Marketing your law firm, whether you like it or not, is a necessary part of attracting and retaining clients. Because, no matter how adamant you may be that providing good service should be enough to grow your business, marketing plays a critical role in the overall success of your law firm.
Also, marketing your law firm today is not the same as it was 20 years ago. Whether you’ve just opened your practice or been in business for a while, it’s easy to fall behind on the latest marketing methods and tips to get the most bang for your buck. Without further ado, here are five top tips for marketing your law firm in 2022.
1. Your website is important
Your website should be the cornerstone of your entire marketing strategy. But why does your law firm need a website when your business is visible from the street or featured in the local paper?
Affirm your credibility
If a potential client searches for you on Google and can’t find a website for your law firm, they may question the validity of your business. After all, in a world where even amateur photographers have websites, why wouldn’t a lawyer have a website as proof of existence?
Your law firm’s website is an opportunity to shine by showcasing your strengths and proving that you are just as credible, if not more so, than your local competition. Use your website real estate to highlight cases you’ve won and share client testimonials; show a potential client why you are the best person for the job. This is done by demonstrating your skills and the human element of your business. Beyond the content of your website, the design and user experience are equally important.
It should look professional and well-built, with an easy-to-navigate design. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you hire a qualified professional to design your website.
Your design should have:
Generate leads and increase visibility
The more optimized your law firm website is for SEO, the higher it will appear in Google results. The higher you appear in Google search results, the more likely someone looking for legal representation in your area will find you.
By nature, humans want as simple an experience as possible. 95% of web users it will never click past the first page of Google search results, also known as Google SERP. However, 25% of people will call the first three law firms listed. In short, if you’re not on page 1 of Google, you might as well not exist.
It will streamline your customer onboarding process
If you’re a smaller business without the luxury of a front desk staff, your website can serve as a full-time receptionist. It can provide answers to frequently asked questions, useful information such as your location, the option to self-schedule consultations, and a customer intake form for potential customers to fill out that will automatically enter their information into your intake software.
From there, leads are tracked from every stage of the customer journey, ensuring no opportunity for engagement is missed. Customer onboarding software seamlessly moves leads from one stage to the next with customized marketing workflows, not only saving you time, but providing a positive customer experience every step of the way.
2. Embrace the age of TikTok
We live in a digital world where people are more distracted than ever. While words will always be valuable, it’s much easier to get someone’s attention with a video than with a wall of text. Platforms like TikTok are fun and entertaining, and during these times of Covid, climate crisis and political unrest, many are looking for an escape from the exhausting news cycle. Aside from entertainment, video also humanizes your business, which in turn makes you and your staff more relatable to legal consumers.
The great thing about video is that there are many different ways to use it as a marketing tool. Some attorneys find great success adding a quick 30-second legal tip to their social media channels each week. Others create fun and relatable videos about the rarely seen side of a lawyer’s life. It all depends on how much work you are willing and able to put into creating videos. In the end, something is better than nothing, so don’t worry about production value or media experience. Whether you’re ready to learn a TikTok dance or not, one thing’s for sure, video is getting more people’s attention in today’s distracted society, even if it’s as simple as a quick informative video shot on your iPhone.
3. Five stars or bust
We live in a star-studded world where consumers value a Google review as much as a personal recommendation. Not only will a good Google rating make you appear more credible to potential customers, but it will also result in a higher ranking in Google search results. Remember the winners are at the top. If you don’t already have a Google My Business profile set up, you may want to do so now!
Don’t be afraid to ask for reviews; in fact, it’s recommended, especially when customers have visibly or verbally expressed their satisfaction with your service.
If you somehow manage to get a poor review, don’t panic. A negative review in a group of positive ones will not risk damaging your overall reputation. The best way to respond is to stay calm, apologize, and offer a solution if you can.
On the other hand, if you notice the same negative points that appear in the reviews, it can be an opportunity to address the problem area and make changes where necessary. Although criticism can be hard on your ego, reviews can be an extremely effective way to learn what works and what doesn’t.
4. Leave the Legwork to the Marketing Software
Email remains one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication. For this reason, launching a weekly newsletter is still an extremely effective way to stay on top of things. If you’re thinking, “You want me to learn TikTok and now you’re asking me to take time out of my already stretched schedule to write a weekly newsletter?” don’t worry, there is software for that.
The last thing lawyers need is more time-consuming work to add to their plates. That’s why delegating your marketing efforts to automation software can turn the tide. Marketing automation makes it easy to send scheduled and personalized content to targeted email lists using audience segmentation software.
With automation, you can create a digital marketing campaign that sends relevant messages to the right person at the right time, on autopilot. Automation features like drip email marketing send emails based on triggers you choose, whether someone signs up for your newsletter or schedules an inquiry.
In addition, you can track every interaction and analyze contact behavior thanks to the data so that you can fine-tune your marketing strategy.
5. Start a blog
A blog is a great way to create fresh content on your website that keeps the Google search engine happy, while also establishing your legal authority and expertise. The more relatable and informative you can make each blog post, the more likely legal consumers will read and share your content.
If you’re not sure where to start, try starting by addressing your customers’ most frequently asked questions. Offer a legal tip of the day or highlight one of your staff members. Find out which top search phrases relate to your practice area, such as “how long do debt collectors have to demand payments?” or “Is it legal to record a conversation?” Finding out what questions people are asking can be a great source of writing information for your legal blog.
Be sure to pepper your blog with lots of relevant keywords that will push your content even higher in Google search results, which is known as SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization). Check out our Law Firm SEO Marketing Guide. here.
Stand out and grow your practice
Law firm marketing can seem like a time-consuming part of running a law firm that you’d rather not have to deal with. However, it is a necessary ingredient for law firms that want to generate more clients at a steady rate.
However, marketing your law firm and generating a steady stream of leads isn’t all it takes. You’ll need to have an effective system in place to keep track of all your contacts and make sure no opportunities are missed. When you consider that the average law firm takes three or more days to respondit’s easy to see that many busy lawyers struggle to keep up with the success of their marketing efforts.
Cited sources
Matt G. Southern, Search Engine Journal, More than 25% of people click on the first Google search result, 14 Jul 2020
Nathan Thompson, OptinMonster, 10 Crucial SEO Ranking Factors You Must Know, March 8, 2022
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