Looking to grow your client acquisition for a law firm?
Law firms want to attract the best clients with the highest-value cases. More qualified leads mean more revenue growth and:
- Higher billables
- More steady caseloads
But here’s the thing.
Getting clients to come to you is one of the most competitive industries online. There are currently over 1.37 million lawyers in the United States of America. As someone in this industry, you need lawyer marketing.
Without marketing, you’re getting buried.
Other law firms are doing everything they can to beat you to the punch. A study done by CallRail research states that about 83% of law firms hire outside firms to do their marketing for them. Talk about competitive!
Working with a lawyer marketing agency that specialises in law firms like Forward lawyer marketing agency can change the game for you. When you find the right law firm marketing agency, you get access to proven strategies and expertise that your firm simply cannot do alone.
Ready to learn more?
In this article you’re going to learn:
- Why Law Firms Need Marketing Help
- Which Channels You Should Be Using to Acquire Clients
- 5 Lawyer Marketing Tactics To Use
- How to Bring It All Together
Why Law Firms Should Invest in Marketing Help
It used to be that word of mouth and referrals were enough.
But those days are long gone. People want to research you online before they pick up the phone. 85% of people use Google when looking to find a lawyer. If your name isn’t appearing on those search results you may as well not exist.
And if that’s not bad enough.
Law firms who take too long to respond to inquiries are losing potential clients. Statistics show that firms who answer the phone within 5 minutes of an inquiry have a much higher conversion rate over those who take hours to respond. If you’re not visible and fast, you’re losing out.
Law firms need to have great marketing strategies if they want to stay competitive.
Which Channels Lead to the Most Client Acquisition?
Before jumping into some lawyer marketing tactics, make sure you’re marketing on the right channels.
Just because something works for other industries, doesn’t mean it’ll work for yours.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): SEO is going to be your bread and butter. The average law firm makes a 526% return on investment within 3 years by using SEO. That outperforms any other legal marketing tactic out there. You’re going to want to build up organic traffic with SEO.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC): PPC can drive traffic to your website right away, but it does come at a price. Most legal related keywords cost a pretty penny when using Google Ads. You’ll want to have a solid SEO strategy so that you’re not solely relying on PPC.
Content Marketing: Content is king for a reason. When you produce helpful and useful content, you position your firm as a thought leader. Blogs, guides and other resources are great ways to get potential clients to stick around and learn more about your firm. The more you create, the more leads you’ll get.
Local SEO: About 49% of Google searches are considered to have local intent. As local creatures of habit, potential clients are going to search for lawyers near them. Make sure you’re showing up in the Google’s Local Pack. Claim your Google Business Profile, build local citations and collect client reviews.
A lot of these channels work best when they’re used together.
Think of it as building a well-oiled marketing machine.
5 Lawyer Marketing Tactics To Use
These lawyer marketing tactics are used by some of the best in the business. If you take away one or two tactics and apply them correctly, you’ll see an increase in client acquisition.
1. Have a High-Converting Website
Think of your website as your best marketing asset.
Your website will be the foundation of all your marketing efforts. A website needs to load quickly and be mobile responsive. If you want visitors to your site to take action, you need to provide them with a clear call-to-action. Make it easy for them to contact you by placing contact forms on every page. Testimonials, awards and case results are great trust builders.
Here’s the kicker.
92% of law firm websites are completely worthless when it comes to converting visitors. They may look nice, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to get you clients. Make sure there are constant cues for visitors to give you a call or fill out your website’s contact form.
2. Learn How to Master SEO
SEO for law firms is a beast of its own.
You’re going to be competing against thousands of other law firms for the same keywords. That’s why it’s important to focus on long-tail keywords, local keywords and creating quality content. Another thing you want to focus on is building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites. Backlinks help you climb up Google’s search rankings.
On-page SEO is important as well.
Make sure your title tags, meta descriptions and page headers are optimised. You’d be surprised how many law firms skip this step.
3. Create Consistent Content
You should already be doing this.
If your firm isn’t publishing helpful blog posts, you’re falling behind. Content is your chance to show potential clients that you know what you’re talking about. Answer questions that they’re asking. Create guides that walk them through common legal situations.
Here’s a bonus tip for you.
The better content you produce, the more chances you have to get backlinks from other websites. As your bounce rate goes down, your SEO will naturally get better. Create awesome content and watch your rankings soar.
4. Optimize for Local Search
The local pack is your best friend.
Most clients are going to search for lawyers near them when they need legal help. Optimize your Google Business Profile. Claim it. Fill out every single section. Add photos and respond to reviews. Next, build citations on legal directories and local business directories.
You want to appear in Google’s local three-pack. Appearing here can drastically increase your client acquisition.
5. Track, Analyse, then Optimise
If you’re not tracking your marketing efforts, you’re tossing your money away.
Period. You need to know what’s working for you and what’s not. Key metrics you should always be looking at is your cost per lead, conversion rates and what channels your high-quality cases are coming from.
Simple enough, right?
Use tools to track your website’s performance. Google Analytics and call tracking software can do wonders for you. Once you identify what works, pump more money into those areas and cut off the dead weight.
How to Bring It All Together
Attracting more clients through smart lawyer marketing really isn’t complicated. But, it does require some work and consistency. Here’s what was covered:
- You need to be visible. Show potential clients that you exist.
- You need to be quick. The faster you respond to inquiries, the better your conversion rates will be.
- Lastly, you need to showcase that you’re trustworthy. You can do this by showing off client reviews, displaying testimonials and having a professional website.
Implement some, if not all of these tactics and you’ll be on your way to dominating your local market.
Need help bringing it all together? You don’t have to do it alone.
Allow a lawyer marketing agency to handle your marketing while you do what you do best, helping clients with their legal needs.