With the advent of technology and the age of digitization, there has been a drastic shift in how everyday activities are carried out. Many routine tasks are now made easier through gadgets and the Internet. As a consequence, effective online marketing becomes a necessity. This article will discuss online marketing for lawyers.
Ever since the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic, the amount of dependency on online facilities has increased dramatically, which in turn has simulated online activity as work from home has become the new normal. Under these circumstances, many professionals, including doctors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and physicians, are making use of the internet to reach a broader audience. However, with much saturation on the internet, standing out from the crowd becomes a hassle.
In this context, in this article, we will approach various methods of marketing online such as through social media, videos, and blogging. Additionally, the key features and characteristics to consider when marketing online are also discussed, such as using search engine marketing (SEM), keeping tabs on the number of visits and views, and regularly diagnosing any technical faults.
Benefits of Online Marketing
Online marketing has many benefits but naming a few include its accessibility, cheapness, ease of use, convenience, and effectiveness. Online marketing allows easy advertising as it targets a wide range of audiences and potential clients in unlimited countries and age groups. It has been found that the number of people using the Internet has grown recently by 60%. Coming towards online marketing for lawyers, law firms can advertise and market themselves using paid ads, blogs, and web pages. A statistic of 2019 shows that 57% of people look for lawyers on their own in which 17% use websites and search engines each. It was also found that 70% of law firms invest in online marketing. These figures press upon the escalating importance of online marketing for lawyers, which will be discussed later on in the article.
Types of Online Marketing for Lawyers
There are notably two marketing methods on the Internet available for lawyers – either as an individual or a law firm as a whole. On an individual level, the lawyer must use professional job recruiting platforms such as LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Indeed Jobs, and many more. Creating a successful resume and cover letter is an important element. Online resume-building platforms can be used to write an attractive resume. Highlighting key features such as the tagline, the lawyer’s goals and objectives, qualifications, experience, philosophy, and the milestones the lawyer wishes to cross for the clients would aid in the process of attracting clients.
A professional picture in proper attire must be uploaded on all professional social media platforms, including the firm’s official website (if any). This includes social media platforms as well, such as Facebook and Twitter. Creating an online presence paves the way for lawyers to maximize their online marketing.
Methods of Implementation
Now that we have gone over the importance of online marketing, the next step is to discuss its implementation. Online marketing circulates around creating an online presence and constantly optimizing it. This can be achieved in three ways as described below:
Online Marketing Through Blogging
When starting blogging to attract clients, the lawyer must make use of niche topics. Focusing on blogging and covering topics that target a small specific area are known to be more successful rather than creating a generic persona.
In terms of targeting a big city, an effective method the lawyer could adopt would be to focus and highlight their passion. The quality of content is an important factor. All the data must be relevant and factual. Before posting a blog, the lawyer must jolt down their area of expertise and the types of cases the lawyer is interested in, such as criminal law, workers’ compensation, family law, immigration, or estate planning. The lawyer should then establish a timeline that highlights the blog posting schedule. The lawyer must then follow the timeline accordingly.
Online Marketing Through Websites
There are numerous websites available for the purpose of online marketing for lawyers. JurisPage and LawLytics are some of the website-making tools specifically designed for making websites for law firms. It provides design ideas, widgets, and other complementary facilities for easy website making.
Appropriate images must be added, and they must be compatible with mobile devices to enhance usability. Headings and subheadings must be organized logically, and all the information must have a smooth flow. Writing good quality and attractive content is an important factor. Maintaining the website and solving any technical difficulties must be done at once.
Copyright must be provided to avoid any unforeseen circumstances in the future. There must be no plagiarism, and the work should be original to reflect uniqueness. The contents on the website should be such that it is easily comprehensible to the average audience. This can be done by avoiding legal jargon that is foreign to people of other professions.
The “call-to-action” must also be implemented. It is a marketing tool used to attract the attention of the audience that prompts immediate action and response. Knowing the state of mind of the audience can help website makers to add appropriate content.
Mentioning the mission statement of the firm is also crucial to connect with the audience. They must realize the benefits of working with the specific law firm or with the particular lawyer. Highlighting the perks or benefits such as refund can be an attractive prospect for potential clients. By making a connection with the audience, positive responses can occur, which can boost your profile. The “Contact Us” information must be provided, which includes the firm’s or lawyer’s address, number, postal code, and an area code of their head office as well as their other offices. The fees should either be stated on an hourly basis or as flat fees. All these factors result in creating an appealing and effective website.
Online Marketing Through Videos
Another paramount method for online marketing for lawyers is by making videos. Prior to creating the video, the lawyer must decide what kind of environment for the video they wish to make – whether the video is going to be serious, comedic, informative, or descriptive. In the case of criminal defense, a humorous tone can be a successful approach.
The aesthetics of the video must also be depicted effectively, such as by deciding an appropriate color scheme, pictures, background, lighting, etc. A proper script must be devised and must be altered and revised, if necessary. It must be well-rehearsed prior to the shooting of the video.
