Many law firms succumb to the idea that word-of-mouth marketing and their longstanding reputation are sufficient to add to their client base. However, every law firm can benefit from a strong online presence. Regardless of other marketing efforts, a firm’s website remains a major part of its branding.
If you wouldn’t dare to have a ramshackle office in a dilapidated building that was hard find, why would you have a website that isn’t up-to-date or doesn’t adequately showcase your services? Indeed, every potential client is bound to check out your website before entering into a business arrangement.
Whether you have a small boutique law firm or a big city practice, how you market your services is the linchpin to your success. After all, you cannot gain the trust of your clients if they don’t know who you are.
Keeping this in mind, we have provided several basic marketing techniques to reinforce your online presence and to bring in more clients.
Solidify Your Intake Process
It is amazing how much time some law firms spend talking about acquiring clients and billable hours without ever focusing on their client intake process. If the person answering the phone doesn’t sound knowledgeable or professional, your firm stands to lose clients before they ever speak to a lawyer. Calls that constantly go to voicemail or aren’t answered in a timely fashion also contribute to lost business.
The key takeaway here is that you may sabotage your online marketing efforts if you don’t take the intake process seriously. The firm that returns phone calls and responds to online consultation requests promptly and professionally stands a much better chance of converting those sought-after leads into clients.
Engage in Relevant Social Media
It almost doesn’t bear repeating that social media is a major component of brand awareness nowadays. Nonetheless, it’s not enough just to be active on social media; your choice of platforms should be tied into the type of law you practice.
For instance, if your firm handles legal counsel for businesses, then LinkedIn would be more appropriate than Facebook because it’s better for B2B interactions. Due to its standing within the professional world, law firms can rapidly boost their visibility with a LinkedIn company page replete with helpful legal content. Attorney profiles also add a personal touch that resonates with clients.
On the other hand, if you firm specializes in B2C services such as divorce or family law, Facebook is the better choice.
Although social media may not be the most important marketing avenue for law firms, it’s still influential to a firm’s brand. Social media offers a way for firms to engage with present and future clients in a way that a website cannot. With more people using things like Facebook Messenger to contact businesses, firms simply cannot ignore the power of this platform.
Set Up Specialized Pages
Typically, law firms have a number of different specialties. For instance, an attorney that handles family law may deal with divorce, child custody, and domestic violence among other areas. Even though many people may be aware that these areas fall under the banner of family law, the trick is not to lose out on people searching for those specific services.
For this reason, it’s important to have a drop-down menu listing different specializations, so potential clients can find them right away. By having dedicated pages describing each of your services, you can go into greater detail about what you offer, and you also have another place in which to optimize for keywords for those specific areas.
Embrace Email Marketing
So, this is where you can tap into the word-of-mouth marketing that has been one of the keys to your success thus far. If you build up trust in your brand, clients are more likely recommend you to friends and family.
One of the simplest and least expensive ways to do this is through email marketing. By sending out a regular newsletter, you can introduce yourself to clients and demonstrate your legal expertise to subscribers. For example, you can share information about changes to local laws or decisions in recent cases. While email marketing is definitely not a novel concept, statistics show that it remains one of the most trusted methods of communication. Therefore, it’s a terrific way to stay in contact with existing clients and to stimulate interest in new ones.
Conclusion
Consequently, any law firm looking to increase profits and raise awareness quickly should employ these marketing techniques. Not only will these tactics help to raise your search ranking, but they will also strengthen your relationship with your target audience. While every firm wants to attract more visitors to their site, the ultimate goal is to convert them once they arrive. Using these tips, you can both enhance your online presence and increase conversions while separating your law firm from the competition.