When you are just getting started with a new subject, where is the best place to start?
Any guesses?
Using the process of elimination, we can see that starting with advanced techniques involving artificial intelligence and data tracking wouldn’t be very forgiving to a newbie.
Likewise, getting lost in a sea of technical marketing jargon that does more harm than good would be unfavorable as well.
How about we start with the basics instead?
Or better yet, break down the information that seems complicated and convert it into something useful.
Throughout this article, we will be breaking down the basics of law firm digital marketing and what you need to know about.
Feel free to skip around and take what you need from this post using the table of contents above!
Let’s dive in.
What Is Law Firm Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is the act of utilizing the internet, social media, mobile devices, search engines, along with many other methods, to promote your business to potential customers.
The 8 Types Of Digital Marketing You Should Be Aware Of Are:
- Social media marketing
- Search engine marketing
- SEO
- PPC
- Email marketing
- Content marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Mobile marketing
- Audio marketing
- Video marketing
For a more in-depth overview of all of these topics, check out our article: The 8 Highly Profitable Types Of Digital Marketing.
The Importance of Your Online Presence
If your business cannot be found on the internet, most people will not come to you for your services.
Why?
Simple, most people start their buys journey online, and when your competition comes up instead of you, people will never know you even exist.
There are currently 4,208,571,287 internet users looking for lawyers just like you to represent them and take on their case.
To sum up, why being online is essential, let’s set up a scenario that plays out daily for lawyers everywhere.
Joe runs a small personal injury law firm named Joes Law in Dallas, Texas, and doesn’t have an online presence to represent what he does best.
Someone in the area is looking for a lawyer and turns to google to search “personal injury lawyer Dallas Texas.”
The results show this searcher practices like Thompson law, Mullen & Mullen law firm, and many others.
The person searching will see all joes competition in the area without even thinking twice about going with them over Joes Law solely based on quickly finding them online and getting in touch with a few finger taps.
Joe misses out on another potential client without understanding why.
Unfortunately, this happens to lawyers everywhere.
Luckily it doesn’t need to be you, or even if it is, we can fix it!
Law Firm Online Presence Checklist
I want to give you an excellent head start toward getting your firm on the map for the world to see and find.
Follow this checklist and fix the things that need improvement.
1. Website
Think of your website as a 24/7 sales team.
Your website doesn’t get sick, it doesn’t need vacations, and you don’t even need to pay it much more than the startup costs that vary depending on whether you do it yourself or hire an outside source take care of it for you.
A website can give your future clients all the information they are searching for all in one place.
You can list things like:
- Testimonials
- Client case studies
- Complete list of services
- Contact information
- Links to social media
- Blog posts for your content marketing efforts
- Company updates
- Email collection lists
You are not limited to what is listed above, but I just wanted to give you a better idea of what advantages you could utilize.
To get started with making your own online home on your own, watch this short video for a step by guide on getting started right now:
If you would like someone to do it for you, check out the web design specialists we recommend for your industry.
2. Social Media
Social media has made networking and connecting with other people around you more accessible than ever.
As a lawyer, your success is massively influenced by referrals and the connection you make daily.
Here are the platforms you should highly consider implementing into your arsenal of social media marketing efforts:
- Facebook: if you didn’t know already, Facebook is the biggest social media platform out there with 2.7 Billion monthly active users. Don’t make it harder on yourself than it needs to be. Position yourself where your potential clients are already hanging out.
- Instagram: There are 1 Billion monthly active users on Instagram for you to get your name in front of. Instagram is all photo and video-based, meaning that high-quality visual content is a must.
- Youtube: Every day, people watch more than 1 billion hours of youtube content. Video is taking over when it comes to search. If people want to know about a subject or be entertained, they turn to youtube as a trusted source of information. Get used to making videos now before it’s too late to stand out.
- Linkedin: Linkedin has over 660 million active monthly users and is primarily focused on business. When you are trying to connect with other professionals who want to form a mutually beneficial relationship and partnership, this is the place to go.
Don’t wait to get started with your social media presence.
Pick one platform that you like the most, get good at using it, and create valuable content that will make people want to do business with you.
3. Google My Business
Google my business is a free service provided by… you guessed it, google.
It’s a great way to get in front of people looking for local businesses (like you) and want to get in touch with them.
By creating a google my business for your firm, you will reap benefits like:
- Showing up in google map searches
- Ranking higher in google search results
- Increased online visibility
- Higher levels of trust due to showing up high on google search results
- Free google advertising(they will show your business on results for free)
Sounds fantastic, right?
All you need to do is:
- Go to google.com/business
- Click on “Manage now.”
