Are clients only trickling into your law firm? Are you competing with other area law firms for business? Sometimes, it’s tough to get clients in your doors.
There can be a relatively simple solution. Have you considered marketing your law firm? Think it’s too complicated? You may be surprised at how simple and affordable it can be. We’re going over a few essential tips that can help your law firm get noticed by potential clients.
Come Up with a Marketing Budget
Marketing your law firm doesn’t have to be expensive but it’s also not free. Your firm should expect to put some money into its marketing strategies. As you’re creating a budget, a good tip is to divide the funds into three parts.
Set aside the majority of the budget, around 70%, to fund marketing tactics you know are effective. This can include advertising on television, putting up billboards, etc. Plan on using around 20% of the budget for new marketing ideas. Maybe you’re ignoring your law firm’s online profile. You can use some or all of the money set aside to boost your website in search engine rankings.
With the remaining funds, around 10%, go ahead and experiment. You may be surprised at the results. If the marketing experiment falls flat, you still have the majority of your marketing budget.
Create an Effective Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan is your guide. This is what you follow as you go about marketing your law firm. So, what should you include in your marketing plan? This can vary depending on your law firm’s needs and goals. However, a basic template can look something like the following:
- Your marketing budget
- The goals you’re hoping to accomplish
- Information on your target audience
- A list of marketing tools and methods you’re planning on using. This can include everything from website content, SEO, and social media advertising to email marketing campaigns.
- The expected timeline to meet each goal, along with the personnel responsible for each step of the project
Your plan should also include information on how the law firm will measure performance. This can save a lot of time and questions when everyone involved has a good idea of the hoped for results.
Free Online Listings Can Help Boost Online Profiles
Did you know you can advertise your law firm for free in some online directories? This means you’re not touching your marketing budget. Some directories you don’t want to overlook include platforms like Lawyers.com. The platform lets users search for legal representation by location and field of practice.
Don’t forget about creating a Google business profile. Yes, it’s also free. Once your law firm’s profile is uploaded to Google Maps, your brand will pop up whenever someone searches for an attorney in your area.
Be Active on Social Media
This may take a bit of a chunk out of your advertising budget but it’s also an effective way to boost brand recognition.
Keeping up with even one or two social media sites takes some time, and this is usually where the cost comes in. Your firm is probably going to need to pay someone to keep up with the various platforms. If you can keep it in-house, you may save a little money. Just make sure you’re not overloading one of your firm’s employees.
If you’re not sure what to include in your social media posts, here are a few examples. Don’t worry if everything on the following list doesn’t fit your law firm, these are only examples:
- Featured lawyers
- Case studies
- Behind-the-scenes
- Q&A sessions
- Podcasts
- Interviews
- Testimonials
- Webinars
Don’t forget to include any updates about your law firm. Your potential clients are curious and the more they know the easier it is to build trust in your brand. List all of the achievements your firm receives, including any fun or silly ones. This can help make your law firm seem a little more personable.
Encourage Clients to Leave Reviews
While you don’t want to be too pushy, encouraging your clients to leave reviews is an effective way of boosting your law firm’s profile. You’re also working to establish trust with potential clients.
Consumers tend to pay more attention to what others are saying about a brand, so work on getting plenty of reviews. What happens if your law firm receives a bad review? Don’t panic! Instead, engage with the reviewer and find out what went wrong with their experience.
Consider Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
This digital marketing strategy can be a little controversial. You don’t want to place your law firm’s ads on just any website. For example, an ad for a personal injury attorney on a site dedicated to gardening tips probably isn’t going to bring in clients.
You also want to avoid spammy websites. Advertising on these sites can actually hurt your law firm’s online reputation. Sticking with platforms like LinkedIn Advertising, Google Ads, and even Facebook Ads is often an effective way to reach your target audience. Add in a contact form and you can also start creating a digital mailing list.
Post Informative Videos
If you ever dreamed of being on camera here’s your time to shine. Videos are a great digital advertising tool that can produce phenomenal results. You also get to be the star of the show, at least for a little bit. Videos are a fun and relatively easy way of connecting with potential clients. Your videos can discuss the latest changes to local laws, a case making headlines, or a simple Q & A session.
Your options for video ideas are almost endless, just make sure it has something to do with the legal industry. Your videos can also introduce your law firm and the practicing attorneys. You can give your law firm a more personal feel that can help put clients at ease.
Attract More Clients By Marketing Your Law Firm
Getting the word out about your law firm doesn’t have to be complicated or even expensive. Networking is relatively inexpensive and creating videos can be fun. Just remember to take advantage of different types of marketing strategies. If you run into problems, you can always fall back on your IT department or an SEO service and marketing provider.
