If you are responsible for marketing your law firm taking advantage of online events should be a part of your law firm marketing strategy. You’ve probably participated in numerous offline events such as golf tournaments and school sporting events as part of marketing your firm but online events can be just as successful. Hosting online events is a form of networking as much as chamber mixers and sponsoring conferences to get your name out and about. Did people at those events remember who you are and what you do?
Regardless of whether you are hosting events offline or online, they must be planned thoroughly to guarantee success as much as possible. It doesn’t make sense to spend the time, money, and effort to promote an event if you haven’t done everything possible to make sure you benefit from it.
Through well-planned events, you can strengthen client relationships you already have as well as meet new potential clients in a safe, non-confrontational setting. In the old days of direct mail, it was difficult to be sure that you would have a successful event until after it was over. With the online tools available today you can implement checks before, during, and after to make sure everything is going perfectly and make sure you get the best possible return on your lawyer marketing investment.
Even though the majority of the public has eased up with their concern about public health issues since COVID has become somewhat controlled, there are some segments of the population that are still wary. We have seen law firms that are doing online events have even greater success than offline events. If you have savvy competitors in your area chances are if they aren’t doing online events now, they will be. Why not get the jump on them?
One thing that is common among all people that spend a good amount of time online is that they are voracious consumers of information. This is the reason for the existence of the internet to begin with. Google became a multibillion-dollar company by focusing on providing the best search results possible. This is why online events are so successful and they can help you position your law firm as an authority in your area of legal practice.
All legitimate businesses have the ability to utilize a Google Business Profile to promote their business. Of course, your profile should be optimized properly prior to investing the effort in online events. Refer to our Google Business Profile post here.
Offers and events operate similarly to posts and are discoverable by searchers via SERPs and Google Maps. Adding events to your Google Business Profile can increase the trust and authority of your law firm while making potential clients aware of your events, online and offline.
Event creation in your Google Business Profile is straightforward but offers some additional options and details over standard posts. The interface just recently changed so I want to share some screenshots. Here are the simple steps to follow to create events.
First, make sure you are logged into your account that manages the GBP for your law firm. Enter the name in the search bar, just as I entered Forward Lawyer Marketing and the search results will show you a similar dashboard to the one below:
Next click on add update, you may have to click the drop-down arrow beside Q&A to reach the “Add update” section which will take you to the next screen:
Next click on Add event
Starting at the top of the form, create a catchy title that features your brand as well as important keyword phrases. Fill in the appropriate start and end dates, including time. Fill in the event details with a description of the event that will make those you want to attend want to! Click on add a button which will allow you to link to a contact form or sign-up form that will keep track of attendees.
Also, make sure that you include a relevant image, ideally, it should be 750×750, any image under 250×250 will be refused by Google.
The next way to utilize online events is via Facebook.
You can also host Facebook Lives. This is something that several of our attorney clients have been doing with success. In addition to posting the dates and times in advance, you can also utilize Facebook ads to promote the Facebook Lives.
Other methods of hosting online events include the following:
It is difficult to ascertain the success of an event without having goals that you want to meet. Some outcomes you would want if you are seeking new clients would be getting phone calls, setting appointments, having actual consultations, and collecting retainers if that is how your practice operates. Set your budget and choose the demographics that match your ideal client. Cross-post your event on multiple platforms to get the most exposure possible.
You should also create a landing page on your website specifically for the event and make sure you have tracking analytics enabled so you can measure the success of your event and use that data to make your next event better. You also want to implement an email follow-up to send reminders prior to the event and then to follow up afterward for appointments and surveys of what they thought of the event.
Create promotional content and posting calendars well ahead of time so that everything is done timely.
The majority of law firms we work with implement social media to keep promoting events while they are active. You may use a wide variety of media including photos, white papers, videos, and more. Many firms hold contests to help increase attendance and participation. Consider live Tweeting during the event or sharing updates to your LinkedIn Event Page (this will be created automatically if you create an online event on LinkedIn).
Make sure to follow up with any potential leads promptly. If someone has a legal need, chances are it is probably somewhat urgent. In the email follow-up campaign you created you should segment the audiences so that you are sending targeted emails to the appropriate persons. For example, a campaign to try to convert leads to clients, a campaign for those that have already indicated they want to be clients, and another for those that have already signed an agreement.
When you have an event that is not about a personal issue but is more general information it’s a good idea to use the content on your website, our clients that do Facebook Lives do this. We have software that creates transcripts which we then edit, optimize, and add to the client’s website.
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Click here to read about a family law firm that increased caseload five-fold in a few months.
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At FORWARD Lawyer Marketing we believe in taking a “leave no stone unturned” approach when it comes to our legal clients. With that in mind, we employ extremely experienced people in the industry. Our SEO Director has been marketing online for well over two decades and oversees all SEO tasks including editing content and performing on-page optimization as well as internal and external linking. Our specialty is law firm marketing and SEO for lawyers at FORWARD Lawyer Marketing, call us at (888) 590-9687 to discuss how we can increase the revenue of your law firm.
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