How Do You Market Legal Services Successfully?

As lawyers, although we might like to believe clients will come from just hard work and success, the truth is that word of mouth only goes so far. A recent survey concluded that 43% of participants relied on word of mouth to find their lawyer. So where does that other 57% go? In the highly competitive legal industry, marketing is a must. In today's evolving legal market you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to take advantage of  law firm marketing automation software as 98% of legal firms say that intake software helps them make better decisions about marketing.

Creating a successful marketing plan requires a diverse mix of marketing tactics, from blogging, to video content, to networking with other legal professionals. And while this may sound simple, the truth is that attracting clients to your law firm comes with many different challenges.

Marketing a law firm is challenging for attorneys for several reasons:

• Legal services can be complex and specialized, making it difficult to communicate value to potential clients.
• Due to the strict ethical rules governing legal advertising, lawyers' marketing strategies may be limited.
• Attorneys often lack the time, resources, and expertise needed to develop and execute effective marketing campaigns.
• The legal industry is a competitive place, making it difficult for smaller firms and solo practitioners to stand out.

So how do lawyers attract more clients while still finding time to actually be a lawyer? In this guide we'll go over some of the best legal practice marketing tactics, and how automation can help.

What is marketing for a law firm?

Law firm marketing is the process of promoting your legal services with the intent of attracting new clients and ultimately generating more revenue. The end goal is to establish credibility and increase your visibility, ultimately persuading potential clients to choose you over the competition.
Typically, the most popular law firm marketing tactics include:

• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Paid advertising
• Social media marketing
• Networking

For any of these tactics to work, you must have a deep understanding of your target market, who your competition is, and what unique experience your law firm can offer that no one else can.

Why do law firms need marketing?

Regardless of whether you sell cheese graters or legal services, the importance of marketing cannot be expressed enough. Marketing brings awareness to your legal services, engages your potential customers, and ultimately persuades them to hire you as their lawyer. Furthermore, an ongoing and effective marketing strategy doesn't just help maintain the demand for your legal services, but it will also boost your relevance, increase your reputation, and set you apart from the competition.

Think of it this way— how do people find lawyers? They usually do a Google search or ask for referrals from friends and family. Irrespective of being the best lawyer in the world, your marketing plays a pivotal role in how many times your name will come up. You can bet your money that even if you’re a small law firm, you will generate more clients than the best lawyer in the world if you have a stronger marketing plan than them— it's really that simple.

How do you promote a legal practice successfully?

Successful law firm promotion starts with tools like marketing automation, referrals, social media, and blogging. Since marketing can take up a substantial amount of time and money, and lawyers already have enough on their plates as is, it's critical that they learn how to be more efficient with their workflow and processes. Recent statistics show that 95% of firms agree that since marketing is considered “non-billable” it’s a greater spending risk. As such, more and more lawyers are putting their marketing dollars where they can be sure they’ll produce the most results. Over the past few years, we've seen major developments in the ways that lawyers operate in order to be as efficient as possible.

Some of the most effective ways lawyers promote their legal practice are:

Marketing automation

Thanks to the help of tools that specialize in process automation, lawyers can put the administrative aspect of their law firm, like marketing, on autopilot so they can focus their attention on billable work. Tools like drip email marketing allow lawyers to schedule personalized and targeted emails that don't just generate new business but also encourage repeat business.

This hands-off approach means lawyers can build repeatable processes that automatically send themselves each time a lead or client moves from one stage of the client journey to the next. In other words, lawyers can engage clients consistently without stepping away from their legal work.

Choosing a client intake software like Lawmatics with built-in marketing automation will save your firm more time, close more clients, and ultimately grow your law firm.

Referrals

Relying on word of mouth from former clients, professionals in your network, and colleagues is one of the most effective ways to bring in new business. In general, a personal recommendation is considered amongst most to be the most reliable way to find legal services,

Social media

Social media is a great place to build credibility for your law firm by generating a following. 84% of law firms generate their leads through organic social media traffic. Growing a following on platforms like Facebook is a great way to market your firm since it gives your audience the opportunity to directly interact with you. By sharing content, commenting and interacting, you can significantly drive your engagement, and ultimately drive more traffic to your law firm website.

Yet it's important to note that not all social media platforms are suited for lawyers. And yet while there are no official rules regarding where lawyers can and can't be present on social media, you're probably not going to see a lot of lawyers on a platform like Snapchat. The best social media platforms for lawyers are:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• TikTok

Make sure you check out our post where we show you 9 attorney TikTok accounts you need to follow for marketing inspiration

Blogging

Surprisingly, only about 27% of lawyers have a blog. Yet smart marketers know how important having your own blog is. Although a presence on social media is useful, it's still rented space. Ultimately, you're at the mercy of an algorithm you can't control.
A blog is your own piece of land where you get to establish your authority on what you know best— law! By creating regular content that resonates with your audience, you'll be more likely to generate recurring visitors that turn to you as the go-to person for their legal questions. Not to mention with a solid SEO strategy in place, your blog will help your legal website appear higher on Google search results.

Website

A well-constructed website makes it possible for clients to find your law firm online and establishes credibility for your business. The more SEO you incorporate into your website, the higher your page will rank in Google search results, giving you increased visibility on a larger scale. A website also allows you to track visitor behavior such as click-through rates, website traffic, and conversions, allowing you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing.

Networking

Attending industry events is an essential method for networking with other legal professionals and potential clients and building your reputation as an expert in your field. Good old fashioned face-to-face interactions will always be one of the most reliable ways to find new clients.

How does a firm set up a marketing plan?

Setting up a marketing plan for your law firm that will yield results requires 8 key steps.

Who are you trying to market to and what kind of marketing appeals to them?

Analyze what your competitors are doing to attract and convert new prospects into clients and determine how you can do it even better.

Establish what your unique selling point is and how you can set yourself apart from the competition with unique positioning.

Decide which marketing channels you believe will be the most lucrative for your business, from e-mail marketing, to starting a blog, to creating your social media strategy.

A marketing plan is useless without specific goals in mind. The more specific you can be about what it is that you hope to achieve, the more you can fine tune your marketing efforts.

Have a specific number in mind about how much you can afford to spend on your marketing.

Dive in and get started. Start executing what it is that you set out to do and measure the results

An effective marketing plan for your law firm is one that should consistently be revisited and evaluated so that you can make whatever changes necessary to get the results you want.

How to promote a law firm? With Lawmatics

Lawmatics, the number one legal software, was built to make marketing effortless. From responding to new leads automatically to sending out the right email to the right person at the right time, Lawmatics is here to help your growing law firm grow even more.

Are you ready to see why Lawmatics legal intake, law practice CRM, marketing automation, and legal billing software is what everyone is talking about? Sign up for a free demo today!