Introduction
Your brand is the experience and perception people have of your company. Legal branding is the sum of the actions taken to build a strong law brand. The branding process is a series of steps that starts with research and vision. This process ends with visuals and other assets that speak in your unique brand voice.
A strong law brand can help you:
- Target the right clients
- Stand out from the competitors
- Uphold industry standards
- Plan effective marketing strategy
Create a strong brand by following these steps:
Define your law firm’s brand
For a start, discover your unique take on practicing law. Defining what sets you apart from the competition will help you create a strong law brand promise and brand values. Furthermore, answer the following questions:
- What makes you different?
- What’s your practice area?
- What are you an expert in?
- What are you most passionate about?
- Which problems do you solve for your clients?
Lawyer branding is the foundation for a strong law firm brand. It’s important that you and your team have a clear sense of who you are in order to articulate how you can help clients. This process involves you looking at your natural talents and your motivations.
Determine your brand promise
What kind of experience clients can expect from your law firm brand? Think about how can it be truly different than other law firms while clearly defining your brand identity. In order to effectively share your brand promise, tell others what you do and connect them to your law firm brand.
No one else has your story and that’s why it’s truly unique from others. Once you’ve drafted your full story, carve out your brand promise or Unique Selling Proposition that’s truly unique to you. A USP clearly lays out the value of your firm and what can only your firm can offer clients and potential clients.
Clarify your target audience
An integral part of defining your brand is figuring out who your prospective clients are. Be clear about who you want to work with by creating your customer persona. This will help guide the creation of your target audiences.
Narrow your target audience as much as possible. The narrower the audience, the more you can learn about your audience and thus, the more effective the outreach. Furthermore, focusing on a specific target audience help improve brand recognition and increase your brand equity.
Develop a visual identity
When you know “who” your brand is, it’s time to decide what it will look like. There are several big decisions to make when creating your visual identity. Including the logo, a color scheme, and the typography that you will use for your brand. A logo should be at the heart of your branding strategy.
When potential clients see a logotype, they should think about everything that constitutes your brand. For example, what you do, what is your mission, your values, etc. Choosing something that’s appropriate, appealing and in tune with your brand identity will ultimately help increase your brand equity.
Create a memorable website
First, make sure to include the necessary web pages like “About us”, “Services” and “Contact”. Next, adding a blog section or posting regular news updates such as press releases or updates on client services, will also help make your website search engine optimized.
This means using the right keywords, a responsive and user-friendly website. Moreover, consider having a detailed web page dedicated to team members which adds the all-important personal touch to their law firm branding.
Develop a marketing strategy
Once you have determined your brand strategy, it’s time to start developing your legal marketing plan. When practicing content marketing, use the right keywords on your website and offer useful information.
This can help your website rank better in Google search results, but also attract more leads and ultimately more prospective clients. When it comes to creating actual marketing materials, concentrate on your law firm’s brand. Use the same color scheme, brand voice and include your logo on all marketing assets.
Build Your Social Media Presence
Social media is an important part of your law firm’s marketing strategy. However, consider which social media profiles are worth your time and what sort of messaging should you employ. For example, LinkedIn is probably the most relevant channel for all legal professionals. And Facebook, Instagram or YouTube can be good for sharing content and connecting with potential clients.
Nowadays, social media is the foundation for how companies network, engage and converse with their target audience. Therefore, it’s important to use this opportunity to showcase your professional image and business value. Before you launch your brand on LinkedIn, first determine what your unique value is to the outside world and your target audience.
Be sure to include your contact details, and add your experience, education and skills. Don’t overlook the “featured” section, which is great for linking your law firm’s bio, or a recent blog post you’ve authored etc. Finally, maintain your online presence consistently in order to properly market your law firm and develop a strong law brand.
Focus on your core message
Your core message is the most important part of your business- it is the big idea you want to share with the world. It captures the emotional core of who you are, what you stand for and why you do it. Your law firm core message must be unified and consistent. Messaging is about concise, authentic, unique, witty language that grabs your audience’s attention. Have a brainstorming session with your team to define the key message you want your branding to carry.
Become a Thought Leader
Raise your profile by establishing yourself as a subject matter expert, which you can do by publishing value-added content. The purpose of your content is to brand you as a leader in your practice industry. Publishing regular content, for example – one article per month helps to keep you top of mind with your network.
Learn from Others
Look at the brand-building activities of your top competitors. Information is power, especially when it comes to how your peers are marketing themselves. Therefore, make a list of your top 5-10 competitors and conduct due diligence on their marketing and business development activities.
Pay special attention to the events, publications and news section of their website as well as their recent activities on LinkedIn profile. As a result, you’ll be able to incorporate a few new ideas into your branding efforts from this competitor research.
Regularly Audit Your Online Brand
You must take the appropriate steps to protect your brand after all this work that you’re putting into strengthening it. For example, google yourself at least once per month. Pay special attention to the first page of results as most users do not go past those.
Set up a Google Alert for yourself, a free service that sends you an e-mail notification when your name appears online. Furthermore, update your blog articles and try following the latest social media trends to stay up-to-date.
Conclusion
The world is changing and so should your branding. In short, law firms that are willing to be flexible and grow will have winning brands always. Law firms that welcome the process of evolving, growth and self-discovery will attract the right clients.
Moreover, don’t wait for opportunities to find you, instead proactively seek them out yourself. Perhaps there’s a conference in which you are interested in speaking or a publication for which you would like to write.
Finally, cultivate your relationships at every stage of your career. They will always be fundamental to your success and help open new doors for you. Find the platforms that are right for you and pursue the branding strategies for which you will be personally invested.
Your law brand will evolve and grow just as you are evolving and growing as a professional. The key is to embrace those changes, believe in yourself and be yourself. Continue to actively seek out opportunities that will help you reach your goals. Use this checklist to generate a strong law brand.