It should come as no secret that there are plenty of lawyers out there. In fact, there are more than 1.3 million attorneys in the United States. In other words, your clients have more than a few options when choosing an attorney. Often, the decision to choose one law firm over another comes down to branding. Therefore, potential clients need to know what makes your firm special and what attributes you as an attorney can bring to the table. For this reason, branding must be an integral part of your complete marketing strategy.
Why Is a Strong Brand So Important?
As far as clients are concerned, your brand tells them what they get when they agree to work with you. It’s often referred to as a brand promise. Indeed, there are a number of reasons why it makes a difference to have a strong brand.
- It Builds Up Trust and Loyalty – People tend to be loyal to companies that align with their own values. A solid brand conveys authority and trust. If clients really believe they can trust you, they will be loyal to you. And one of the best ways to let people know about your values is through strong branding.
- It differentiates you from the competition – By developing a clear brand strategy, you’ll stand out from other law firms; it will also help you concentrate on your firm’s mission and values.
- Establishes Connections – People usually purchase things based on emotion. A well-defined brand helps you connect with prospective clients on an emotional level, which will lead them to your firm.
Identifying Your Law Firm’s Brand
You need to identify your law firm’s brand, so you can promote it in the right way. One of the best ways to do this is to be clear about your unique value. It’s important to communicate the services you offer, the areas of law in which you specialize, and how you can address your clients’ needs. If you’re a business attorney, you might want to promote your firm as an expert in contracts and business agreements. This will set you apart from your competition and become the theme of your marketing materials.
Establish Your Own Identity
Now you that you know what your brand is, it’s time to create your law firm’s identity. There are a number of elements that you can develop to form your brand identity such as a logo, color scheme, fonts, letterheads and business cards, images, and website copy and blog content. You may not need all of these elements, but you will need to be consistent with the ones you use. For instance, you can start with a logo and then move on to color schemes or fonts before developing your website and other marketing materials.
Add Visuals to Your Content
In addition to incorporating your logo and visuals into printed materials, you should also make them a key part of your law firm’s online marketing efforts. When you post to social media, for instance, you should include photos of your staff and any other images that are relevant to your posts.
Similarly, you should also make use of visuals in your law firm blog posts and marketing emails. In fact, every piece of marketing content should have some type of image associated with it. Visuals result in much higher click-through rates because they attract attention and encourage users to read more. For this reason, visuals should play a big role in your firm’s overall branding strategy. You want to use everything you can to highligt the value your law firm offers its clients.
Promote Your Brand
After you’ve spent time establishing your identity and developing marketing materials, you need to promote your brand properly to increase awareness. And one of the best ways to make your brand recognizable is by creating a robust online presence. Since nearly 90% of consumers who search for a business on their mobile device call or visit that business within 24 hours, you simply cannot thrive in today’s world without a viable online presence.
A big part of your online identity will come from the content you deliver to your target audience. Especially for a law firm, valuable content such as informative blog posts and videos will go a long way towards strengthening your brand. If your law firm handles trusts and estates law, you can post about what to do after a family member passes away. Not only will this type of content generate traffic for your website, but it will also affirm your brand’s authority within your law areas.
You should also think about paid advertising. You can dip your toes into the water by running ads on Facebook or LinkedIn for relatively little cost. With every impression shown to a user, you expand your law firm’s reach by promoting your brand.
Developing a strong brand will take some effort. It’s not a recipe for instant results. If you invest the right amount of time and energy, however, it will become much more recognizable. In time, you will reap the benefits with higher-quality leads and far more conversions.