
Table of Contents
How often do you go online to search for something before buying it? A lot, like most of us. Did you know that up to 96% of people looking for a lawyer look online before deciding? This means getting legal leads is considerably more challenging if your legal website does not pop up on the top of page 1 of Google. Referrals are fantastic, but most law firms need more than referrals to stay in business. You need legal leads coming into your office from online marketing. Below are ways to make that happen.
We all know that the legal field is immensely complex, and many issues cannot be boiled down to a one-minute legal video clip. However, resist the temptation to record 15-minute legal videos because only some people will watch them. Your audience wants information fast!
Do this by narrowing down your video options until you develop a subject you can cover in no more than two minutes. The video is not supposed to have all the answers on the topic – just enough to provide a quick summary for the user and get them interested in more.
For instance, a personal injury attorney in Illinois could do a short video about tips for filing personal injury lawsuits. Covering that entire topic could take hours. So, provide several short videos on crucial Illinois personal injury topics, like:
Viewers will understand essential parts of Illinois personal injury cases in no more than two minutes. They will have a better idea if they can file a claim and may reach out if they have questions.
Short videos perform well on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook. Videos also may pop up in Google search for some legal keywords.
As you make these videos, get to the point fast. Most legal videos lose viewers the longer they are. Put your most important legal marketing content at the start of the videos and title them accurately. You want to tell the viewer exactly what they will learn in that legal video. If you are stuck on topics, start with the most common legal queries you get on your website.
Legal email marketing should be considered content strategy paired with social lead-capture methods. If the process works as it should, you have a proven process to deliver legal information from your firm to an audience wanting it. In addition, your marketing emails are not fighting for attention among many social media updates because the consumer gets your information in their inbox.
How do you get prospects to sign up for your e-newsletter? First, try building your email list by offering a free legal report PDF on your website. Next, change the free download every few weeks and collect those email addresses. Then, create an e-newsletter with the latest information in your field that consumers might find of interest.
For example, write brief stories about traffic and construction topics in your city if you are a car accident attorney. With spring approaching, you can write about how to avoid auto accidents around popular sites in town. Use Constant Contact or MailChimp to send e-newsletters every week or two. When the contact needs legal services, they will have you in mind.
Yes, ‘using social media’ is essential in legal marketing, but how? Get started with legal, social media marketing by looking at the channels where you have the most engagement. Many attorneys say that sites such as Twitter are seldom used by people looking for legal help. Instead, focus on social media sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, or TikTok, where your audience spends time. Here are some sample social media campaigns to consider:
Undoubtedly, staying on top of social media marketing can be overwhelming for lawyers. That is why many attorneys hand over their social media marketing to Forward Lawyer Marketing.
What does updating your law firm’s website content have to do with helpful lawyer marketing? Quite a bit! At Forward Law Marketing, we know that fresh, relevant content has been a ranking factor at Google since 2011. Plus, patents filed by Google tell us that information related to the content inception date is also a page ranking factor.
The search giant also says that adding updated and fresh content is similar to warm, tasty cookies when you take them from the oven. If that statement does not tell us Google prefers fresh content, nothing does. The site also says users want to see content most related to their search first. In addition, some of the content that is best ranked is less than a year old, so updating your content is always a winner for increasing your page rank.
It always helps legal marketing to claim your Google Business listing. If you have not done so, you merely need a Gmail account, then go to Gybo.com to claim your business listing. The website will send a postcard to your law firm to verify that you own that listing.
Some things to do with your Google business listing include:
Chatbots look simple, but looks are definitely deceiving. A chatbot is a type of artificial intelligence or AI that looks like human-based chat support, but it is a computer algorithm that is ‘chatting’ with the consumer.
When chatbots work well, they can direct legal prospects and clients to online resources that address their issues without costing the law firm hours of employee labor. If even a few law firm customer service requests can be addressed with a chatbot, it reduces employee labor costs that can be redirected to marketing.
That said, a poorly-functioning chatbot can be annoying and might even make the user leave and enter another site. But if the chatbot is set up and programmed effectively, it can address common questions and offer lead segmentation and generation. The algorithm can also be programmed to gather the email address and phone numbers of consumers. Then, your administrative staff can quickly follow up with a phone call.
Too many law firms hire an SEO company that is not specialized in legal marketing or cannot get page 1 results. If your SEO results are not putting you on page 1, and, hopefully, in the top three results, consider making a switch. The best SEO companies make you stand out in the most competitive market and drive more organic traffic to your site.
They create unique, optimized content, including blogs, web pages, marketing landing pages, etc. Forward Legal Marketing can help you with law firm SEO, web design, and more.
One of the best ways to get that prospect to pick up the phone and call is to show them how valuable your legal assistance was to others. Some law firms devise case studies that they put on their website, and that is fine. But there are other ways to leverage your best client reviews. For example, consider creating paid social media and organic campaigns featuring your best testimonials.
You can do a lot by making your client reviews more visible online. Ask your clients to post reviews in Google Reviews, Lawyers.com, and Avvo.
We all know that the legal field is highly competitive. Therefore, your law firm must market effectively to stand out from others in your community. Using the helpful lawyer marketing tips mentioned above will gain more leads and clients over time. If you need assistance with legal marketing, contact Forward Lawyer Marketing for the experience and know-how you need. Give us a call today at (888) 590-9687.