Why Lawyers Need To Avoid Multichannel Law Firm Marketing Strategies

Are you looking for a law firm marketing plan that has actually been created by a lawyer who is now a digital marketing strategist? You’ve landed in the right place.

In this article, my goal is to give lawyers and law firms a legal marketing game plan that adjusts to reality. So what exactly is reality? The most successful attorneys are not successful because they rank #1 in Google. They are successful because people know about their excellent work.

Does that mean that lawyers should not use digital marketing and social media marketing? Not really. But, certainly, their online marketing needs to be done differently. Social media marketing for lawyers is different than social media marketing for e-commerce, for example.

Keep reading, because in this article you will learn all about what it takes to market yourself differently for the better.

What Is Multichannel Marketing And Why Does It Fail For Law Firms?

So, let’s start with the basics. What exactly is multichannel marketing?

Multichannel marketing is pretty much taking you back to the days when a potential client opened the yellow pages, found your office, and called to make an appointment. Think back to the dark ages…before the Internet was really even a thing.

Marketing was a static message. You needed a message for the Yellow Pages, made for people to understand. You had your brochures with another message. Then, radio commercials, TV, etc. All of that advertising was created in hopes that the user would find you in one channel and respond. So, you needed to create different messages, depending on the channel in which you would advertise in order to get those end-users to respond.

That’s essentially a multi-channel approach. However, in today’s ‘digital everything’ age, users don’t behave that way.

In most cases, potential clients will use many different channeling outlets to figure out more about your law firm before actually contacting you. This is so essential for potential clients because it gives them the power and ability to do their own research.

Your potential clients come to your office prepared. In some cases, you will find that they have done extensive research before considering to even call you in the first place! You might have several stories when your clients think they know more than you! Because they learned on Google! Right?

How can we market to meet our users’ expectations? That’s the main question! Let’s just start by agreeing with one main rule: stop following a multi-channel approach.

Here’s an example of the “old fashioned and out of date” multichannel marketing.

We see the multichannel model failing, even in other forms of advertising like:

Paid leads
Paid display banners
Paid search
Legal listings (lawyers.com, avvo.com, etc.)
Print ads
Etc…etc…

Lawyers Don’t Want Leads From Google Searching

Contrary to what traditional marketing agencies will tell you, the way your law firm will grow is not from the volume of website visits, calls, or emails. As a lawyer and marketer, I would not set up a marketing plan strictly focusing on quantity. I know for a fact that the best clients are the ones who were referred by existing clients. I would prefer more quality contacts.

The chances of selling to a new customer are between 5 and 20 percent, while the probability of selling to an existing customer is between 60 and 70 percent.

So, in theory, what do lawyers need to do in order to grow their law firm? Avoid marketing practices that are predicated in attracting cold traffic, and instead focus on:

Provide excellent service.
Engage with their community online and offline.
Produce educational content.
Use social media channels to nurture their community with educational content, in a way that ignites relevant conversations.

I understand that it is so tempting to pay for Adwords, pay per click, newspapers ads, magazines, etc. But it will be better if instead, you craft a marketing strategy that actually helps you to communicate with your audience and warm them up so they can get you referrals.

The Omnichannel Marketing Approach

In today’s Now Economy, consumers demand highly relevant and personalized experiences as they interact with brands on a multitude of devices. As their expectations increase, an omni-channel strategy becomes mission-critical for marketers.

Omnichannel marketing really puts the customer at the core in order to ensure a completely consistent, unified experience at every touch point as opposed to simply enabling that touch point. Multichannel means many, and omnichannel means all (the customer is literally at the center).

Think about omnichannel as a holistic approach. The user is the center of your marketing and not the other way around.

A Law Firm Marketing Plan Example

The key ingredient for building your refreshed marketing plan for your law firm (or office if you’re a solo) is to put yourself in the users’ shoes. What do they want to see? What do they want to hear?

Multi-channel marketing consists of putting words in consumers’ mouths, whereas omnichannel marketing focuses solely on listening to what the client wants then delivering.

Let’s craft a simple marketing plan that gets you clients for your law firm, following the omnichannel approach.

Take A Look Of Your Online Marketing With The Users Experience In Mind

Think about what goes on in the minds of those potential users, when they have a need and believe they need to speak to an attorney. Let’s say, a worried mom that was involved in a car accident this weekend.

