The possibilities of marketing and growth of your practice are limitless. The more creative you are in selling your services, the more likely you are to generate new customers. And don't just look at how all the other lawyers promote your practice, but look at how others who are successful in their industry and profession advertise their services. You should also read as many marketing books as possible to increase your knowledge base and help create new opportunities for yourself.
Traditional or offline marketing may include billboards, radio and television advertisements, business cards, posters, mail advertising, and summer baseball team sponsorship. This type of marketing is especially important if you're trying to establish yourself as a pillar in your community or generate word-of-mouth referrals. The marketing of a law firm is the practice of attracting new potential clients to your law firm. A law firm marketing plan can cover a combination of digital marketing, SEO, blogs, print and digital ads.
Your marketing plan can also include many other tactics, such as leveraging a law firm's marketing technology to automate various tasks. But no matter how you approach it, marketing your company can easily consume much of your time and energy. In the digital age, your law firm's website is often the first impression a potential client has of you. It's your chance to make a great first impression on website visitors looking to hire a lawyer.
If you are looking to hire an expert to help you create or maintain your website, read our post on the 11 questions to ask when hiring a website designer from a law firm. These tips will provide you with the knowledge you need before signing any contract. If you create a law firm website to promote your firm, but no one finds it when you search online, will potential clients ever meet you? What does this look like from a law firm's marketing perspective? Keep your customer's pain points in mind when creating messages for your website. Focus on showing empathy and addressing those pain points rather than just highlighting the services you offer.
Quickly follow up with leads so potential customers know you're there to help. A well-designed website also contributes to a customer-centric experience. An easy-to-use site shows customers that you've thought about what they need and how they'll navigate your site. JurisPage Powers Law Firm Websites and Helps Lawyers Streamline Their Lead Generation Process.
Founded by a lawyer, Jurispage also integrates directly with Clio, so there is no double data entry when it comes to new contact information. When it comes to marketing a law firm, the best approach is to simply start. Make a small investment, try something new, measure your success and take advantage of what you have learned to improve. Instead of trying too hard, focus on some key areas of marketing.
Create a well-thought-out marketing budget (and stick to it) and use a law firm's marketing technology and tools to support your efforts. Competitive research doesn't have to be difficult. The simplest thing to do is to look for law firms in the same practice area that provide services in the same area as you. Then, do an in-depth analysis of their website and social media to see how they adapt.
All the tips are brilliant and useful for any lawyer to market their legal practice, but my favorite point is to create a list of clients and referrals over time. Communication and connection are also an important factor. This may seem like a silly question, but for professionals working in highly specialized fields that require extensive education and training, it can be easy to forget that their practice works the same way as any other business. Marketing ensures that potential customers not only see your name and the services you offer, but it also provides a way to stand out from the competition.
Just because a lawyer is highly qualified and extremely professional does not guarantee that clients will know how to find him or her. Lawyer marketing is critical to attracting the right kind of clients, building a successful firm, and developing a reputation for authority and excellence in your area of practice. A good video can turn “just another lawyer” into a lawyer with a name, personality and reason for practicing. You can spend a lot of money on legal marketing, but you don't need.
You don't have to be outgoing or charming by nature either. What is needed for good business development, say successful lawyers and consultants who shared their strategies with ABA Journal, is a marketing plan focused on activities that are done well, aimed at the right audience and that is carried out consistently. Give them some time, they say, and business will come. Identifying which marketing tactic doesn't work well will help your marketing strategy succeed, allowing you to stop investing in methods that don't work and invest more in those that do.
However, if your company isn't growing, it's time to face the fact that traditional marketing may not be the most effective use of your marketing money. You can also think of a law firm's marketing technology and tools to help you execute your marketing strategy (learn more below). If you find yourself in this situation, it's time to learn how to promote yourself as a lawyer and how to build a law firm. There are many great ways for new lawyers to promote themselves to new clients, existing clients, and the general public.
For years, lawyers have relied on traditional forms of marketing, such as radio, television and newspaper advertisements, and ignored digital change. Regardless of the marketing methods and marketing technology of the law firm you choose, remember to consider your clients (and potential clients). In addition, you'll learn useful statistics to inform your marketing choices, industry best practices and insights, and the best law firm marketing technology and tools you can use. Email marketing may not be the only outbound marketing you do, but it is one of the most important.
Nowadays, most successful lawyers have specialties, and even a “specialty” within a specialty to be more marketable and in demand. While many lawyers are good at business development, that skill set is very different from that of a successful marketer. The plain truth is that digital marketing strategies (such as Facebook ads, videos, and testimonials) are more effective in growing your law firm than traditional marketing strategies. Before you can start developing marketing plans for your law firm, you'll need to create a legal marketing toolkit.
It doesn't make sense to focus on lawyer marketing if you don't show your contact information front and center like Sarah Fink of Kaiser Dillon PLLC. . .