Introduction
The success of a law firm is undoubtedly determined by how effectively its employees practice law. However, a law firm’s growth is determined by how well a company markets itself. More than one-third of potential clients start their search for an attorney online. Therefore, it is imperative for law firms to have a strong digital strategy. There are plenty of free and paid law firm marketing tools, apps and services.
With the right technology, attorneys and law firms can implement a successful law firm marketing program. Using the right tools can put you ahead of the competition and help bring in new clients. If you’re looking to expand your digital presence, consider incorporating the following law firm marketing tools into your marketing strategy:
Email marketing: Mailchimp
Email marketing is still a highly effective marketing tool. If you’re looking to add email to your law firm marketing arsenal, MailChimp is a good way to go. MailChimp is one of the best and most user-friendly email marketing services. You can install MailChimp’s email sign-up forms easily on your blog or website. Furthermore, you can use it to build up a list of email subscribers. In addition, their service automatically complies with Anti-Spam laws by adding unsubscribe links at the bottom of every email.
Social media management: Hootsuite and Buffer
Social media has become an important marketing tool, even for law firms. In fact, according to Capterra, prospective law firm clients typically spend 16 minutes per hour on various social media platforms. However, in order to utilize social media as a marketing tool, law firms need to use them appropriately and effectively. With proper use of proper social media platforms, law firms can interact with prospective clients and provide relevant information. That way, they can generate more leads.
For example, Hootsuite is a useful social media management tool. With Hootsuite, you can schedule posts and keep tabs on replies. Moreover, you can monitor topics relevant to your practice area to see what potential legal clients are interested in. Buffer makes it extremely easy to schedule posts in advance. Furthermore, if you download the Google Chrome plugin, you can add any content from the web to your Buffer queue. Check out both tools and find out which one suits the best for your needs.
Research: Google Trends, Moz, SemRush, Google Analytics
Use Google Trends to explore interest in certain topics, including related topics and related searches. Furthermore, Moz and SEMrush are also useful platforms that measure keyword volume related to a given topic. Besides that, check out Google Analytics. It provides keyword research and analysis, statistics about incoming links and notices any errors that may be affecting SEO. This type of data is essential to get your law firm website or blog ranking for local attorney-related search terms.
Legal directories
According to the U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey, 30% of legal consumers use directories when searching for a lawyer online. Hence, it is vital that your firm claims presence in these directories. Be sure to select directories where your potential clients are looking. Once you select the directories that fit your client base, ensure your listing is customized with information about your firm. Add images and a brief biography to engage potential clients. Furthermore, be sure that this information is consistent across all directories.
Avvo
Avvo is a popular website for legal information. It has become popular for legal information, legal advice, and lawyer-client matching. It’s free to sign up and it ranks extremely well in Google search results. And chances are high that some of your potential clients are browsing for lawyers there. Furthermore, you can boost your Avvo rating by completing your profile info and answering questions in their Q&A forum.
FindLaw
FindLaw is owned by Reuters. It is a popular destination for legal information and reference and holds one of the largest legal directories online. Moreover, it offers marketing services such as lead generation, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, web development and more.
Nolo
Nolo specialized in lead generation. This platform encourages personalization with lawyer profiles. Moreover, it tries to make searching for the right lawyer as easy as possible for potential clients. In addition, lawyers and law firms can pay for exclusive leads explicitly generated for them.
Lawyers
This legal site has become increasingly popular in use for legal information and blogs. Lawyers listed on this platform can be searched, reviewed and matched with clients in need of service.
Legal Match
LegalMatch has quickly become one of the most used and well-known legal directories online. Lawyers listed within this directory are able to secure client reviews and ratings. Moreover, they can be located in accordance with the type of legal service a client is searching for. Uniquely, this service has a monthly subscription fee instead of the PPL pricing structure.
JurisOffice
Another well-known legal directory is Juris Office. They offer several different plan options for lawyers and law firms to purchase listings within their directories.
Martindale
Perhaps one of the oldest and most established legal services within the United States. Martindale was established in 1868 and has been a trusted source ever since. Their comprehensive legal directory offers a place for lawyers and law firms to list their services. Furthermore, they are reviewed and rated by clients.
SuperLawyers
Lawyers and law firms can also list themselves through the Super Lawyer’s directory. That way they can gain the unique ability to be featured in accordance to areas of expertise. This feature allows legal services to be procured with ease.
Justia
As a highly-visited directory, Justia is definitely a legal directory lawyer should list in. All licensed attorneys are invited to list for free within the directory, with paid premium listings also available.
Blogging - WordPress
WordPress is the most powerful and widely used content management system on the internet, powering an estimated 75 million websites. The best part is- it is free for use. WordPress makes it easy to start a website or blog and to regularly post content. And since it’s open-source, other developers can build cool plugins and design new themes.
That way they can add additional functionality and improve the look of your site. A law firm blog is a great way to engage with your target clients and establish your firm’s credibility. Furthermore, to increase your web traffic, boost your SEO, increase your newsletter sign-ups and more.
Referrals- Meetup
Meetup is a fantastic service allowing you to start or join groups with like-minded people interested in a particular topic. In addition, it allows you to schedule meetings. If you’re a business lawyer, there are tons of startup and small business-oriented groups. For example, if you do estate planning work, this is the tool for you. The more face-to-face networking you can do, the more contacts you’ll make and the more referrals you’ll get.
Event organizing- Eventbrite
Being the organizer of a successful event makes you look respectable and credible. People will automatically gain more trust in you. And trust is the most important characteristic they will be looking for if they end up hiring an attorney.
Eventbrite is by far the best service online to help you organize an event, promote it and sell tickets to your desired attendees. However, putting on the event is not likely to be free. Prepare to give up your commission from ticket sales.
Conclusion
Effective utilization of marketing tools is essential for your law firm in order to generate leads and achieve firm growth. Using the right combination of tools, your law firm can ensure effective law firm advertising.
Whatever tools you choose for your marketing strategy, make sure that your brand’s voice is consistent across all of them. That way, your consumers will be more likely to connect with you when they recognize your brand across multiple directories. To sum up, using the right marketing tools can attract more clients and build or improve your brand presence.