Worried mom researches online “car accident attorney near me”.
Found law firms advertising on Google, didn’t click in any.
Checked for the first law firm, organic, and found https://www.thevalentinelawfirm.com/. The website design is great! Clear, specific, represents trust and approachable. A great vibe!
Didn’t click on any page from the website.
Worried mom takes a look at the website for a few seconds and found the social media platforms. Great!
Worried mom checks that the lawyer has videos so she can now associate a face with the name. Great!
Additional points: Worried mom sees that some of her close friends are following this law firm. Fantastic!

This exercise should take you to identify the kind of content that your users are expecting to find when they are searching. The key to turn users into real leads is to provide them with the information they need, in a way that makes them easy to access.

Build A Content Marketing Plan Based On What Your Target User Can’t Find on Google

I’m sure you’ve considered writing a blog. However, when it comes to actually writing it, you can’t really think of topics that your users will find interesting. Who wants to read a law blog? Right?

Think about your blog as your library of resources that can facilitate conversations with your prospects.

Your content marketing doesn’t always have to be a long blog. It can be a checklist with items that are needed in case of a car accident. Or, if you’re a divorce attorney, a calculator of child support, with the appropriate disclaimers of course.

Create content based on a niche so that those users can find the information and follow you easier. You will be able to add other topics later. But now that you’re refining your content marketing plan, try to stick to a specific topic so users can identify your name with the kind of clients you want to take. Make it easy for them!

Build A Strong LinkedIn Profile (If You Haven’t Yet)

Don’t forget to add LinkedIn to the mix. Studies have shown that 92% of B2B marketers include LinkedIn in their digital marketing mix. Now, remember, to market a law firm is different than marketing for e-commerce. Your users are not expecting to see promotions. They are expecting to see real value from your social channels, including LinkedIn.

One simple goal for this platform is to get your profile to the all-star status. This impacts the number of views that your profile will get.

If you’re not sure if your profile is all-star, check on your dashboard and look at the top right. You should see the rank. Sometimes you get the all-star by just following the suggestions from LinkedIn.

I wrote a detailed article with everything you need to boost your LinkedIn profile and you can check all the details later, here.

Best Practices For A Strong LinkedIn Profile

1) Photo. No logo. Not your team. Not your office. A professional photo showing you approachable and trusted. Not sure if your photo makes the cut? Try this software! Photofeeler.

2) Your specialty. What do you do? Speak directly to your potential leads. Assume they search for you. Use common and clear words.

3) Your “summary” should be creative. Please, don’t be boring here! If you make it the exact same way as your competitors are writing their summary, nobody will be compelled to read it. Use emojis and bullet points.

4) Video! This is a great way to show your authority. Especially if you’re looking to build your authority.

5) Contact info. Most people forget to add their contact info or they hide it.

Don’t forget to add your content to your profile. For example, if you create a checklist or an article for your blog, you can add those on your LinkedIn profile via articles or media items on your profile.

As you will see below, LinkedIn will help you ignite referrals. Always keep that in mind. Give your clients reasons to share your content. If, for example, you’re participating in a conference to keep learning about something, share something thoughtful about your experience. Ignite those conversations!

Solidify Your Referral Marketing

Since we are taking an approach to online marketing that more user-centered, building authority and ultimately, building loyalty is what will pay your bills.

One word that should be on top of your head- referrals! And we are not kidding! Up to 76% of marketers are prioritizing customer loyalty over customer acquisition in 2018. (IDG)

Yes, we want to ignite your referral marketing engine.

Referral marketing is the preferred marketing source for many businesses including law firms. Business to business companies with referrals have a 70% higher conversion rate, and they report a 69% faster close time on sales.

Helping your customers become brand advocates is a smart business move no matter which way you cut it. Here’s an area where LinkedIn comes handy.

Don’t be afraid of connecting with your clients on LinkedIn. When their connections look for recommendations to hire a lawyer, your clients can easily tag your profile and you will be able to stay on top of those conversations.

Omnichannel Marketing: One User, One Voice, One Message, One Flow

Your law firm marketing should be simple. One ideal user. Craft the information that will help them build trust and loyalty. Stay in touch with them via social media, in particular, LinkedIn.

Don’t forget that what makes a law firm successful is excellent work. But if people don’t know about it, you won’t grow.

We’re currently helping clients revamp their marketing strategy. Who do you know that would benefit from great strategy? Share this article. Or if it’s you, please complete this 30 seconds assessment and we will schedule a complimentary session!

June 20, 2019July 2, 2019

10 Amazing Tools We Use To Activate Your SEO

SEO marketing is in high demand. There is a good chance you heard about it and have been searching for SEO definition, SEO agencies near you, etc. You’ve found me, so I want to honor your time and explain our journey with this amazing marketing strategy called Search Engine Optimization.

