Why is Legal Marketing important – 4 Steps to do it right

According to the American Bar Association, almost half of law firms (49%) claim that their top-performing marketing channel is purchasing web leads from third-party companies. This suggests that they are relying on buying leads rather than generating their own. However, this approach is not a sustainable long-term strategy and is unlikely to drive growth for legal firms.

The fact that nearly half of the surveyed firms believe that buying leads is a more effective strategy than relying on referrals highlights the importance of digital marketing in today’s business landscape. If law firms want to succeed and thrive in the current market, they need to adopt digital marketing strategies that allow them to connect with potential clients and generate their own leads. By utilizing digital marketing tactics such as SEO, content marketing, and social media, legal firms can build a strong online presence, establish themselves as thought leaders in their field, and attract new business organically.

Legal marketing refers to the practice of promoting legal services and law firms to potential clients. It involves various strategies and techniques aimed at building brand awareness, generating leads, and establishing credibility in the legal industry.

Legal or Law firm marketing is an inclusive term that encompasses all channels and techniques a law firm or practice might use to reach potential clients, it can take many forms from advertisements to social media strategies, including online advertising, content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, event marketing, and more. It aims to reach potential clients through various channels, such as search engines, social media platforms, legal directories, and industry publications.

Effective legal marketing requires a deep understanding of the target audience, their needs and pain points, as well as a thorough knowledge of the legal industry and the regulations governing it. By developing a strategic marketing plan and utilizing the right tactics, law firms can attract more clients, build a strong reputation, and grow their business.

Disclaimer: Lead Generation isn’t about buying leads.

Lead generation is the process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business’s products or services. It involves capturing the interest and contact information of individuals who may be interested in what the business has to offer. Generating leads is important for attorneys because itʼs one of the primary ways legal professionals get more clients and generate more revenue. Here are some interesting insights:

• 96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine to find legal information
• Future clients are at least 5 times more likely to call your practice than fill out an enquiry form. 
• Over 33% of clients start looking for a lawyer online

The goal of lead generation is to create a list of prospects or leads, who can be further nurtured and eventually converted into paying clients. This can be achieved at all stages of the sales funnel and across various channels, although the bottom of the funnel is where hot leads tend to convert most often.

To maximize the effectiveness of your lead generation efforts, it’s crucial to track and report on your marketing efforts. Additionally, implementing a robust lead management system is essential to ensure that you don’t lose out on potential clients and waste marketing resources. Having a system to manage all leads in one place can help you identify high-quality leads and respond promptly to their inquiries. This way, you can optimize your lead generation process and turn more potential customers into loyal clients.

• 59% prefer to book over the phone
• 15% prefer to make appointments via email
• 13% desire to schedule in-person

Mobile-friendly design

With more than 60% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s crucial to have a website that is mobile-responsive. A mobile-friendly website ensures that users have a seamless experience across all devices and can navigate your site easily. Examples of mobile-friendly design include:

• Responsive design: A design that adjusts to fit the screen size of the user’s device.
• Mobile-optimized images: Images that are optimized for mobile devices, so they don’t slow down load times.
• Touch-friendly buttons: Large and easy-to-click buttons that are accessible on mobile devices.

Optimize for Search Engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). Using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques can help increase the visibility of your content and drive traffic to your website. Use relevant keywords, meta descriptions, alt texts to help your content rank higher on search engine results pages.

 Some examples of SEO optimization include:

• Keyword research: Researching the words and phrases your target audience is searching for.
• On-page optimization: Optimizing your website’s content and structure to improve your search engine rankings.
• Local SEO: Optimizing your website for local search results by including location-specific keywords, content and phone numbers.

Clear calls-to-action (CTAs)

CTAs are crucial in converting visitors into leads and ultimately customers. Examples of clear and effective CTAs include:

• Sign up for a newsletter or mailing list
• Schedule a consultation/strategy meeting
• Request a quote or estimate
• Download a resource or guide
• Follow on social media

By optimizing your website with these key elements, you can attract more warm leads to your business and increase your chances of converting them into loyal customers.

Content marketing has become an increasingly important strategy, it is necessary for law firms to produce high-quality legal content that attracts new clients, establishes their expertise in the legal industry, and helps them stand out in a crowded market. To ensure that your legal content writing efforts are effective, consider the following tips:

Identify your target audience: Understanding your target audience is critical to producing content that resonates with them. Identify who your ideal clients are and what their pain points and needs are.

