By Legal Futures Associate Clio
There was a time when law firm marketing was a more straightforward endeavour. Firms thrived on in-person networking and building relationships within their community. They might have placed adverts in a local paper or advertised in directories, such as the Yellow Pages.
Today, with more of us seeking out goods and services online, including when it comes to legal services, law firm marketing is a different beast. Online marketing needs to be front and centre for any law firm marketing approach.
Here’s the good news for budget-conscious law firms: Marketing a law firm doesn’t have to break the bank. Even on a tight budget, there are plenty of effective ways to promote your firm and attract new clients online.
This article provides a top-level view of how to market your law firm, even on a shoestring budget, drawing on insights from Clio’s new resource, “A Guide to Online Marketing for Law Firms.”
Here are three measures any firm can implement to improve their online marketing activities today.
1. Boost your reputation with online reviews
Gathering online reviews from existing clients can do wonders to boost your firm’s reputation, build trust, and draw more clients to your firm. Online reviews aren’t just a nice to have: they’re essential.
Research compiled for Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report showed that client reviews are the most important factor when clients are considering hiring a law firm—substantially topping other major considerations, such as location, billing type, and office type. Incentivise positive reviews by asking clients proactively to review you.
How do you go about gathering reviews? The straightforward answer is to ask for them! Consider sending an email when you have completed client work asking happy clients to leave you a review online.
Make it easy to do. Nobody wants to fill in a 10-page survey, no matter how happy they are with your work! A simple email linking to some popular review sites can do wonders.
2. Get writing (and show off your expertise)
When it comes to online marketing, content is king. What is content? It can be anything used to educate or inform, including blog posts, explainer videos, podcasts, whitepapers/guides etc.
All of these items can be created at little to no cost, often with equipment you already own.
Which one is best? That depends on you! A lot of lawyers love to write detailed guides and explanations, so blog posts (short articles you publish on a regular basis) or white papers or guides might be the way to go for those people.
Alternatively, if you’re not a writer by nature, recording short explainer videos of common legal issues could gain you a lot of attention (and search engines love videos!) Podcasts are also worth considering.
(The free online marketing guide mentioned above delves into much more detail on this. Download it for free.)
3. Get your social media approach right
Creating a strong social media presence can be a game changer for legal professionals and law firms. Which social media outlet is right for you? Well, consider where your clients are. If you’re a commercial law firm, for example, chances are, LinkedIn or Twitter are right for you. If you’re targeting a young and non-commercial audience, Instagram or TikTok could be the better choice.
There’s more to consider when it comes to building your social media brand online. (Clio will delve into this in a lot more detail in a free upcoming masterclass with Robert Hanna, branding expert and founder and host of the Legally Speaking Podcast. You can register for a free place here).
Whatever your approach to social media (whether you post a lot or a little), here are five cardinal rules when marketing your law firm via social media:
- Avoid bragging or begging—it will turn off prospective clients
- Don’t forget about hashtags—seek out what’s trending and add relevant hashtags to your posts
- Create (or share) curated legal content—share content from your blog, the media, or from contacts on your social media
- Showcase firm activity outside of representation—allow people get to know you and your team with more personal posts
- Demonstrate your personality—maintain a conversational tone and don’t be afraid to show your personality
Taking just these simple—and low-cost—steps can help your law firm to create an online marketing presence. Want to learn more?
Clio’s new ‘A Guide to Online Marketing for Law Firms’ expands on all of the above steps to give you a playbook for online law firm marketing without breaking the bank. Download the guide for free.
