Build Your Brand! 8 Brilliant Digital Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Legal Practice
by Arina Smith Marketing 07 March 2019
The number of U.S. lawyers has increased by fifteen percent in the last decade. In general, the lawyer population increases by a quarter of a percent annually.
In such a growing industry, it’s vital for all legal practices to market themselves effectively. People may always need legal advice, but demand alone doesn’t guarantee clients!
Attorney marketing can be challenging, especially if you aren’t accustomed to advertising your services to clients.
One of the best ways, however, that lawyers can stay competitive is to make use of online marketing.
In this post, we discuss digital marketing strategies every legal practice should implement to attract and retain clients.
Keep reading for the insight!
1. Make Your Website Work for You:
Your website is your ultimate digital marketing tool. If done right, your website can act as your 24/7 sales representative, earning your clients while you sleep.
Yet research indicates that the legal industry is not taking advantage of this prime marketing tool.
In fact, 40% of small legal practices do not have a website. Of those who do have a website, 68% of these sites don’t have an email address on the homepage.
The first step you can take to make your law firm competitive is to build a professional, compelling website. You can craft one on your own, but we highly recommend hiring a professional web designer and developer.
Doing so can guarantee a custom site with authentic, personalized content. Given the fact that nearly all legal websites lack personalized content–according to Google–this is paramount!
Your website should also be designed to convert prospective clients. This means it should be easy to navigate.
It should also have contact information–including phone and email–clearly visible on every page, especially your homepage.
Most importantly, each page should have a call to action, something that invites visitors to do something: fill out a form, give your firm a call, or learn more about services.
2. Use Local SEO:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves tailoring your web content to certain Google searches.
Most prospective clients will revert to a search engine or friend to locate a lawyer. With this in mind, optimize your content for those keywords these clients are likely to type into Google or Bing.
If you’re new to SEO, check out Google’s SEO Starter Guide.
Otherwise, take it up a notch by implementing local SEO. Local SEO is still SEO. It just uses location-based keywords in an attempt to populate results for searchers within your geographic area.
These keywords could be, for example, “divorce attorney in Atlanta” or “how to hire a personal injury lawyer in Maine.”
Keep in mind that legal SEO is highly, highly competitive. For this reason, choose a variety of keywords, and supplement your efforts with online reviews and social media optimization (see below).
3. Create a Social Media Presence:
Social media isn’t just for “mainstream” industries. It’s a vital marketing tool for everyone, including attorneys and small legal practices.
And people are still using social media! There are over 2.77 billion social media users around the globe.
Create a social media presence to drum up interest in your law firm. We recommend choosing just one platform to start with, particularly one that aligns with your needs.
For many lawyers, this is Facebook. Facebook business profiles are professional and ultimately flexible.
You can interact with your clients through Facebook Messenger, for example, or take a more low-key approach and implement Facebook Ads.
Instagram can be vital for lawyers seeking to run a more image-driven campaign.
Whatever the case, choose one platform and remain active on it. Publish regular content and respond to client comments and messages in a timely manner.
4. Be Mobile:
Over 77% of American adults have a smartphone.
More and more Google searches are occurring on mobile devices, so meet your clients where they are by being fully mobile in your content.
This means having a website with responsive design, which enables your content to adapt to fit the screen of the device accessing it.
It also means making use of Messenger marketing. This involves ad campaigns that surface in messenger apps, including social media.
5. Inform Your Clients:
Navigating legal situations can be confusing and emotionally taxing, and prospective clients often turn to the internet to find answers before securing an attorney.
Provide these answers to attract clients and assert your authority. You can do this by keeping a blog on your law firm’s website.
Blog posts can be about anything, but try to address subjects likely to be relevant to your clients, such as “9 Things You Should Know Before Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer” or “How Much Does a Divorce Attorney Cost?”
You can also inform clients through free e-books, infographics, and consultations.
6. Bring in Video:
Video content is always engaging, and it has the added benefit of showcasing your voice and your legal practice’s mission. Incorporate video as much as possible when attracting clients.
This may mean incorporating video into your social media campaigns through Facebook Live or Instagram stories.
It could also mean hosting free Q&A session webinars or embedding the video on your website.
Visit this post for more video marketing ideas and trends to keep in mind.
7. Leverage Reviews:
90% of consumers refer to online reviews before making a purchase decision. Reviews and testimonials are powerful, so harness their potential now!
Enable clients to provide feedback on your services in some way. This may mean through online review platforms like Yelp or Google Reviews.
You may also wish to highlight client testimonials on your website–preferably the homepage.
If you receive a positive review, highlight this on your social media profile. This can give prospective clients greater impetus to hire you.
8. Implement PPC Marketing:
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing can bolster your other digital marketing efforts, provided you have a marketing budget to work from.
PPC ads charge marketers per “click” they receive from users. While potentially costly, these ads can have a high return on investment. For example, you may pay $4 for a click that turns into a contract valued at thousands of dollars.
PPC ads surface in search results, so they often appear on Google or Bing. They are optimized for SEO keywords.
Google AdWords can be quite competitive for legal terms, so you may wish to turn to Bing Ads to begin.
Digital Marketing Strategies for Your Legal Practice:
In the legal field, it’s critical to market your services wisely and well. One of the best ways you can do this is through online advertising.
These are some of the most effective digital marketing strategies available to lawyers.
Hungry for more? Check out our other tips on law firm marketing here!
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