Starting up a legal practice as a newly licensed lawyer can be challenging. Developing an online presence is an important step for growing clientele. Online marketing for law firms has never been more important, and as older generations of lawyers retire, the way that law firms generate leads is changing.
4 Reasons Why Online Marketing for Law Firms Is Important in 2023
Create Brand Awareness and Recognition
Brand awareness is getting the audience familiar with who you are and what you do. Brand awareness begs the question: how does your firm stand out from the rest?
Brand awareness is the foundation of all future marketing strategies, and it starts with becoming recognizable. Create a unique “voice” for your brand. What does your logo look like? What about your business tagline? What are your areas of expertise? Tell your story: What made you decide to start a career in law? What legal issues are you passionate about?
Brand recognition is the next step after awareness. At this stage the public knows your practice exists, and most importantly, they recognize how your firm stands out. If you want to target a particular audience, such as civil rights or health, it’s important to create content supporting the audience that you want to represent. Try to capture their attention by keeping up with current events in a blog on your site for example. Stand out from the crowd by sharing your story.
Stay consistent with your public image. Create content that showcases your skills and all the ways you support your clients, and then deliver on those promises. When a client comes to you for legal expertise, they should know what to expect.
Establish Credibility
Digital marketing provides another opportunity to establish credibility. An easy and effective option is to publish client testimonials on your site. Ask clients to write a short, positive review about their experience working with your firm and how their case benefitted from the choosing your firm. Having a full client testimonials page that is regularly updated is an excellent indication of a credible law firm.
Establishing credibility shows that your firm offers value to clients by improving the lives of others. As a credible lawyer, you also have an opportunity to be a consultant or act as an expert witness.
Once the public sees you as a credible, they are more likely to seek out your expertise – they know exactly where to turn for legal services.
We’ve already talked about how to get the public to know your law firm exists, how you set yourself apart from other firms in the area, and how to establish your credibility. There are a few small steps to take to make sure the full potential of your business is expanded to reach a larger audience.
Gain exposure
Online marketing has the potential to reach a large amount of people in a significantly small amount of time. An online marketing firm has the expertise to direct a relevant audience to website by using SEO practices. An online marketing firm can optimize your website with title tags, meta descriptions and implementing proper keywords. In addition, they can bolster your social media presence and encourage clients to write reviews through Google and your website.
To learn more about SEO and how it can benefit your business, read more here: https://cindtoro.com/blog/seo/what-is-seo-a-complete-guide-to-search-engine-optimization/
To gain exposure, your business must be discoverable. The first step is simple – maintain a verified Google My Business profile. This will help your business to be seen on Google Maps with the correct address, phone number, and business hours. By writing reviews on Google, users can see a star rating and be able to read reviews on two platforms.
Advertisements are one of the best ways to gain exposure. Static banners can be placed throughout any website on the side or top of the screen. A business owner can also choose to make video advertisements for YouTube or radio advertisements that can be read from a script. With multiple options for advertising, you can gain exposure while you grow your business.
Leverage social media
According to an article updated in March 2023 by Sprout Social, there is an estimated 4.89 billion social media users worldwide in 2023. Given this staggering statistic, learning how to leverage social media to your advantage is an important piece of having a successful business.
Creating connections is one of the huge benefits of social media. One simple way to humanize your brand is to introduce the key members of your business. Ask them their story, how they began working for you, and what they like most about working for the company. This way, customers can do more than putting a name to face when they seek out your services – they can feel like they know you.
Social media posts and advertisements on multiple platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, are a great way to increase traffic and interest clients who may be looking for your services. Investing in advertisements like these can generate leads in an easy and convenient way for both business owners and clients.
Like reading reviews a website, social media allows the business owner to showcase success stories and allows the client to showcase how they benefitted from your services. If bad reviews were spread on social media, with a dedicated social media team, they can diffuse a negative situation and make it right before it turns into a major issue. Share your side in a professional way and offer to make it right in any way you can.
Increase visibility and generate leads by engaging with relevant audiences. Stay active and respond to comments on your own posts, say thank you when a client expresses how happy they are with your firm’s work on their case. Reach out to other users when they’re asking for legal advice, offer some for free, and then add your contact information below in case they desire your services.
To learn more about how to avoid making mistakes when starting up social media for your business, check out this helpful article: https://cindtoro.com/blog/digital-marketing/10-social-media-marketing-mistakes/
Of course, handling several cases while maintaining a law firm can be difficult without a dedicated online marketing team on your side. Contact Cindtoro at (407)-923-0109 or email us at info@cindtoro.com for a quick consultation.