I’m in Austin and I’m a forensic marketer. So technically, I can say I run an Austin SEO Agency, but the name won’t be fair. So let’s say I’m not an agency. I’m a consultant, mentor, and lead a team of amazing marketers, on a project-based, to get my clients the success they deserve. That has been the best way for me to avoid paying outrageous overhead and making marketing for small business owners.

We’re Not A Traditional SEO Agency

Many SEO agencies and firms will outsource their work (your website) to third-party providers, mostly in India, at a cheap rate to do subpar optimization. We don’t.

I work with clients that have sensitive compliance requirements and I like to give my client full access to everything I do on their behalf.

You probably have heard horror SEO stories! I’ve heard them too (and see them). A client of mine hired an agency overseas for their SEO work. Months later, they started to get spam emails (hundreds) and hundreds of comments on their Facebook business page that were very inappropriate. Guess why that happened?

When I checked their traffic, I showed them that their website had been shared in sites with restrictive content. And let me tell you one more detail about this client. They were plastic surgeons so their images had sensitive content. Use your imagination and guess where their website had been shared. Did you guess?

Your SEO marketing goal isn’t just about driving website traffic. My plastic surgeon client was seeing growth. But, what kind of growth? This is why I like to clarify how lead my SEO marketing projects.

Special note: if you talk to “the best SEO agency” you should ask them to explain the process they use.

So What Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Anyway?

Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine. SEO refers to the improvement of unpaid results and excludes the purchase of paid placement. You want this!

Let’s say you are a Divorce Attorney. One of the free SEO tools is Google search! When you type in Google “causes for divorce in Texas” notice that Google gives you suggestions. Those suggestions are called “long tail keywords” based on the questions people are asking.

How Much SEO Do You Need?

Most clients we help don’t know anything about their rank.

I’ve seen established businesses that, sadly, only have a few keywords and, therefore, don’t have any website traffic coming from Google search or any other search engines.

On the other side, I’ve seen businesses that were having success and all the sudden, their Google analytics show no traffic.

Generally speaking, every business needs to be improving search results, to make sure that they stay in business. Google Search Console is a great place to learn about your website traffic.

My Personal SEO Chaos (Don’t Make The Same Mistakes)

I’ve been in the digital marketing space for over a decade and recently my website traffic fell through the cracks. Not only we lost all the work that at some point we had 1 million hits from it, but we needed to migrate our website with over 100 pages. Painful.

Why did it happen? There was an error on the tagging codes and that created several broken links.

Every website experiences a few broken links now and then, and a few may not destroy your website’s life, but, when all your “tag” pages are landing at the error page, you’re in trouble. In case you’re not familiar with taxonomies and what a “tag” page is, you can learn more about it here.

Google is all about providing a user-friendly experience, which includes protecting users against websites with broken links.

Broken links are not the only factor that can affect your SEO.

✔️Tags
✔️Description of your content “meta description”
✔️Post type
✔️Duplicate content (cannibalization)
✔️Speed
✔️Readability
✔️Headlines
✔️And many other factors!

After I went through that nightmare I promised myself to always pay attention to Google Analytics. Now I’m there almost daily.

My before and after! From a 100% bounce rate to 35% in 3 months.

A big shout out to the amazing Julia McCoy from Expresswriters.com. I’ve learned so much from Julia. Please follow her and take her courses. She’s amazing! I recommend starting with her Write Blog.

A Poor Website Is A Poor Reflection Of Your Business (And Not Having One, Too)

Remember when websites were like a collage of links? I’ve done thousands of digital strategy assessments and the main focus is the website. Without a powerful website, there’s no point of building a social media channel. I mean, you could, but people will take you more serious if you have a professional website.

If improving your website appearance and visibility is your goal, you’re not alone.

Social media, websites, email, SEO, videos, and content are the most popular digital marketing channels and tactics with small businesses, according to recent research from The Manifest.

The report was based on data from a survey of 529 people who own or work for small businesses in the United States.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents say their business engages in social media marketing; the same proportion also use a website to market their firm.

Some 57% of small businesses engage in email marketing, 49% in SEO, 34% in video marketing, and 32% in other types of content marketing.

Image result for top marketing channels for small business owners

As a forensic digital marketing strategist, I recommend to integrate your online marketing efforts with SEO. Trust me, it’s not that complicated.