Choose topics that are relevant: The legal industry is vast and complex, and it can be difficult to know where to start. Begin by researching the latest trends and news in your area of expertise, and choose topics that are relevant and interesting to your target audience.

Use plain language: Legal jargon can be confusing for non-lawyers. Write your content using plain language that is easy to understand and avoids legal terms and concepts that may not be familiar to your audience.

Share on social media: Share your content on social media platforms to reach a wider audience and increase engagement. Use hashtags and engaging visuals to make your posts stand out.

Provide value: Your content should provide value to your audience. Whether it’s answering common legal questions or providing insights into the latest legal developments, your content should be informative, helpful, and relevant.

Examples of effective legal content include:

• Blog posts that offer insights into new laws and regulations or provide answers to commonly asked legal questions.
• Case studies that highlight successful outcomes for clients and demonstrate your expertise in a particular area of law.
• Videos or podcasts that provide in-depth analysis of legal issues or feature interviews with experts in the field.
• Infographics that simplify complex legal concepts and make them easier to understand.

Measuring marketing efforts is crucial for any business looking to make data-driven decisions to optimize their marketing strategy and generate more leads and ensuing revenue.

 Here are some key areas to focus on when measuring marketing efforts:

Channel attribution: Knowing which marketing channels are generating the most leads or customers is critical to optimize marketing spend. Attribution models such as first-click, last-click, or multi-touch can help track the customer journey and assign credit to each channel. 

Middle-bottom metrics: Measuring the success of marketing campaigns goes beyond just tracking website traffic. Metrics such as phone calls, form fills, or appointment bookings can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. For example, call tracking software can help businesses track phone leads from specific marketing campaigns, allowing them to identify which campaigns are generating the most phone leads and optimize accordingly.

ROI calculation: Accurately calculating the return on investment (ROI) of marketing campaigns is key to justifying marketing spend and optimizing marketing efforts. This involves tracking all marketing costs, including ad spend, agency fees, or content creation costs, and attributing revenue generated to specific campaigns or channels. For example, if a business spent $1,000 on a Google Ads campaign and generated $5,000 in revenue from it, the ROI would be 400%.

Mapping out your clients’ journey is crucial for law firms to improve their marketing and overall client experience.

Here are five reasons why you should start mapping your clients’ journey:

Optimize Campaigns in the right direction: With multi-channel attribution, you can track the effectiveness of your campaigns across multiple touchpoints, giving you a more accurate view of what’s driving conversions and ROI.

Bridge online with offline: By mapping out your clients’ journey, you can identify gaps between online and offline experiences and work to bridge those gaps. For example, if you find that clients are dropping off after scheduling an appointment online, you can improve your offline experience by making sure your visitors are warmly welcomed when they arrive to your offices.

Better lead management: Mapping your clients’ journey allows you to identify where your leads are coming from, what actions they’re taking on your website, and what content they’re engaging with. This information can help you better manage, nurture and categorize your leads based on intent and tailor your messaging to their specific needs.

More accurate insights on CRM: By integrating your clients’ journey mapping with your CRM, you can get a more accurate view of your clients’ interactions with your law firm over time. This information can help you identify patterns and trends, which can inform your marketing and client experience strategies.

Optimize what’s working and cut what isn’t: By tracking your clients’ journey, you can identify what’s working well and what’s not, allowing you to optimize your marketing efforts and cut out activities that aren’t driving results. For example, if you find that your clients are mostly finding you through referrals, you can double down on your referral marketing efforts and scale back on other channels.

In conclusion, while buying leads from third-party companies might appear to be an effective marketing strategy for law firms, it is not a sustainable long-term approach that can drive growth for legal firms. Digital marketing tactics like SEO, content marketing, and social media, can help law firms build a strong online presence, establish themselves as thought leaders in their field, and attract new business organically.

Effective legal marketing requires a deep understanding of the target audience and a thorough knowledge of the legal industry, and by utilizing the right tactics, law firms can attract more clients, build a strong reputation, and grow their business. Generating leads is crucial for attorneys, and lead generation is about capturing the interest and contact information of individuals who may be interested in the business’s products or services and attract more warm leads increasing their chances of converting them into loyal customers.