Did you know there are over 1.35 million lawyers in the United States? That’s a lot of competition for a small law firm.
However, just because you’re facing heavy competition, it doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel. It just means you need to educate yourself as much as possible in your industry.
However, this transcends knowing the ins and outs of the law. It also includes knowing how to grow your legal practice through marketing and public relations. We can help.
Keep reading for our top nine secrets to a successful law firm
1. Start Slow
Starting slow is one of the most important rules for growing a law practice. In any industry, one of the biggest mistakes business owners make is starting out too big. You should focus your startup on minimizing overhead costs and allowing your practice to grow as your clientele grows.
Remember, everyone has to start somewhere. While you may think to have a smaller office and fewer resources may convey a sense of inadequacy to your clients, the truth can be quite the opposite. A small law firm feels more personal and less intimidating, which may actually help you gain the trust of new clients.
2. Become a Master of Social Media
As a budding legal practice, you need to have a foot in social media. It may not be your forte, but nearly 72 percent of the American population is on social media. If you want to establish brand awareness, social media is the way to go.
You can use social media marketing organically by posting engaging content and encouraging people to like, comment, and share your posts. You should also strive for as many followers as possible, which will increase your visibility. To appeal to social media users, you must offer them valuable content, engage back, and stay active.
You can also opt to use paid social media advertising to dictate what demographics of people see the ads you run. Then, use analytic tools and data to see how many people are seeing your ads, and how many are engaging (with likes, comments, shares, link clicks, and more).
3. Focus on Your Website’s SEO
A profitable law firm knows the value of search engine optimization. SEO is the coding that search engines use to find relevant data based on a user’s keyword search. When people in your community look for “criminal defense lawyers near me,” your SEO rating will dictate how easily they find you.
You can boost your SEO rating by including a blog on your website full of SEO content. This includes keywords, headings, internal and external links, and more. You should also use metadata encrypted images and videos.
4. Content is Still King
It’s important to understand the mindset of your target audience. When people have a question or a problem, the first thing they do is flock to Google for answers. This is why content is so important to your legal practice.
As suggested above, your website needs to be full of articles with relevant, valuable information to people in search of legal advice or services. Posting articles that are informative boosts your credibility and presents you as an authority to prospective clients.
5. Get Involved in Your Community
Legal marketing has to be about more than advertising. People already feel ambivalent about lawyers due to negative stigmas, TV, and the fact that legal matters are typically unpleasant.
You can combat these feelings by getting involved in your community. Reach out to a local charity and team up with them to host a fund-raising event for their cause. Get other local businesses involved to create hype, improve resources, and boost attendance.
6. Learn How to Delegate
Learning how to grow a law firm means knowing how to delegate certain duties. As you’re well aware, there’s a lot of work involved in legal issues. As your firm grows, it may be worth it to hire a legal assistant.
They can start taking over smaller tasks such as customer-service-related duties as well as tedious clerical work. This includes processing paperwork and intake forms as well as learning how to compress pdf files and manage other basic computer skills.
7. Know When to Hire Specialists
Sometimes, however, learning how to delegate duties in your legal practice means hiring professionals who operate outside your scope of capabilities. For example, your law firm could benefit greatly from hiring IT specialists, an accountant, or a marketing agency.
While we understand that your main objective as a business owner is to minimize costs and maximize profit, you could be hurting your firm by resisting professional services. For example, a poorly designed website conveys a sense of incompetence and can turn away clients.
8. Genuinely Invest in Your Clients
It’s important to remember that the people coming to you for legal counsel are typically in a state of distress (even if it’s below the surface). To grow your legal practice and become popular in your community, make sure you’re addressing people as humans first and clients second.
Genuinely invest in your clients’ problems and be willing to answer questions, regardless of how they pertain to the case. While you should also establish a certain degree of professionalism, remember that they’ll look to you for reassurance and guidance throughout the process.
9. Advertise With Reviews and Testimonials
Finally, understand that the average consumer is intelligent and well educated. For example, 88 percent of consumers research products and services online before they ever finalize a decision.
However, you can take advantage of this by posting positive reviews and testimonials online from previous clients. People considering your services want to know their legal matters (and possibly their futures) will be in competent hands. You can tell them all day long how good you are, but it will be better received if it’s coming from people who were once in their shoes.
Looking for More Resources to Improve Your Legal Practice?
If you want to improve your legal practice and create the potential for growth, we can help. Check out some of our other articles or take a look at our upcoming events and conferences. Finally, be sure to create an account to join us in our discussions or subscribe to our email.
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