There Are 3 Main Types Of Seo That An Seo Strategist Can Focus On:

Image result for off page seo vs on page seo

On-page SEO: This SEO focuses on the content that’s “on the page,” and how to optimize that content to help boost the website’s ranking for specific keywords.

Off-page SEO: This SEO focuses on the links that are directing to the website from elsewhere on the internet. The number of “backlinks,” and the publishers carrying those links, that link to your website helps you build trust in the eyes of a search engine. This causes your website to rank higher as a result.

Technical SEO: This SEO focuses on a website’s architecture, examining the backend of that website to see how each webpage is “technically” set up. Google cares as much about the code of a website as it does its content, making this specialty quite important to a website’s search engine ranking.

SEO Services We Provide

Like I mentioned in the beginning, I’m not a traditional SEO agency. I’m a consultant and a digital marketing nerd. All the work you see (except for correcting my grammar because I speak English with a Spanish accent and I’m bilingual) is my work.

I lead a team of SEO experts who can do the ninja work. But, before talking with the team, I create your digital marketing strategy, integrating SEO and social media marketing. The main deliverable of my strategy session is a Visibility Method. A blueprint that allows business owners to have a plan to market their business the right way.

Overview of the SEO tools we use

1- Keyword Magic Tool

We use paid keyword research tools, because it’s just a premium service we do for our clients. There are free SEO tools, but they are more like a one-time use. Having a list of keywords that feeds you opportunities it’s gold.

2- Keyword Planner

Google has a keyword planner, but the one I use it’s 100% for SEO, so it integrates with other SEO tools (and PPC too). Plus I have even more data – all in one place, which makes it easy for us to scale.

It takes me a few hours to work on a strategy and send you a keyword planner. This is great if you’re creating, for example, a sales page, or a course.

We start with a list of 100 keywords and draft content to target those, 25 keywords at a time. It takes about 2 months to index 50 words.

Our SEO system monitors performance and gives us alerts of opportunities.

3- Content Marketing Analysis

I see marketing from a holistic perspective, instead of tactical. Gone are the days of claiming “the secret to get clients from a funnel”. Consumers are educated and they rather do their research before making a commitment. Especially when it comes to hiring a professional at a high price value.

What is Content Marketing?

The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as a strategic marketing approach focused on the creation and distribution of content that is relevant, consistent, and valuable, which is aimed at both attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience, and ultimately driving profitable customer action.

The keywords are “valuable,” “relevant,” and “consistent.”

Content marketing isn’t a tactic you do once and it’s done. Instead, it’s a process that requires a strategy and a series of repeatable steps to build results over time.

The content you create – whether for blogs, social media, etc. – needs to have relevance, value, and consistency to win readers.

Why Most Marketers Prefer Content Marketing?

Another great thing about content marketing is that people prefer it over paid advertising.

A study from WP Engine found that 66% of consumers preferred to read content directly from their favorite brands. In contrast, one in five people use ad blockers all the time, every day, according to a Kantar Media study.

Ads are annoying. Content is useful.

First Steps To A Successful Content Marketing Strategy

We are here to learn about SEO so I won’t get too technical about content marketing. Most of my clients understand their duty to create amazing content. However, they don’t know if their ideas are amazing enough and they don’t have access to professional marketing tools.

Hubspot has a blog idea generator that brings many creative options. I use it sometimes, when I’m trying to get inspiration for captions or headlines. But for my SEO projects, our SEO software comes with their own idea generator tool.

The bottom line: we do our social media management using SEO practices, so you share content that actually adds value to your community. It’s the key to stand out from the crowd.

4- SEO Writing Assistant

The SEO writing assistant is honestly my favorite. I know exactly what I need to say to rank the article, while I’m writing. For example, to write this article, my target keyword amount was 1,958. This means that I need to write over that number if I want to have a shot to get visible. I also need to keep a readability score under 62 so this helps me to use plain language (great because I could get technical). Then the writing assistant uses the keywords suggested by the writing templates and adds suggestions and examples.

For those who are writers, having this framework will help tremendously.

What If You’re Not A Writer?

You can outsource that to us! I have access to amazing writers with amazing writing packages that will make your life very easy! A professional blog post can be less than a $100.

Need me to produce great content for you? Schedule a call with me to discuss your writing needs.

Need me to produce great content for you? Schedule a call with me to discuss your writing needs.

5- Marketing Calendar

The tools discussed above have been more related to content marketing using SEO best practices. Our SEO project will have on-page SEO and this means optimizing (SEOing) your content that has been published already.

We take those SEO tasks with the ideas to produce in the future and create a calendar with the actionable steps.

