Many marketing experts discuss what marketing strategies to implement, however, it is also essential to discuss which marketing strategies to avoid so your law firm is not negatively impacted. There are many law firm marketing strategies that either increase business, maintain business, or negatively impact your law firm business. Regardless of the case, failed marketing attempts can not only hurt your business and leave you with an investment loss but also result in losing clients.
Continue to read this article to learn about law firm marketing strategies you should be avoiding, how to avoid them, and which law firm marketing strategies you should be focusing on instead.
Table of Contents
Do Not Focus Solely on Your Homepage
There are many online resources that represent your law firm. While the homepage of your law firm’s website is very important, so is the rest of the pages of your website. Furthermore, there are many alternative digital marketing strategies that go beyond your website that you should also consider and optimize.
For example, lawyers and attorneys should also be considering online listings and ensuring their information is accurate and up to date. Essentially, online resources such as your law firm website, Google My Business, and legal directories are all digital resources that clients are browsing, and digital marketing strategies that law firms should be optimizing.
Create an eye-pleasing, website design for your law firm website. Focus on all pages of your website to ensure a good user experience with site speediness, and provide web users with valuable information that will establish trust and direct them to your law firm business for their legal needs. Your law firm website is a portal that allows potential clients to better understand who you are as a person, your work ethic, how you serve clients, and learn more about your employees and law firm.
Another online resource that is worth investing in is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Pay-per-click advertising can get your law firm website in front of the eyes of your targeted audience. However, in order for PPC ads to perform effectively, you must run ads effectively. Many law firm businesses run PPC ads expecting immediate results. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Running a PPC ad requires strategic marketing methods. If done correctly, PPC ads can significantly increase website traffic and result in a return on investment. On the other hand, PPC ads can become pricey, and do not guarantee results.
Do Not Overlook Reviews
Online reviews are crucial when clients are searching for legal professionals. Reviews provide potential clients with an insight into what it is like working with you and your law firm. Essentially, they either prove or disprove what you claim about your law firm business.
If your law firm’s online reviews are negative or nonexistent, it will significantly impact your conversion rates. Potential clients who are browsing the internet will resort to reviews prior to furthering their attorney-client relationship with you. Negative reviews will leave them browsing, and nonexistent reviews insinuate you do not have enough experience, do not provide clients with outstanding legal services, and insinuates there is no social proof of your law firm business.
Positive reviews establish credibility, create trust, and provide social proof. When former clients explain their experience with your law firm in a positive light, it establishes credibility and instantly leaves your law firm business with a good reputation. Potential clients immediately feel they can rely on you and trust your law firm business. Furthermore, positive reviews inform searchers that your law firm business is legit, knowledgable, and well-experienced.
If your law firm business does not have online reviews or has accumulated a few negative reviews, there are ways you can receive reviews and fix the bad ones.
If your law firm has not yet received a review, there are several ways you can encourage reviews. Of course, it’s important not to upset clients with your constant reminders about reviews. While conversing with clients or before a client leaves your law firm’s office, casually remind them to leave a review if they have been satisfied with the legal services provided to them. Additionally, you can include a reminder on your law firm business cards, and at the end of emails with a direct link that will take them straight to the review webpage. To take it a step further, you can offer gift cards to those who submit reviews on various review websites and platforms. If you have a strong web presence, legal clients can leave reviews on online directories, Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.
To overturn bad reviews, you must resolve the conflict that the review points out. Clients will either leave a bad review for an issue that should not have happened or a minor inconvenience. Whatever the case may be, respond to the review, and reach out to the client to resolve the conflict and change the direction of the review. When monitoring online law firm reviews, make sure you are responding to all reviews, regardless of if it is good or bad, in a timely manner. The way in which your legal business handles reviews also represents how you handle business.
Do Not Forget About Tracking Leads
Tracking leads could be the main reason why clientele has not increased. When potential clients have taken action to contact your law firm, it means they need legal services as soon as possible. We all understand how important is it for legal clients to get the help they need when they need it. If a potential client has reached out to your law firm, it most likely means they have chosen you to serve their case. If you do not respond in a quick enough manner, they will find a different legal team.
The most successful law firms respond to their leads as soon as possible and immediately get to work. If they cannot contact a lead that has expressed interest, they try another method of communication. Regardless, they get in touch with interested clients as fast as they can.
In order to ensure you are not missing out on new clients, create a plan specifically made for leads. If you are a large law firm, hire an assistant that specifically responds to lead emails and phone calls. Make it a point to respond to all leads prior to clocking out and leaving the office.
Do Not Try To Do It All Yourself
It does not matter how much education or skill you have, you cannot make enough time in the day to complete all tasks, stay on top of all cases, and manage your marketing strategies and efforts. Lawyers and attorneys already work overtime each day. It is important to simplify your duties in the areas that you can. Hire admin assistants, social media marketers, website designers, and marketing professionals so that your business does not fall behind. While you may think that you can do it all, you will quickly begin to realize that you will lack effort in certain areas of your law firm business and it will negatively affect the entirety of your business. Give all of your efforts to your clients and let assistants and marketing specialists do the rest for you, and your law firm business will grow.
Recap
It is important to understand what to avoid when marketing your law firm business to avoid losing clients and further complications in the future. Here is a summary of what to avoid when marketing your law firm business and what to do instead:
- Do Not Focus Solely on Your Homepage
- Focus on your entire web presence
- Do Not Overlook Reviews
- Have a review monitorization strategy
- Do Not Forget About Tracking Leads
- Create a system to track leads
- Do Not Try To Do It All Yourself
- Hire assistants and marketing experts
