Lawyers typically have competition regardless of their legal specialty. Even pet attorneys, yes it’s a thing, often compete for clients. After all, every pet owner wants the best for their furry companion and this includes legal representation.
Hanging a sign in front of your office and even paying for a billboard is a start. However, it’s rarely enough to reach all of your potential clients. Effective legal marketing combines both traditional and digital advertising methods. If you’re not sure how to get started spreading the word about your law firm, here’s a look at some simple marketing ideas.
Traditional Marketing Strategies for Law Firms
Okay, put your laptop and mobile devices away. You’re not going to need them for these relatively simple marketing ideas. Traditional advertising means staying offline so go ahead and rent that billboard space. You can also run ads in local newspapers.
Don’t forget about community newsletters. Even though your readership is limited to a neighborhood or two, community newsletters can be a great way to introduce your law firm.
And don’t forget a majority of your clientele is going to be local so take advantage of any available advertising space.
Be Social
When was the last time you showed up at a networking event? Have you ever been to one? If you’re skipping out on networking events you’re missing a great chance to promote your law firm.
Sure, you’re probably not going to pick up clients at these events, but you’re getting the word out among your peers. Forging social connections, even business relationships, can do wonders for your firm’s client list. You can pick up referrals from other law firms and send some to other practicing attorneys.
Even if the thought of mixing and mingling with others isn’t your idea of a good time, you should still plan on going. Who knows, you may even surprise yourself by having a good time meeting others in the legal community.
Use the Post Office
Not everyone pays attention to their email accounts. Surprisingly, not everyone has an email account. Just because someone isn’t online doesn’t mean they’re not dealing with legal issues.
The only potential issue with this old-school advertising method is the potential cost. Postage can quickly get expensive even if you’re only sending out postcards.
To help keep costs down, don’t send out postcards to everyone living in the area. Whittle down the list a bit by setting parameters. Try to stick within a specific demographic and area. So, if your law office is downtown, try to keep your mailing list to the surrounding area.
Digital Marketing Ideas for Law Firms
The ball is rolling on your traditional marketing campaigns. You’re off to a good start and now it’s time to take your advertising up a bit. Your law firm also needs a digital marketing strategy. This includes having a website and advertising online to name a few ideas.
Review Your Existing Website
You probably looked over every bit of your law firm’s website when it launched. However, when was the last time you really looked at what’s on the site?
A simple and effective digital marketing strategy is optimizing your website. You’re probably going to need to run an audit to identify any issues. So, what are you looking for?
Your website should be mobile-friendly. If it’s not, you’re probably not reaching all of your target audience. Around 90% of clients search for an attorney online and most use a mobile device. You don’t want to miss out on attracting any of these potential clients.
- Fix broken links and weird misdirections. Click on all links posted on the website and make sure each one is valid. Don’t forget internal links. Are these links taking users to the correct page/site?
- Check your website’s speed. Is your website bogging down, glitching, or otherwise running slow? Now’s the time to address any of these annoying issues.
- Find out if your sitemap is current. Your sitemap is what search engines use as they crawl your site. If anything isn’t current or current your site can drop down in the search engine rankings.
This is also the time to create meta and title information. This plays a role in your site’s search engine rankings. If you’re already feeling a little overwhelmed don’t panic. Your IT department or an SEO services provider can take care of any website optimization tasks.
Start Creating Videos
If you ever dreamed of being on camera here’s your time to shine. Videos are a great digital advertising tool that can produce phenomenal results. You also get to be the star of the show, at least for a little bit.
Videos are a fun and relatively easy way of connecting with potential clients. Your videos can discuss the latest changes to local laws, a case making headlines, or a simple Q & A session.
Your options for video ideas are almost endless, just make sure it has something to do with the legal industry. Your videos can also introduce your law firm and the practicing attorneys. You can give your law firm a more personal feel that can help put clients at ease.
Consider Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
This digital marketing strategy can be a little controversial. You don’t want to place your law firm’s ads on just any website. For example, an ad for a personal injury attorney on a site dedicated to gardening tips probably isn’t going to bring in clients.
You also want to avoid spammy websites. Advertising on these sites can actually hurt your law firm’s online reputation.
Sticking with platforms like LinkedIn Advertising, Google Ads, and even Facebook Ads is often an effective way to reach your target audience. Add in a contact form and you can also start creating a digital mailing list.
Marketing Your Law Firm Doesn’t Have to be Complicated
Getting the word out about your law firm doesn’t have to be complicated or even expensive. Networking is relatively inexpensive and creating videos can be fun.
Just remember to take advantage of different types of marketing strategies. If you run into problems, you can always fall back on your IT department or an SEO service and marketing provider.