6- On Page SEO Tracker

Like I mentioned above, on-Page SEO means optimizing (SEOing) your content that has been published already. In some cases, we get clients who consult us before building their website (this is a great idea) so they don’t waste time.

Our software has a tracker and makes the on-page SEO work doable. It can even be combined with Trello.

You’re probably wondering who does this work? It depends. I don’t have a one-size-fits-all. Typically, big organizations have a marketing team that can handle this work. Once I share the findings and filter them (not all the findings are relevant), their team execute.

If they don’t have a marketing team, we filter the actionable steps and create a project. I have SEO experts on my team who can execute these “monkey work”. I call this “monkey work” because it’s not high-level strategy. It’s more about meta tags, fixing headlines, paragraphs, etc.

So that’s pretty much the foundation of SEO. Obviously, it’s not a one-step deal. It requires love and care! So let’s discuss how does this look.

7- Organic Traffic Insights

Monitor your traffic and look for trends and opportunities. This is for sure high-level strategy. Typically my clients like me to “call the shots”. And I have to say, I’m very assertive in predicting the readers behavior.

8- Lead Generation Optimizer

Once we have healthy keywords and healthy traffic it’s time for a change! What? Starting again?

Yes.

Your website traffic will be analyzed using complex tools to decode your path to turn your web visitors into clients. I’m at that level with 2 organizations and it is amazing. I must confess, I’m jealous! I wish I had taken SEO more seriously before! Don’t you?

At lead generation optimization means landing pages and call to actions. But for now, don’t worry about it! Let’s concentrate on the fundamentals!

9- Social Media Strategy And Implementation

You probably thought that I’m a social media manager, ha!

No.

It’s way more than that.

I hope you can see it! It’s more of a big-picture strategy. It’s like me going for a trial, without having to deal with the judicial system! It’s heaven to me! Digesting the facts, formulating a theory to present my winning formula, and winning!

We have an amazing team of marketing experts who can take care of your social marketing heavy lifting.

10- Accountability

I won’t be surprised if by now you’re overwhelmed just by reading this. I don’t blame you. Here is the reality: leave this work in the hands of people who truly LOVE doing this nerdy work. Lead your marketing activities like a CEO, instead of doing everything yourself.

I do all of this myself because this is therapy (and I don’t watch tv!).

What results can you expect?

The graphic below is my website- after the massive fail. I needed to start ALL OVER. Look how we are quickly moving up, all with relevant keywords to attract the right traffic. For some industries, 400 keywords are ok to win their competitors. My industry is highly competitive, so I need to work a bit more strategically.

Notice how:

✔️ SEO has a compound effect. It means that once you dominate a set of keywords and take the next set of keywords, all the traffic gets combined and this creates momentum, unlike other online marketing methods that, if you stop them, they stop working. For example, Google Ads or Facebook Ads. If I stop the ad, then the traffic stops.
✔️ SEO, in my opinion, it’s like creating a passive income, by having a sales force called “Google searches” working for you, driving people your way.

How do we get things done:

Onboarding

✔️Once you’re an active client, we schedule your VIP Session. This is a 4-hr session and can be done in a day or in 2 separate meetings.
✔️We get familiar with your business model and draft a strategy to grow your business.
✔️We use several tools to help our clients to have a clear vision of how they want to grow their business and what are the strategic key steps. Very often, we find that business owners are spending a lot of time in non-productive activities. We analyze all aspects of your business.

Taking Over

This means we include your digital assets in our tools to monitor SEO and ranks.

Execution (depends on each project)

✔️Business consulting & strategy

✔️Unlimited consultation via email

✔️ Brand development

✔️ Marketing collateral

✔️ Branding kit

Monitoring And Reporting

✔️Monthly meetings

Other Perks

✔️Our success comes from working with people who are compatible with our values. We treat your business even better than our own.

✔️We meet high compliance standards that your industry requires.

✔️Access to a powerful network all available for you.

Interested in learning how can we help your business? Schedule a commitment-free and eye-opening assessment! Start here!

June 13, 2019July 2, 2019

The Key Factors Of A Successful Legal Content Marketing Plan

Whether you belong to a major firm or a small local one, the key to any successful law firm lies with how you market your services and expertise.

Let’s be real. You didn’t go to Law School and pass the bar to spend your days learning about Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, HTML codes, and Social Media Marketing. However, since you’re here, I’m assuming that you want to get access to simple and practical tools to help you market your practice, and, of course, grow it.

I have great news for you!

