DIGITAL MARKETING FOR LAWYERS!
What marketing for lawyers?
Whether today you are a tenor of the bar, a large law firm or a solo lawyer, the priority is indeed to define your positioning: What makes me different? What is my competitive advantage? so this is where there is really some upstream work of strategic thinking to be had.
Thus, digital is an opportunity for lawyers that allows them to better meet the expectations of their clients. New technologies make it possible to facilitate the exchange between a lawyer and his client.
Digital makes it easier to access the law and to lawyers, ensure constant and instantaneous communication, and allow more transparency and responsiveness. Law firms that have a website, it guarantees them more visibility on the Internet. When a person seeks a lawyer, it is often by word of mouth or via the Internet. The web is therefore for lawyers the second lever for acquiring potential clients.
To help you in this process, we will explain to you, in a few steps, how to successfully develop your practice.
1 – Define your marketing strategy
While there is no one-size-fits-all marketing strategy, all lawyers can learn to sell themselves and grow their firm.
First, figure out what you like and how you can reach your potential customers. For example, if you enjoy writing, legal news has a wealth of topics. Periodically post reviews, links or columns on a blog. Answer questions asked by internet users on social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
The most important part of your marketing strategy is showing yourself and your knowledge. Your verb will be the vehicle of your brand image.
2 – Build your professional identity
It means making your potential customers understand who you are and how different you are from the competition, but more importantly how you can better meet their needs.
For example, if your marketing strategy involves being active in a local association, don’t hesitate to attend meetings. People will associate your participation with your professional identity. Subsequently, you will be identified as the legal adviser of this association and no longer as a simple litigant. In this way, you stand out from your peers and really start to create a professional identity.
The construction of this identity also spurs the promotion of your means of marketing. For example, if you are creating a blog, it is a good idea to include the link in your electronic signature or even on your website.
3 – The positioning
What discourse should you deploy according to what positioning of your firm? This is, secondly, the question to be explored.
- Specific field of law, technical know-how, sector specialization, economic context … The key is to define an offer that is useful to its customers and differentiates it from its competitors
- In his positioning approach, the lawyer must take into account various factors: geographic size of the market, characteristics of his office, existing competition, competitive advantages vis-à-vis them, existing clientele, development potential, etc.
- Then you have to adapt your speech to your previously established positioning. This must leave an imprint in the memory of its interlocutors, play the differentiation card explicitly, and be available in several formats.
- This work on positioning and discourse will lead to a personal communication strategy. To achieve this, lawyers have access to many channels: press relations, publication of articles, conferences, directories, training, etc.
4 – Adapt your recruitments
After measured efforts, the firm will begin to grow and how you manage that growth is critical. Thus, it is necessary to have a team in line with your business strategy.
For example, a highly skilled employee who struggles to interact with customers won’t always be a happy choice. If your strategy involves running a Questions & Answers forum, or working on third-party sites, you should prefer someone who is enthusiastic and dedicated. Someone who is overqualified will eventually get bored.
5 – Know how to delegate
Once you are happy with your team, it is important that you employ your people in the best possible way.
Delegating some of your work is difficult for most lawyers. However, it is essential. This will give you time to develop the commercial part of your activity so that your customer portfolio is growing.
During meetings with your staff, tell them about the various adjustments to the commercial policy in order to guide them, and be open to all their comments.
6 -Best Marketing Strategies to Make Your Firm Visible to Your Target Client
- Social media marketing (and advertising)
- Video Marketing
- Natural referencing for law firms (SEO)
Social media marketing for lawyers
Think of social media as your modern bulletin board that can significantly help your brand and your practice. But before you jump in, choose your platforms wisely, as not all platforms are suitable for all activities. The exception for law firms is LinkedIn. If you are a lawyer, you must be on LinkedIn.
Here are the best types of social media posts for a law firm:
- Blog posts
- Statistics and “did you know” facts
- News from your sector
- Captivating videos under 60 seconds on educational or brand topics
- Case studies, white papers
Video Marketing
Today video is everywhere and you could hardly miss it! It can be found in different forms, on free hosting platforms, websites, social networks … 70% of buyers watch videos on their shopping journey and legal services are no exception. Business decision makers love online videos because they are the fastest and easiest way to get information.
This is not the only reason to use videos at the stage of sensitizing your target customer on issues that they may encounter: users retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video. , compared to 10% when they read it in a text.
The best videos for law firm marketing are:
- Practical and educational videos
- Brand videos and advertising videos
- Blog Videos
- Entertaining, funny or attention-grabbing videos
SEO for law firms
SEO involves modifying the code and content of your website to achieve higher search engine rankings for specific keywords and phrases. You need it because 71% of shoppers start their searches with generic Google searches, and they do an average of 12 searches before they commit to a specific brand’s site.
This means that you (and your competition) have 12 possibilities for your website to rank high in search results and grab a buyer’s attention.
SEO is part of both generating demand and enticing the customer to contact you, depending on the keywords and phrases you are optimizing. For example, if you optimize a piece of content to “become a franchisee,” you’re more likely to grab someone’s attention early on in the buying journey.
In conclusion, lawyers are not immune to the digital transition. Law firms must indeed go digital in order to face the competition and better meet client expectations. The lawyers’ website then becomes a major pillar of their marketing and communication strategy. The website helps strengthen the firm’s credibility, strengthen its brand image and better retain clients. A website that is both aesthetic and optimized for SEO is a prospecting tool that will be able to regularly generate new prospects.