The length of the video must not exceed 2-5 minutes, as maintaining the attention of the audience for a long period can be difficult. The video must be clear, concise, complete, and concrete.
When producing and creating the video, a high-definition camera must be used. Skilled and professional video editors can be hired to alter the video for quality content, such as by adding sound effects, background music, background visuals, amongst many others.
The lawyer must make sure that the final video is free of errors such as unclarity in the speaker’s voice, background noise, distracting or unrelated objects, or hindrances in the background. The budget must be taken into account as well. Various directories are available to participate in, such as Avvo and Nolo. Law firms can make use of these directories for marketing purposes.
Steps for Successful Online Marketing for Lawyers
Before making any website, there are some key features that need to be taken into consideration for successful marketing. The steps and pointers to consider for successful and effective online marketing for lawyers are discussed in length below.
Study the Market
Studying the current trends and patterns of clients and their demands is a key feature to attract new potential clients. Lawyers must be aware of the issues faced by society and the problems that they are looking to resolve in the present time.
By studying the problems that individuals face on a great frequency, such as fraud, money laundering, theft, crime, domestic violence, abuse, human rights, and many more, the firm can highlight that on their website and attract the audience accordingly. Keeping that in mind, a powerful and effective marketing scheme can be devised.
Setting Reasonable Goals
The key to an effective marketing plan is by setting the final goal, objective, or mission that the firm is looking to achieve. The goal must be pragmatic, realistic, and attainable. The goal must be reached in the set time frame. A unique selling point is mandatory for attracting the audience.
The law firm and lawyer must be clear on why the clients should hire and prefer them rather than other law firms. It should be convincing enough to attract the audience’s attention.
Utilizing Website Features
Another important aspect is to invest in search engine marketing (SEM). It is a feature of an online marketing strategy that is used to bring the website forth on the search engine results when related keywords are entered. Search engines can be used to advertise the website to the appropriate clients by matching their search words with that of the law firm’s website. This can speed up the process of reaching the desired clients quickly and efficiently.
SEM easily allows law firms and lawyers to reach the client that fits the profile that the clients desire. They must also increase the “Conversion Rate Optimization.” It is defined as the process of increasing the visitor’s engagement on a website. This could be done by either clicking on a sub link, filling forms, or signing up.
By successfully increasing the conversion rate optimization, the firm’s website can reach the required audience. CRM or any tracking tool can be used to keep track of the success and engagement of the website.
Using Quality Content
For successful online marketing, the presence of a mere website or ad is not enough. The contents of their ads and website must be attractive, aesthetically pleasing, unique, and interesting in order to attract the audience. In order to do so, using features such as audio, video, mini-games, quizzes, surveys, guides, FAQs, webinars, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc., can be put into play.
Maintain Connection With the Audience
Law firms can stay in touch with their audience by sending personalized weekly or monthly emails and newsletters. Personalization helps maintain a strong and effective connection with the client. As customer engagement and connection is a key tool for the success of any company or law firm, so personalization acts as an important factor for the exponential growth of online marketing for lawyers.
Frequently keeping tabs on the trends and online activity is important in order to fill any breaches and shortcomings. Maintaining the engagements of the website is important so that the money invested in the marketing strategy is not wasted. On the website, it must be clearly stated that the website will keep the details of their clients private and confidential. This can earn the client’s trust. The law firm and the lawyer must not send unsolicited emails or ads that can be marked as spam.
When collaborating or investing in an online marketing tool, the law firm must ensure that it follows the online rules and guidelines. The marketing tool could be a web designer, page editor, or any other tool. The clients must have autonomy and independence to delete their personal data or information on the website linking to the law firm or the lawyer’s website. No pressure must be placed on them concerning this. Any previous or new potential clients have the autonomy to opt-out of subscribing to the marketing communication.
Methods to Increase Popularity of Online Marketing
In order to increase the reliability and trustworthiness of a law firm or a lawyer, maintaining good relations with the clients is an important factor. Online reviews and feedback play a key role in online marketing. The “word of mouth” phenomenon is an important agent in convincing other individuals about the reliability and popularity of the law firm and the lawyer. Positive reviews and ratings are also necessary.
Increasing traffic and visits to the website can increase its popularity greatly. Collaborating with other businesses and websites can also help increase its popularity. Collaboration allows the firm to expand its audience. Other businesses can share the hyperlink to the law firm or the lawyer’s website. This will hence, increase online engagements, clicks, and views.
Scheduled consultations with the clients can aid in its popularity as well by having more consultations as compared to the number of visits to the website. This is referred to as the “website conversion rate.” It is a tool used to measure the success of a website and its performance.
The Final Analysis
It can be concluded that online marketing for lawyers is an ideal tool for marketing and expanding business. Numerous methods are available for that purpose, such as blogging, videos, and websites. Some pointers must be considered for each.
While marketing online overall, many important pointers must be considered, including the audience’s point of view, researching the market, and setting goals to attract clients. Website features such as search engines, emails, newsletters, and paid ads can also be used.