The digital space has suffered major shifts over the last year. Since we have access to so much data, we have been able to crack the code of what people want, so that marketing turns into a direct communication with your future clients, telling them exactly what they want to hear.

The best way to explain this so you can have a great idea of how the marketing world has changed is to use Netflix as an example. Do you pay for cable or do you prefer Netflix? Do you like ads or do you prefer to control if you want to see the ads or not? I don’t need to see you to know your answer. I know your answer!

And you’re not alone…

91% of people say ads are more intrusive today than 2-3 years ago
87% say there are more ads in general than 2-3 years ago
79% feel like they’re being tracked by retargeted ads

People feel overwhelmed, interrupted, and stalked by bad digital ads, but they don’t really mind the good ones.

I think I have even better news for you! I don’t believe your law firm marketing needs to use a lot of budget for advertising. I believe that word of mouth is, ultimately, your goal. You’re not up to target the masses so you can be hired as the cheapest. You want people coming to you because they’ve heard that you’re the best. I hope Attorney Komie doesn’t get offended by me saying that lawyers don’t need to advertise! 🙂 By the way, the very first time I saw this ad I had to take a picture and share with my lawyer friends.

Now that you know you’re not paying for a billboard or shooting a video for a commercial that will go on cable tv, I hope you’re happy to learn about content marketing and how can you leverage to grow your law firm.

What Is Content Marketing For Law Firms?

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Consumers are ignoring brands that are interjecting what they want people to hear and see, rather than creating stories consumers want to hear and see themselves.

Rather than one-off ad campaigns and self-centered marketing materials, law firms that produce content that inspires, educates and entertains their target market, while using a consistent, authentic editorial voice, are succeeding in breaking through in today’s crowded marketplace.

The best law firm content marketing — whether in the form of website content, articles, video or audio — focuses on the client’s needs and not the firm’s preferences.

Content Marketing Is Not Just Blogging

Many clients confuse content marketing with blogging. Content marketing is more than just your blog.

A successful law marketing strategy should have the objective of getting an audience to find you when they need you, trust you when they are searching your name, and believe in your expertise when they read about your work. Keep this in mind for each of your law marketing efforts.

Key content marketing strategies for law firms and lawyers: 1) website pages 2) Google my business 3) blogging 4) social media 5) articles for LinkedIn

The American Bar Association in their Legal Technology Survey Report from 2018 says:

Content marketing can help humanize a lawyer, show that they have a point of view, and give potential clients a taste of what working with a particular lawyer might be like. It is an opportunity to become a trusted authority and a resource for information or perspective on a particular topic. But that content should be original (or have original elements and commentary), relevant, and current.

Does Content Marketing for Law Firms Work?

Here are the facts.

Content marketing for law firms brings in 55% more visitors to your website and 67% more leads.

97% of all law firms fail to deliver personalized legal content marketing to their consumers.

Only 26% of firms maintain a consistent blog, and only a mere 7% of attorneys maintain a blog for professional purposes. With the benefits that content marketing for law firms provides, it’s astounding to see these numbers so low.

Should You Hire A Marketing Agency Or A Legal Content Marketing Expert Instead?

Some law firms are hiring legal content marketing experts to implement their legal marketing strategies. They are moving from hiring an agency that focuses on tactics to generate web traffic, to implement a much “humanized” marketing strategy, scaleable, and with a higher ROI – long term.

Let’s say, for example, you are a divorce attorney and you want to reach your local market. Or you’re a marketing specialist for a law firm and they are asking you to focus in building their law firm reputation. Even when those tasks are different, both will need quality content.

A legal content marketing expert is different than a marketing specialist or a social media specialist because it can take over your content, understanding how to research the terms and concepts that your audience is searching. Imagine that your best paralegal is now a marketing ninja! That’s what some of the successful law firms are doing. I’ve been training some amazing paralegals on SEO, LinkedIn Marketing, and Facebook Advertising for Law Firms and it’s great to see how someone with a real voice can create content that feels like a real conversation.

When you have a legal content marketing expert in your team you can produce rich blog posts that can be shared by major publications and that gives you great visibility.

How Will Your Content Marketing Boost Your Revenue?

Many of the attorneys and law firms that request my Marketing Assessment express their concern about ROI.

I’m sure this is one of your questions as well so let me share some of the key ingredients that will help you translate your law marketing efforts into revenue.

The CMI’s digital content marketing stats show that 72% of marketers say content marketing increases engagement. In addition, 72% say it has increased the number of leads. While engagement and leads are not direct indicators of revenue, those 2 metrics are key components of your marketing and sales engine.

