The specialised nature of marketing for a law firms can make the task of pitching new ideas harder, but also incredibly important. Law firms often have a much smaller segment of any market to target given that many operate solely within their local area. Therefore, when there is competition, it’s particularly fierce.
Below are some interesting ideas that law firms might consider when looking at new local marketing strategies:
1. Tell the Story of Your Law Firm
Brand stories form an important part of what makes any business appealing to new customers nowadays. Law firms are not exempt from this rule. People may tend to think of law firms, accounting firms and similar businesses as being rather dry and “functional” in their existence, but many are actually born out of great stories connected to their founders, their families, or something else.
For instance, the founding of a law firm could be based upon one founder’s experience working in another larger firm in which no attention was paid to a particular area of legal services for pure financial reasons. This lawyer may have been disillusioned with the situation and sought to offer the community something better. That can be an interesting story, and one that engages and draws admiration from prospective clients.
2. Top-Notch Video Content
Who says that law-related content has to be dry, stiff, or lacking in excitement? Over the years, several famous lawyers have proven themselves most adept at writing about the law in a funny, quirky and unique way that makes it more appealing to the general reader. In the 21st century, creativity is best placed on creating engaging video content.
You could invite your firm’s associates to do a talking-heads video answering “The Top 5 Things New Law Firm Clients Always Ask,” for example. You might also create compelling word-animation videos that explain recent changes in laws that people care about. Rumblings in the nation’s highest courts that could spill over to affect people’s everyday lives are important for people to know about, and those same people will appreciate the firms that offer it in a clear, non-patronising way.
3. Create Educational Content
Following on from the previous point, a firm could add to their marketing plan the creation of basic content that explains complex legal matters in an approachable and understandable way. Through surveys of existing clients, law firms can quickly determine what kinds of questions people would like to see answered. This content can be published in free downloadable PDF files, or as blog pieces, or once again as informative video content.
4. Make Use of Autoresponders for Email Marketing
Law firms tend to make great use of email both for client communications, and for marketing. Let’s say you send out an important marketing email to a new set of leads you have on clients in your area. You notice that the open rate is strong for these emails, but that you’re not getting the same rate of inquiry that you were hoping for. Autoresponders can help.
What these do is to trigger the sending of a follow-up email that will be sent just to those who specifically didn’t respond, or perhaps didn’t open a marketing email. This can be scheduled far ahead of time, and come in multiple stages. So, even if your follow-up email doesn’t get a response, then it will send a third, and even a fourth, all carefully crafted in advance to try and politely draw responses from those precious leads.
6. Segment Leads on Prospective Clients
One more marketing tip for law firms is definitely to ensure that their client lists for email and other marketing efforts are properly segmented. Even within a single discipline such as family or corporate law, there are multiple sub-disciplines which attract different clients that in turn demand different approaches in marketing.
