Attorneys have a significant number of responsibilities to look after. While the majority of these will focus on their client’s case, they also need to think about gaining new clients as they grow. As such, the majority of them will need to think about marketing their law firm.
However, this could be much more complicated than many people may initially believe. The majority of this is because there’s a variety of marketing strategies to take advantage of. Coupled with this is the fact that they offer varying degrees of success. This could then mean that many attorneys might not know where to start.
There are quite a large number of digital marketing strategies that have shown to be quite effective. While the majority of them will take a significant time investment, they should show a large amount of dividends in the long-term.
However, it’s worth noting that digital marketing success may not come quickly for everyone. Instead, it’s a process that could take a while to design and implement and may need to be tweaked over time.
As such, attorneys should know that they’ll have to spend more time than they might have considered. By focusing on a few specific digital marketing strategies and tips, they should see a large return on investment over time.
Have A Strong Website
A website plays an essential role in a law firm’s digital marketing campaigns. This is because it’s the foundation for all of the other strategies that will be used. As a result, it’s vital that every attorney ensures that their website looks professional and appropriately represents the firm.
This will be where an attorney will place all of their basic information, plus a significant amount of high-quality content to draw in potential clients. The site will have to be a representation of the firm itself, including its values, practices, and more.
As the majority of law firms now have a website, most will have to go the extra mile to make sure that there’s stands out. There are a variety of ways that this could be done, with one of the more notable being offering answers to commonly asked legal questions, among others.
Use SEO Effectively
While search engine optimization (SEO) may sound relatively simple, it can be more complex than many people may think. This is the process of using the right online strategies and words on your website to rank on search engines. For a growing attorney’s office, this could prove to be a vital aspect of many campaigns.
Typically, there are a few best practices and tips that will need to be implemented, including:
- Local Keywords: These are terms or phrases used by people in an attorney’s geographical area while they’re looking for a legal office. This can be one of the more important aspects of an attorney’s SEO campaign, as it will help to attract local clients who are already looking for legal help.
- Categorize The Website: Website categories can make much more of a difference than many people might expect. This makes it much more indexable by search engines while also helping potential clients to navigate the site. This can be especially helpful given the various services an attorney might provide.
- Optimizing Pages: Optimizing individual webpages is an aspect that many people might overlook. However, this makes the website much easier to index and rank on search engines, with this playing a significant role in visibility.
As complicated as these strategies may seem, there is a wide range of resources for attorneys to take advantage of, such as the attorney SEO guide by DAGMAR Marketing. As a result, the majority of law offices should be able to take advantage of these for their strategy.
Like many other digital marketing areas, this could take a significant amount of time to get right. This is mainly because it will involve an extensive amount of research into keywords, competition, trends, and much more.
Alongside this are a variety of other factors that could affect a website’s SEO, which means that attorneys will need to spend a large amount of time on maintenance.
Embrace Social Media
The majority of people use social media, which has made it a vital area for many companies to pursue. The sheer number of people that a firm will be able to reach means that it’s a difficult marketing strategy to ignore. Coupled with this is the fact that it allows firms to engage with potential clients much more than they otherwise would have.
This allows attorneys to start building a relationship with potential clients before they’ve walked into the office. As a result, the communication and contact that social media provides should mean that firms will be more likely to generate leads and appointments through social media.
These can also be used to make sure that the firm has a positive public image while also expanding their potential customer base.
Use The Power Of Content Marketing
Content marketing is an area that has become increasingly popular for the majority of firms. This is primarily because it offers a variety of benefits. Perhaps the largest of these is that it allows an attorney to highlight their expertise, which could then encourage potential clients to contact them.
This is the process of consistently producing high-quality content covering specific topics. By doing this regularly, attorneys should be able to create an authoritative image based on their content. This will subsequently have an impact on their reputation and overall lead generation.
By coupling this with SEO, attorneys should be able to see a significant return on investment. This will not only highlight the experience that a particular firm has, but also help them to rank highly on various search engines.
Keep Your Blog Up To Date
While many people may assume that a blog and content marketing are the same things, this isn’t always the case. Instead, there can be a slew of differences between them. Content marketing focuses on developing high-quality content about specific subjects. Blogging, however, could be used for more PR-related posts.
For example, attorneys that are actively involved in the community and charitable events will be able to highlight these in blog posts. This could then lead to a variety of benefits, with much of this being centered on the firm’s reputation.
Furthermore, many potential clients like to know that an attorney is active where they live. As such, this could make them more likely to consider hiring them.
Try Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the more cost-effective approaches to marketing any firm. This is because it takes just a little investment to start up and maintain while also providing a variety of benefits. It also allows attorneys to keep in contact with their clients and provide regular updates.
This could then provide various benefits in the future, such as making the potential client much more likely to think of the attorney when they need legal help. There are a few ways that an email can be collected, including:
- Giving away an ebook in exchange for an email address
- Asking on the website
- Gathering email addresses at an in-person event or meeting
By sending out regular newsletters, preferably focused on high-quality content and blogs that have been created, attorneys should be able to keep themselves in a client’s mind. This should then mean that they’ll see more appointments over time.
Hire A Professional
Quite a large number of attorneys may try to do many of the above themselves. However, this might not often be the most recommended route, as it requires a lot of time and dedication. If you’re busy with your practice and are trying to head of the marketing project, this split focus could lead to a variety of mistakes. The majority of people will want to avoid these as much as possible. This is why it’s recommended that they hire a professional.
There are several benefits to this, many of which should be self-evident. Perhaps the largest of these is that a digital marketing professional will know the best ways to implement each of the above strategies. As a result, they’ll be able to maximize the returns that a law firm sees.
Coupled with this is the fact that designing and implementing each of the above strategies can be much more complicated than many people may assume. This could mean that many people who don’t have expertise in digital marketing may quickly become overwhelmed. Much of this could explain why mistakes can be common among non-professionals.
Alongside this, digital marketing professionals will be much more well-versed in the various intricacies of different marketing strategies. This should mean that they’ll be able to determine an attorney’s needs and adjust the marketing strategy accordingly. This should then feed back into maximizing the results that are seen.
Each of the above digital marketing tips should have a considerable impact on lead generation. As a result, every attorney will be able to see a significant increase in engagement, which should prove to be beneficial in client acquisition, among others.
As such, they can all be vital for a firm’s success, especially during its early years. This should mean that they’ll need a large time investment. This means that patience could prove to be vital, as results may not be seen immediately. Instead, it may take several weeks before the strategies see dividends.
