Marketing for lawyers has evolved. Typical Google PPC (Pay Per Click) ads and traditional SEO keyword practices that, in the past, may have brought clients through the front door are not as effective as they used to be. For a law firm to add to its case load, a greater online presence is necessary going forward.
A New Way to Think About Your Website
Does your firm have a website that features responsive, rich content, as opposed to just a landing page with your contact information and a few blurbs? Clients have moved beyond the stage of merely seeking out a firm’s email and phone number; they want to see:
• White Papers
• Blog Posts
• Videos
• Testimonials
• Press Releases
• Case Histories.
It’s no longer enough to just throw a few hooks out into the Internet ocean and hope that you get a few bites; you want your company’s website to be a destination in and of itself, with useful content that will catch the interest of a client and keep them reading your material, versus simply scanning a 100-word ad on a third-party site.
Think About Original Content
Original content can be created by your firm or it can be outsourced to a third-party, but in either case it’s profitable to view your site through the lens of a prospective client.
Try to think about the content such a client would like to see, what is likely to hold their interest and what will increase the likelihood of their making a decision to employ your firm. Clients want to see you as a legal authority, not merely as an advertiser. Talk about current legal topics or topics of interest to the local community that have a legal aspect. Answer relevant legal questions, or even just raise the questions themselves to stir client interest.
Use of Social Media
In addition to your website, social media is a good platform to distribute your content on. Think about:
• Facebook posts
• LinkedIn Pulse posts
• Tweets to join in on relevant hashtags
• Blog pages
All of the above are natural outlets for spreading content, boosting SEO and targeting clients by niche category. If your firm focuses on specific types of cases, this can be a straightforward way to organize content and/or create social media segmentation. For instance, if your firm handles personal injury litigation for auto accidents, slip and fall cases and dog bites, try having a page or an outlet for each of those.
While it’s true that creating such content may take time and energy, the investment is well worthwhile. Content that you develop is yours alone and is unique. Content can be reused, repurposed, re-worded and re-edited. Online marketing materials can be transformed into offline materials with relative ease. But the goal is to define what makes your firm unique and makes you more memorable to viewers and readers.
“Become the Fish”
Rather than trying to “catch fish” through traditional, outbound marketing, you should “become the fish” and employ inbound marketing techniques. Process your materials in a way that clients will find tasty and inviting, and then invite them to your banquet. Marketing for lawyers needn’t be about casting a net and trying to capture litigants, but rather about getting clients to come to you and seeing your firm as a resource that will successfully solve their legal problems or answer their questions.
For additional pointers, try Googling “Inbound Marketing” and see what other firms are doing in this area to create unique content. A few ideas will probably come to mind for your own firm, and then you can work out how best to execute them.
Measure Your Efforts
Inbound marketing is an ongoing process, so be sure to test the success of your efforts with website performance metrics and reporting. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are always more useful than speculation. And of course, the ultimate test is your firm’s bottom line. But there’s no better time to get started than the current moment on creating your own exclusive content.