How To Make Your Track Record Work For You
We all know that experience is a significant factor when it comes to choosing an attorney. Most people typically want a lawyer with a stellar reputation and track record (i.e., how many cases they have won). By promoting your firm’s case wins proactively rather than hoping prospective clients find out about them on their own via word of mouth, searching databases, or calling the courts, you can meet them where they already are—online. While word of mouth is still a powerful form of marketing, in today’s information age, leveraging the power of online tools is essential to keeping your practice relevant and top of mind.
To help advertise your case wins to the exact clients you hope to reach, we’ve compiled the six most effective tactics.
Utilize SEO optimization. At the bare minimum, your firm should have a blog or news section on its website. This will allow you to post new content regularly, which search engines like Google use to index your website. Fresh, regular content helps build a returning audience, therefore, signaling to search engines that your site drives traffic and has authority. This will eventually increase your page rankings. But posting content is only half the battle. Do some keyword research to see which terms your prospective clients are searching for related to your specialty. Then build your content around these terms and use them in your posts. For example, if your firm specializes in estate planning like our client, Davidson Law Group, determine which keywords relate to this Google search topic. Phrases like “how to write a will” or questions such as “What is an advanced directive?” may be popular terms people are searching for and a great place to start for blog posts.
Build targeted digital advertising. Instead of spending valuable marketing dollars on print advertising and billboards that you can’t track (check out our previous post on that), spend that budget on Google and social media ads. Digital advertising, primarily through social media, allows you to target your audience down to their age, where they live, their income level, and their interests, to name a few. Build a persona or profile of your ideal client, and then build a digital advertising strategy that helps your ads show up in their Google searches and newsfeeds. Meet them where they are and promote your case wins directly to them.
But make sure you have good content. Even the largest advertising budgets won’t make a difference if used to drive potential clients to sub-par content. Meaning, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink—unless you make the water so appealing that he can’t resist. The same holds for content. Non-responsive websites and uninteresting self-serving content can turn off a potential client causing you to miss a golden—and expensive—opportunity. Create a landing page on your website devoted to content about case wins or create a case wins section on your blog. The content you publish should be focused on the client, not necessarily the firm, and shows how you can help them win a similar case. But don’t limit your content to just written posts. Earn prospective clients’ trust with content in the form of case studies, white papers, videos, and more. Diversify your information and test to see which type performs best.
Don’t forget about email marketing and newsletters. By deploying a digital advertising strategy, you can “gate” some of your content, like case studies, which means users must enter their email address to see it. This is an effective way to gather contact information for the type of client you hope to serve. Once you have their email address, you can nurture your relationship with them by sending informative emails and newsletters, gradually warming them up, and building a relationship. A monthly newsletter is a great way to feature your case wins as well as educate your database about your expertise and services. Although mobile texts and social media have quickly risen to prestige status as effective marketing tools, collecting an email address is still the gold standard for digital marketing.
And definitely use social media. We know, we know. Many lawyers are not fans of social media, and some are still hesitant about using it for personal use, much less to promote their firms. Some worry about the potential implications of having information and dialogue out in the public space that can easily be found and used against them (or their clients). However, social media is a powerful marketing tool that can be used in a safe and legally compliant way to promote your firm. All law firms should have a presence on Facebook if for no other reason than to establish credibility. Many people consider a Facebook page as important as a website, and not having one can create suspicion or mistrust for some prospective clients. But beyond Facebook, there are many other channels that lawyers can use to advertise their case wins. LinkedIn, Twitter, and even YouTube can play a critical role in reaching the right audience. Video content, for example, is not used as much as it should be in the legal space. Explaining complex laws and legal terminology, breaking down cases, and commenting on current events from a legal perspective can make great video content. By educating consumers, you can position your firm as relevant and trustworthy—the experts in your particular field. Even educational TikTok videos have become mainstream (it’s not all about dances and social media challenges any more!). They can be used to reach a younger audience, depending on your specialty.
Fine Print Alert: Attorney Advertising Ethics. We would be remiss if we didn’t include a disclaimer about advertising ethics and guidelines—this is an article for lawyers, after all! It’s important to note that even the most seasoned marketer or copywriter may not be able to seamlessly transition into writing and creating content for law firm advertising or websites. That’s because unlike other industries, there are additional rules that must be followed when it comes to advertising law firms. The American Bar Association has created guidelines for Professionalism & Ethics in Lawyer Advertising which applies to all forms of advertising, including websites. Your state’s bar association may also have additional guidelines that you should follow as well. Before you embark on any marketing strategy for your firm, make sure you have a thorough understanding of these advertising guidelines. And before hiring a marketing agency to help you with your efforts, make sure they have worked with law firms before and have an understanding of the unique guardrails and guidelines.
Check out our portfolio and see how we can help your firm maximize its marketing strategy.