You need to be able to have a series of activities that drive you real revenue-generating opportunities, just like you do when you have a tort case!

In a tort case, there are four elements a plaintiff needs to proof: duty, breach of duty, causation, and injury. In a law marketing strategy, I need to be able to track and measure:

Awareness: followers and subscribers
Consideration: engaged users and readers
Trust: user retention
Response to a call to action: conversions

Considering Hiring A Legal Content Marketing Expert?

If you’re considering hiring a legal content marketing expert for your team, let’s have a conversation. I only commit with lawyers and law firms who want to produce excellent content.

Legal marketing content that stands out, plus

Meets all the ethical standards
Edited by professional copywriters
Generate measurable results

June 11, 2019October 8, 2019

The 3 Leading Digital Marketing Strategies For Lawyers And Law Firms

Are you a lawyer, either solo practitioner, freelancer, or perhaps you’re in charge of marketing a law firm and need some out-of-the-box strategies? You got it!

I’m a recovered attorney and now a forensic digital marketer and UX consultant. Not sure what that means? Well, I do the kind of work you would do in preparation to win a trial. I find the gaps between your message and your target audience. And I do it using data and science. This isn’t about “hope marketing”. That doesn’t work. Social media marketing for law firms is a passion!

In full disclosure: when I built my law firm, there were no social networks. I had to rely on word of mouth and referrals, which we can say is “hope marketing”. But you don’t have to do it! We have data and science.

Hope Marketing Won’t Pay Your Bills

You hear other attorneys saying they only take clients by referrals and you’re wondering how can you get to that level. I don’t blame you. When I started, I was exactly at this place. I remember the days when I would just go to court just to watch other attorneys litigate. In retrospect, I was lucky I found a friend who connected me with a builder who later became my only client. But it didn’t happen overnight and I certainly don’t recommend that you hope to find a friend that can introduce you to a great lead. Hope marketing won’t pay your bills.

I call hope marketing when you’re kind of hoping that future clients see your phone number somewhere where you left your business card. You dream with the idea of winning a great case and get all the chasing you so you can build your name (I did some of that). That could happen; but there’s no need to hope when we have so many opportunities to get clients from digital marketing.

Essentials In Digital Marketing For Lawyers

I’m sure you’ve considered boosting your social media marketing, amongst other digital marketing tactics like paid search (Google Adwords, BING, YELP), SEO, buying leads, web design, etc.

The number of options can be overwhelming. The last thing you want, after going to law school and all the hard work to pass the bar is to learn how to market. So, unless you have a background in business and marketing (like my case), you will be open to understanding big-picture strategies, as long as they are relevant, precise, and effective.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Perhaps you already know this. Search engine optimization is focused on improving your site in order to increase your organic search engine rankings. SEO primarily revolves around placing keywords strategically throughout the site, link building, establishing site authority and using meta data that’s crawlable by Google.

In theory, if you add keywords to your website, Google then grabs your content and displays to potential clients when they are searching for those keywords. Unfortunately, that’s far from truth.

SEO these days involves a series of complex strategies and law firms and attorneys looking for a marketing plan to drive more clients need to be aware of. One keyword isn’t going to take you to the next level. This is why I recommend my law firm clients to start with a list of 25 long tail keywords which is a combination of at least 4 keywords.

Let’s say, for example, you are a divorce attorney and want to attract clients who are looking to hire a lawyer and use Google search. Based on this preliminary research, you can benefit from using a content marketing strategy featuring keywords like “divorce attorney”, “divorce attorney near me”, “divorce attorney ___ (your city)”.

Your goal is to reach some visibility using those keywords, provided that they are showing an SEO score that represents potential. This is how I get to design a keyword plan and strategize which content to produce, based on the combination of keywords that most likely will give us the fastest path to visibility.

We don’t need to “hope” anymore. There are search engine marketing tools that allow us to craft your legal marketing campaign so that your name comes up in the search results.

I spend hours looking at data in order to craft a digital marketing strategy. Something that is totally needed when it comes to working in a legal social media marketing plan, or any other marketing plan for your industry. Make no mistake, your industry is competitive and moves fast. When people need a lawyer, they have no time to waste.

I personally use SEMRush for search engine optimization and content marketing intelligence. But that’s not the only one. Google Keyword Planner is another great tool. Backlinko has a great tutorial on how to use this tool. You should check it out.

So now I can officially say, welcome to my world! What I love to do is using forensic marketing (data, patterns, research) to find real opportunities.

Now that you have access to some intelligence on how to get more visibility, the next component of your digital marketing plan is brand awareness.

