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How to market a Law Firm on the Internet?
In today’s digital age, online advertising has become an essential component of marketing strategies for law firms looking to grow and expand their client base.
While traditional marketing methods like ads in newspapers and posters can still be somewhat effective, online advertising offers a more cost-effective and targeted way to reach prospective clients.
However, for law firm owners who are completely new to online advertising, it can be overwhelming to navigate the many options and platforms available. There also are hundreds of marketers out there claiming to be the best.
In this blog, we will cover the basics of law firm advertising online, including the benefits of online advertising and common advertising channels.
We will also provide you with some advice on how to choose the right marketing agency for you.
Whether you’re looking to build brand awareness or drive enquiries and conversions, this blog will help you get started with law firm advertising online.
Key steps to market a law firm effectively
Marketing a law firm effectively involves several key steps. We outline them below.
Define Your Target Audience
Before you begin spending money on SEO or PPC advertising, identify the ideal clients that you want to attract to your law firm.
This might include specific demographics, geographic areas, or practice areas.
By understanding your target audience, you can create marketing messages and campaigns that resonate with them which will lead to more enquiries.
Develop a Strong Brand Identity
Having a strong brand identity can help you differentiate your law firm from other competitors and establish trust with potential clients.
Developing a strong brand identity includes perfecting your logo, colour scheme, and messaging that reflects your firm’s values, mission, and expertise.
Remember, consistency is key.
Build a Solid and Professional Website
A fast, user-friendly website is critical to all of your online marketing efforts.
Ultimately, no matter how or where you choose to advertise your law firm, most of your prospects will end up visiting your website to verify your firm or see your contact information.
Your website should, therefore, be easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and optimised for search engines like Google so it can be found.
It is also important to include calls to action (CTAs) which are specific instructions or prompts that encourage your visitors to take a particular action, such as ‘make a phone call’ or ‘fill out our contact form’.
Your website should also provide valuable content that addresses the needs and questions of your target audience. This will show your legal clients and prospect that you are an expert in your field.
Invest in SEO and Content Marketing
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is essential to driving traffic to your law firm’s website.
By optimising your website and its content for relevant keywords and by using a combination of SEO techniques, you can improve your search engine visibility and ranking, and attract more organic traffic to your site.
In addition to being more visible in search results, writing helpful blogs and articles can help you generate more clients by establishing your law firm as a credible and authoritative source of information on legal topics.
When you create high-quality content that is informative and engaging, potential clients are more likely to trust and value your expertise.
This can lead to increased traffic to your website and more opportunities to convert visitors into paying clients.
Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms can be powerful digital marketing tools for law firms.
By creating a strong social media presence and regularly sharing valuable content, you can increase your reach and engagement with potential clients.
If you don’t plan on being active on social media, you should still claim your profiles. Later, you may find them useful for running specific ad campaigns and remarketing/retargeting campaigns. The platform Facebook Ads can be used for this.
Use Legal Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Legal Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising allows you to target specific keywords, locations and demographics and display ads at the top of search engine results pages.
Collect and Display Client Reviews
Collect reviews on your Google Business Profile or popular platforms like Trustpilot and display them prominently on your website and social media platforms to generate more work.
Online reviews can play a significant role in building trust and credibility with new clients. According to a 2020 survey by BrightLocal, 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, including law firms. 79% of people trust them as much as personal recommendations from friends or family.
Positive reviews can help establish your law firm’s reputation and demonstrate expertise.
Additionally, responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, can show potential clients that a law firm values their feedback and is committed to providing excellent service.
Track your efforts
Tracking the results of your advertising, social, and SEO campaigns is absolutely critical to their success.
Without data, you are simply guessing about what is and isn’t working, which can result in wasted ad spend and missed opportunities to generate enquiries and conversions for your firm.
Make use of the free tools available (such as Google Analytics) and communicate with your marketing team.
Benefits of Advertising Law Firm Online
There are numerous benefits to advertising your law firm online, including:
- Wide and targeted reach: Online advertising allows you to serve your ads to specific demographics, interests, and behaviours. This ensures that your ads are seen by the right people, making them more likely to convert into paying clients.
- It is cost-effective: Online advertising can be a lot more cost-effective than traditional advertising methods. You can set your own budget and only pay for the clicks or impressions that your ads generate as opposed to paying for ad space.
- Measurable: Online advertising is highly measurable. It allows you to track your ad performance in real time. You can see how many clicks, impressions, and conversions your ads are generating, and adjust your campaigns accordingly to optimise your results.
- Flexible: Online advertising is highly flexible, allowing you to adjust your campaigns in real time based on the generated data. You can make changes to your ad copy, targeting, or bidding strategy to improve your performance and maximise your return on investment.
- Brand awareness: Online advertising can be an affordable but powerful tool for building brand awareness. By displaying your ads in various places on the internet, you can increase your visibility and make your brand more recognisable to potential customers.
Overall, online advertising for law firms is a powerful and cost-effective way to reach a specific audience, track your results, and generate more enquiries.
How to be successful?
Marketing a law firm effectively requires a multi-faceted approach that involves building a strong brand identity, developing a professional website, investing in SEO, leveraging social media, utilising pay-per-click advertising, and displaying client reviews.
If you don’t have the time and budget to undertake all of these marketing activities at once, take a more strategic approach.
Think about your priorities and which types of work will generate revenue for you faster. Prioritise those and once you have generated a ROI, reinvest.
Your legal marketing experts can help you decide how to get started and what steps to take.
At Intellistart, we don’t lock our clients in long-term contracts (unless you request one). This means, if you want to stop one of the services for a couple of months, there are no penalties for leaving us early.
We believe in effective law firm marketing and want to help you attract and retain more clients and grow your legal practice.
Case Study
How to choose the right marketing agency for my law firm?
Choosing the right marketing agency for your law firm can be a difficult decision.
Here are some factors to consider when selecting a marketing agency to help you with your marketing:
- Experience: Look for a marketing agency that has experience working within the legal sector. An agency that has experience in law firm marketing will be better equipped to understand your firm and your clients and create effective marketing strategies that will generate work, rather than just impressions. Legal marketing is different to, e.g. retail marketing.
- Reputation: Research the agency’s reputation and track record. Look for case studies, reviews or testimonials from past clients. Ask for examples of successful campaigns they have run in the past. Don’t be shy to ask how many clients they generated. If you are looking for web design services, ask to see their designs live.
- Services offered: Consider the specific marketing services the agency offers, and whether they align with your marketing goals. For example, if you’re looking to increase your online presence, look for an agency that specialises in pay per click and search engine optimisation.
- Communication: Look for an agency that communicates clearly and regularly. You should feel comfortable talking to them and discussing your marketing goals and concerns. They should be responsive to your needs.
- Cost-effectiveness: Consider the agency’s pricing and whether it aligns with your marketing budget. Ask what return on investment you can expect or what ROI they have achieved for their clients. Make sure to get a clear idea what is included in their services. Will you be able to contact them during working hours when you have questions or concerns? This could be a problem if they are based or outsourcing staff from overseas.
- Culture fit: Finally, consider whether the agency is a good cultural fit for your law firm. You should feel comfortable working with them and confident that they will represent your law firm in a professional and effective manner. Research their website and social media profiles. If they mostly work in other industries, it may take time for them to learn about your and your clients’ needs.
Overall, choosing the right marketing agency for your law firm is an important decision that requires very careful consideration.
By considering the factors outlined above, you can make an informed decision and find an agency that will help you achieve your marketing goals.
