Remember when law firm marketing used to be simple – a few ads in the Yellow Pages, a radio or TV commercial, a billboard or two and business would start to grow? Times have certainly changed. There are more attorneys in the marketplace, causing competition is fierce, and when folks are looking for a lawyer, people turn to online sources such as Google and Facebook.
Clearly you need an online presence which includes a cutting edge website that quickly causes people to become engaged with you and your firm. In addition, you should focus on your digital marketing efforts like developing SEO (growing your backlinks and focusing on keyword searches), video marketing, info graphics and educational materials, developing a strong social media campaign and presence as well as building local campaigns and referrals from satisfied clients.
Since most attorneys prefer to practice law rather than spend time focusing on marketing, it often makes sense to utilize a legal marketing consultant or law firm development director to make the hard decisions for you. A good marketing or development consultant can analyze your specific marketing needs and develop strategies that will save you money and help you run your law firm more efficient and effectively.
If you are looking to shape up your law firm marketing and to grow your firm, the law firm development and marketing consultants at Lawyers Marketing Associates (LMA) can help. We will analyze the individual marketing needs of your firm and your specific practice area(s), develop the best campaigns for your firm and help implement these individualized marketing strategies to make your law firm grow and run more efficiently.
Contact us today at (919) 637-9144 for help creating effective marketing strategies tailored to your specific needs. We look forward to helping you grow your firm!
Put Our Marketing Strategies to Work for Your Law Firm
To market successfully, you have to let people know you are out there, make them want to know more about your firm, and ensure that they choose you instead of your competitors. The following are the five top marketing strategies for law firms:
1. Have a Top-notch Website
Your website is your main marketing tool. It has to make a great first impression and make potential clients want to keep reading and make that initial contact call. Your website needs to be:
Needs to be Personal – needs to draw the potential client in. It needs to make you the attorney that they can relate to and that they want to handle their case. It should start a connection. It should “tell your story” and introduce your firm’s brand. People do business with people.
- Professional – You should have professional design, graphics, and colors that show your firm in a positive, informative and welcoming light.
- Fast – People don’t have patience to wait for sites to load. To make sure your site is fast enough, go to Google’s PageSpeed Insights to test your site speed. If it takes more than three or four seconds to load, get it fixed.
- Mobile-friendly – Most people use their mobile phones to search, so your site should be optimized for mobile use. Make sure the text is easy to read and navigate and buttons are easy to click.
- Informative – Provide relevant and important information potential clients can use. Write blogs on pertinent topics focusing on the areas your clients are most likely to need help with or have questions about.
- Authoritative – Present yourself and your firm as trustworthy and knowledgeable in your field. List professional accomplishments and expertise on specific topics, and stress how you can help potential clients solve their problems.
- Interactive – Provide links and interactive buttons, and develop calls to action – making a call, clicking on a link, filling out an online form, or signing up for a free brochure or an event — and make it easy to do.
Click here for more ideas to boost website traffic.
2. Utilize SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) brings visitors to your website by improving your site’s position in the results that come up in searches. You want your firm to show up on the top page, and the higher on the top the better.
How do you improve your SEO position? By focusing on three major three categories:
- Content: The words and other content on your website need to provide answers to the search keywords that were entered. For example, if someone is searching for a criminal lawyer, there should be lots of content dealing with types of criminal law your firm handles and answering questions likely to be asked about criminal law. Use the criminal law topic in keywords in areas including the page URL, the page title, the page description, headings on the page, and in content.
- Links: The more your firm is mentioned elsewhere, the more it has credibility. Strive to get links to your website and endorsements from other sites, legal and local directories, and social media. Posting relevant articles and providing local services for free gets your name out there and can generate positive links to your firm.
- Technical SEO: Your website must be user-friendly and easy to read, find information, and use. This can also include how it grows for your firm. How does it go beyond your “home court”? If you’re a big fish in a small pond, how are you growing beyond that pond? Also, how are you growing in that pond? What are your rankings? Where are your search terms directed? Back to your home page or back to the specific practice area page? What is ranking better, practice area page or a blog page? Are all the sub-pages linking up to the main practice area page? Are any linking downward?
Developing SEO requires expertise that most lawyers do not have and even more important don’t have time for, so consider getting help from an expert. Lawyers Marketing Associates (LMA) can help, so call us today at (919) 637-9144.
3. Utilize Social Media and YouTube
Using social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn not only get’s your name out there and increases recognition, it makes your firm seem more human and friendly. This is especially important to attract clients from the younger generations who use social media extensively.
This is even more true during this time than ever. COVID-19 has turned Facebook into the most popular source for communication and news. If you’re out there, then you’re a part of the world. If you’re not, then you might as well be closed.
To increase your social media presence further, consider taking out paid social media ads. Utilize photographs and videos that are eye-catching and attract more attention than just words. It is also important to use pictures and videos on your GMB posts and to also get those geotargeted. It is important to focus on getting reviews for your GMB page as well. Make sure all of your social media profiles are clean and directed correctly.
YouTube is another popular format that should not be overlooked. Humans process video content much faster than they process written text, so come up with a short video that gets to the point.
Many social media platforms have dedicated groups for specific topics. Joining groups and offering advice and help will provide exposure and make useful contacts.
4. Provide Services and Information
Offering services and information, even for free, is great way to develop a reputation of being a knowledgeable person in your field. Consider:
- Giving talks, presentations, and seminars — Speak in front of lawyer groups at local bar association meetings or offer seminars to the public to get exposure and become known as a key person in your field.
- Writing books, magazine articles, pamphlets, or e-books — Link to them on your website and offer free guides on relevant topics.
We Can Help You Grow Your Law Firm With Proven Law Firm Marketing Strategies
You have the legal expertise to help your clients when they need your– we have the marketing and development expertise to promote your firm, to let others know about it and to help you grow your law firm in the most effective and efficient ways possible.
Start growing your law firm today. Call Lawyers Marketing Associates to discuss the individual needs of your firm and let’s start growing your law firm today!
Contact us today at (919) 637-9144 and let’s get started creating your custom strategic marketing plan now, there’s no time like the present to grow your firm!