Nowadays, more and more businesses rely on digital marketing to bring their venture to the next level. Businesses need more than customer referrals and walk-ins. Law firms and lawyers are not exempt and must employ targeted law firm marketing strategies in order to succeed.
When people need to know something, all they need to do is type in their queries on Google. Your law firm should adopt online marketing to secure clients. Otherwise, your competitors will snatch them from you.
Apply these nine digital marketing tactics to make your law firm’s marketing strategy more effective:
Determine Your Goals
The goal of marketing is to get more clients and increase your law firm’s revenue. However, not everyone knows that to write goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Let’s say your overall goal is to increase your gross revenue. Here’s how you can make it S.M.A.R.T:
Why do you need a S.M.A.R.T. goal? That’s because your goal will set your marketing direction.
Develop and design your website
In case you do not have one yet, your law firm must have an official website. This will be the starting point of your online presence. In fact, your law firm’s website is what ties your online marketing strategies together.
As Dennis Dimka points out, “So much of the other components of a marketing plan, like SEO, PPC, and email marketing, tie back to your website.”
Keep in mind that your website must have the following characteristics:
This is something you should communicate with your web developer. If you already have a website, now is a great time to update and modernize it.
Improve Visibility with Search Engine Optimization
According to MOZ, search engine optimization (SEO) is “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.” Simply put, SEO is a process of making your website visible on search engines like Google or Bing without paying them.
Say you are a personal injury lawyer, and your law firm is based in San Diego, California. If you are applying SEO on your site, then you should likely appear when someone types in “personal injury lawyer San Diego” on Google.
SEO is a long and continuous process, and it will take some time before you can see results. Nonetheless, it will be worth optimizing your website when done correctly, because that can help generate a steady stream of potential clients in the long run.
Run an Optimized PPC Campaign
Of course, if there is an unpaid way of making your website visible on search engine results, there is a paid way. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when you pay search engines to make your law firm’s website visible for relevant keywords. However, you will only need to pay a search engine when someone clicks on your ad.
But why run a PPC campaign instead of using the money to put up a billboard along a national highway? Here’s the thing: Not everyone who would pass by the national highway is your potential clients.
But when someone types in “personal injury lawyer San Diego” on Google, that shows intent to hire a personal injury lawyer. So you have to be there. That’s how PPC can help make your law firm’s website visible online.
Attract Prospects Through Inbound Marketing
SEO and PPC are not just digital marketing techniques. They are also integral for your inbound marketing strategy. From the term itself, inbound marketing refers to marketing tactics that can help you bring in qualified traffic to your online asset (i.e., your website).
However, it does not end with bringing in traffic to your website through SEO and PPC. You have to make sure that they will land on a particular and valuable part of your website.
Using our example earlier, when someone comes into your website after searching for “personal injury lawyer San Diego,” some possible online assets you can present are your Homepage, About page, or Contact Us page.
But if someone lands on your website for “what is a personal injury lawyer?” then you might need to create and optimize a different online asset for that.
Setup Email Marketing Campaigns
There is a reason you should apply inbound marketing for your law firm. This is to help you capture leads, or potential clients, that you can nurture until they eventually hire you. One way to do that is through email marketing.
But when it comes to nurturing potential clients, keep in mind that you should not bombard them with something salesy. Instead, create an automated newsletter campaign that will make them feel that you care about them.
However, your email marketing campaign should be relevant. For example, if you are sending a newsletter to a past client, it can because you are offering a discount should he hire your legal services again. It could also be because you are offering an incentive in case he refers you to a new client.
Develop a Solid Social Media Marketing Strategy
Another way to draw and nurture potential leads is through social media marketing. While it is not necessary to have a presence on all social networks known to man, it is important that you have one where most of your potential clients are.
So, for a personal injury lawyer, this could mean having a Facebook page for your law firm. That’s because most people posts about how they incur a physical injury on their Facebook account.
You can also opt to have an account on Quora so you can answer legal questions related to your practice.
Engage Your Visitors with Video Marketing
It is expected more than half of the general internet traffic will be from video by 2021. This means now is the best time for your law firm to engage in video marketing.
Luckily, it no longer costs a fortune to produce a video. In fact, you can create a video using your smartphone.
As for your law firm, here are some video content ideas:
Other than that, you can also use video to promote the causes that you support. Regardless, make your video content beneficial for your viewers and potential clients. That way, you can establish your law firm’s credibility.
Generate a Content Marketing Strategy
Last but not least, your law firm must have a content marketing strategy. Here’s what would happen if you do not have one:
To kick your content marketing strategy off the ground, you can start by setting up a blog for your law firm.
Like in many industries ‒ such as health, food, and beauty ‒ wherein the marketing landscape has moved online, you need to embrace the change if you want your law firm to acquire new clients. Thus, you will need an effective online strategy that will not just grab their attention but can also help you prove your worth. If you need help with social media, email marketing, SEO, or any other general content marketing needs, contact Social Hospitality for a complimentary consultation.
About the Author: Bryan Mixon is the owner of AmazeLaw where he builds websites for solo and small firm attorneys. Bryan has built websites since 1999 and spent his last four years helping companies like HubSpot, Mill33, and LivingSocial. Bryan knows first-hand how difficult it can be for small business owners to get their digital marketing off the ground, so he built AmazeLaw as a super-simple place for solo attorneys to build their sites, collect leads, and get on with doing lawyerly things.