- Enter in your business name
- Enter in your business location, and if you deliver
- Choose the category your business falls under
- Add a business phone number or website.
- Choose a verification method you would like to use
And that’s pretty much all there is to it.
The whole process should only take you about 10-15 minutes to fill everything out.
For a great, more in-depth guide to setting up your google my business account and getting the most out of it, check out this article by HubSpot.
4. Online Directories
Online directories are another great way to get more online visibility for your law firm.
Directories are a more detailed, industry-specific version of the yellow pages.
People turn to directories when searching for law firms, plumbers, doctors, and pretty much any other industry you could imagine.
The more times your firm shows up when people are searching, the more trustworthy they feel you are, and the more likely you will be the winning choice when it comes to whom they want to partner with.
There are many significant directories for law firms just like yours to list their practice, such as:
For a full list of updated directories that you have at your disposal, click here.
5. Create A Blog
Blogs are the fuel to your content marketing rocketship. The more fuel you add, the further you will go.
You are essentially spreading your website’s reach and allowing more people to find you on search engines for topics related to your industry.
The benefits of starting and regularly creating blogs for your website are:
- Increased website traffic
- Increased credibility online
- You look like an authority in your industry
- Provide value to your readers
- Create a relationship with new readers
- Share your knowledge with people looking for it
- Sharpen your writing skills
There aren’t any downsides to blogging besides the time you will need to put into it upfront to write useful pieces of content.
If you want a step by step guide on how to get started with your blog, check out this article by Neil Patel.
6. Start An Email Newsletter
Starting an email newsletter could be the best investment you’ve made when it comes to law firm digital marketing.
Email marketing has the most significant ROI when compared to all other digital marketing channels.
If you already have a decent-sized audience that follows your work or clients that you would like to add more value to and strengthen your relationship with them, starting an email newsletter would be a great way to do so.
A newsletter can be used for an abundant amount of things such as:
- Updating on company news
- Insights or invitations to events happening you would like to showcase
- Informing about new blog posts
- Sharing client case studies
- Displaying success stories with other clients
- Calls to action linking to products you offer or a booking link for consultations.
- Showcasing videos you made
Even if you don’t have an audience yet, you will as time goes on, and you continue to make more connections through your line of work.
If you aren’t already implementing an email newsletter into your law firm digital marketing strategy, consider checking our post on the best free options you have at your fingertips.
We have linked helpful how-to guides for each of the options. You can check it out here.
The Pros of Law Firm Digital Marketing
With the easy-to-follow checklist above, it’s always good to know your potential upside when implementing new strategies into your business.
The pros of implementing a digital marketing strategy for your law firm are:
- Digital marketing is more cost-effective than traditional marketing due to you having control over how much you spend on advertising efforts.
- Effective measurability from advertising campaigns to see what is working and what is not working in great detail for better decision making.
- You can target your precise target audience around the internet.
- You can reach people at any stage within the buyer’s journey.
- It’s easy to A/B test strategies or ads to see what works best for your business.
- Higher conversion rates due to being able to target the right audience.
- Most people start their buyer’s journey researching online.
- Digital marketing levels the playing field between you and your competitors.
The Cons Of Law Firm Digital Marketing
Now that you know the upsides, it’s also important to be aware of the potential cons.
The cons of digital marketing for your law firm are:
- There is a steep learning curve when it comes to learning all the aspects of digital marketing.
- It is very time consuming and can be challenging to balance prioritizing the clients you have and marketing to new ones.
- Law firm digital marketing is very competitive, and if you don’t know what you are doing, it will cost you considerably.
- Complaints and feedback will be public for the world to see. This could be seen as a good or bad thing depending on the quality work you do and the relationships formed between your clients.
- Your message might get drowned out if you don’t target the keywords and audiences due to the amount of competition.
- If your first impression isn’t strong, people will go with your competition.
Conclusion
Law firm digital marketing is essential when trying to stand out online and build relationships with more potential clients.
The more you can get your message and business in front of those looking for it, the more potential clients you will acquire.
One thing to keep in mind is that digital marketing, just like everything else, requires time and consistency.
If you want the most out of your marketing efforts, consider partnering with a specialist that understands exactly what to do and how to get the results you are looking for so you can focus on what you do best, helping your clients.
Thank you for sticking around with me, and I hope you found some value that will help take you to the next level.
Consider checking out the specialists we recommend above and signing up for our email newsletter below, where we send out our best content and news straight to your inbox so you can stay up to date with the best methods for getting more results in your law firm.
Thanks with regard to delivering this type of terrific write-up. Alisha Franny Hassett
Hey Alisha, thanks for taking the time to read it over, and I’m glad you enjoyed it!