Why Is Brand Awareness Important For Lawyers?

As a lawyer, you may not have thought much about the importance of branding. You may believe that the quality of your work will speak for itself and that you will become well-known simply by practicing good law. That may have been the case a generation ago, but not anymore.

With hundreds of competent lawyers out there all doing the same thing, what makes you and your firm so different? What makes you stand out from the crowd? What is it about your firm and the service you provide that compels clients to choose you instead of some other firm? The answers to those questions are part of the message that is needed to market to your audience, as part of the brand awareness campaign.

Make sure your website has a compelling message:

✔️Develop the about me page and showcase the values of your firm.

✔️Produce a rich blog.

✔️Pro tip: produce a Youtube channel with potential Q&A. Leverage social media and Facebook ads to share your content with a highly targeted audience.

The American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Survey Report on the use of technology in the legal profession of 2018 explains why branding is important for lawyers.

With an increasing number of lawyers available for clients to choose from, lawyers need to differentiate themselves, which often requires establishing their expertise in a particular niche field, an area of practice or industry, or with a particular audience or group of people.

How Can Lawyers and Law Firms Create Brand Awareness?

Our keyword search took us to the Law Firm Cordell & Cordell. They have an amazing SEO plan, but also a great Facebook marketing plan in place. If you check their page, you will notice how their name is Cordell & Cordell- A Domestic Litigation Firm. This is great for brand awareness because in 2 seconds you can identify what they do.

Reviews are great for brand awareness. I will say, they help also for consideration. If the individual is actively searching for a lawyer and checks 2 websites and 2 social media accounts, the one with stronger reviews will win.

A recent survey by Podium suggests that 93% say online reviews do impact their purchasing decisions. A great strategy to maximize those reviews is to share them on your social media channels.

Your brand awareness should happen at the website level, with great content, then sharing it via social media. The more you “humanize” your brand, the more approachable you will be.

As an attorney, I understand the necessity of maintaining an ethically-sound Web Presence and take care of your reputation. Those are 2 non-negotiable steps of any law firm marketing plan.

How Are Lawyers Using Social Media Marketing?

It’s almost 2020. The ABA has finally acknowledged the place of Social Media in the legal world. The ABA’s House of Delegates — its governing body — considered the recommendations of the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20, which has proposed revisions to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to address changes in technology.

ABA’s 2018 Legal Technology Survey Report also favors social media marketing and content marketing.

Notice how they are encouraging lawyers to showcase their expertise with a variety of content.

Lawyers who simply state on their websites that they have expertise or knowledge in a specific area are going to be at a disadvantage when compared to attorneys who demonstrate that expertise with articles, video, and other content that shows that they are not only proficient in their area of the law, but that they understand the issues their clients face on a daily basis.

From the same report, we have some interesting social media for lawyers stats:

- ✔️ Use of Facebook is up slightly to 63% this year after being between 56-58% in the previous three years.

- ✔️ Twitter use among firms is still uncommon; only 14% of respondents reported that their firms maintained a presence on Twitter.

- ✔️ Use of Martindale also dropped from 41% in 2016 to 31% in 2018.

- ✔️ LinkedIn use by law firms has been declining since 2015 when 93% of lawyers reported the use of LinkedIn. Even so, firm use of LinkedIn still exceeds every other platform.

- ✔️ Use of social media by individual lawyers for professional purposes remains strong, with 79% of respondents reporting that they use one or more social networks for professional purposes.

- ✔️ 82% of all individual lawyers are using LinkedIn themselves for professional purposes, as compared to 47% on Facebook, 27% on Avvo, and far fewer on the other platforms surveyed.

Lawyers Are Not Taking Full Advantage Of Digital Marketing

A healthy keyword planner and a strong social media presence should help you grow your law practice; especially if you combine organic (free) strategies with paid traffic strategies. Try to avoid full delegation and automation during the early stages of your practice. Prioritize your duty to humanize your brand, so that your audience can relate more.

ABA’s 2018 Legal Technology Survey Report shows that lawyers are not taking advantage of analytics or reports to determine the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives.

You won’t be part of those stats! Your digital marketing strategy will also have tracking and monitoring, so you can predict results.

You will be surprised by how much, even a simple change on your website design, can help you get more clients from your digital marketing efforts.

Our Forensic Marketing For Lawyers

If you’re interested in increasing your client base or enhancing your presence in the community, take a step further and request a complimentary Marketing Assessment.

We will create a comprehensive Social Media strategy tailored to fit your practice’s needs.