The legal industry needs to develop creative marketing ideas and cost-effective outreach strategies. The ideas presented below are inexpensive, but they need a committed, ongoing effort to work.
By Terrie S. Wheeler, Marketing Expert
- Why Family Lawyers Need a Marketing Plan
- Creative Marketing Ideas
- Consistency Plays Off!
Oftentimes, the word “creative” is not associated with the legal industry. Given the sophisticated and solemn nature of the practice, proactive legal marketing can help you build your brand and reputation as a family law attorney. To maintain your relevancy, it is important to be up to speed on digital and online marketing including SEO for family law firms. Why? Because your clients and referral sources are searching for someone just like you online – and you want them to find you!
Any polished marketing approach for family lawyers should include outreach to current clients, prospective clients, referral sources, and industry and association contacts. What you really need are some creative approaches to marketing your family law practice.
Ditching mainstream marketing strategies, the legal industry needs to develop creative and cost-effective outreach strategies. The ideas presented below are inexpensive but need a committed, ongoing effort to work.
In this blog, we will discuss some of the most creative and results-oriented ideas for marketing your family law practice and connecting with your potential clients. Let’s get started.
7 Creative Marketing Ideas to Attract More Clients to Your Family Law Firm
1. Create a Solid Social Media Presence
It is always crucial to be exactly where your audience is. A strong social media presence assists you to better connect with your colleagues along with existing and prospective clients
Enhancing your reach and accessibility, social channels including Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Instagram help people identify, connect and get in touch with you directly. Having a strong LinkedIn profile is essential to effectively back up your experience and qualification, and serves as a family law attorney’s equivalent of a Chamber of Commerce (whereas Facebook is akin to a backyard barbeque).
Another aspect associated with building an online presence is the sense of trust people tend to develop. It shows your genuineness and, more often than not, also proves the credibility of your firm.
Finally, social media allows you to showcase your thought leadership on all topics related to family law. This shows your contacts you really do know your stuff!
2. Optimize Your Website for Search Engines
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) must be a crucial part of growing your online reach and create opportunities for prospective clients and referral sources to find you online.
As a reputable family law firm, you must be right in front of people whenever they do a search for specific legal queries or questions about their situation. This helps establish you as a high-value firm and can drive subject-specific and relevant traffic to your website.
Search engines are quick to analyze your current online status based on where you are ranked on key landing pages. The higher your organic ranking, the more likely it is that the person searching will click on your law firm. If you have a website, you must have SEO to drive visitors to your website, and to specific blogs and other content you write for SEO.
3. Create and Post Short Videos to Add Value
In an era where everything is set in motion virtually, videos have been instrumental in garnering the attention of important visitors to your website.
As the owner of a family law firm, you must create short and engaging videos answering the most common questions people ask. Using video marketing has proven ideal to capture the audience’s attention and convey your message, loud and clear. From simplifying complex legal concepts to sharing your successful experience, you can use video marketing creatively to emerge as a knowledgeable and highly credible law firm.
People who watch your videos are likely to have your brand name etched into their minds – which is precisely how adding video to your website will help you reach your target clients!
4. Offer an eBook
increase the likelihood a visitor will engage with your content and contact you for more information.
By providing insightful content to answer their queries for free, your law firm eBook has the power to convert visitors into clients. Once you decide to write an eBook, always make your research the foundational pillars of your text.
Also remember, your content must not be lengthy but immensely available. Let the quality beat quantity in this case! For example, here is an eBook we wrote for lawyers called Law Firm Marketing Strategy: A Complete Guide to Grow Your Practice.
5. Create Insightful Blogs With Engaging Content
Blogging has received massive hype in recent years, with over 600 million blogs floating over the Internet so far. It is through your niche-specific blog content that people find you while surfing online.
Including specific keywords in your blog content also helps achieve higher search engine rankings, making your webpage, your content, and you even more credible.
Blogging on your own website is good for SEO, and blogging on a popular divorce-specific website like DivorceMag.com can help to raise your profile, obtain valuable backlinks to your website, and reach potential clients who may not have found you in a Google search.
6. Nudge Your Current and Prospective Clients via email
Creating an email list with contact details of relevant clients, prospects, and referral sources is effective for nudging your audience to engage with you. Email marketing is an important part of the outreach strategy, whether through newsletters, questionnaires, or other essential follow-up communications.
When it comes to drafting emails, you must ensure high-quality content that engages your readers. The catchy subject line, comprehensive content, and a strong Call to Action (CTA) will boost the readership of and engagement with your e-communications.
Don’t forget about branding! Your e-communications should reflect the professional branding you have for your firm so recipients are easily able to tell your family law firm from others.
7. Get Recommendations and Reviews for Your Services
Contrary to popular belief, it is two-way communication with your audience that drives clients to your door. Today, when clients are looking for a family law lawyer, once they have found you on Google, they will read your Google reviews. Aim to have 40 or more five-star reviews. Simply ask your best clients and referral sources to leave a five-star review of you on Google, raving about what a great family law attorney you are!
To make it easy for your clients to leave glowing reviews, add a link to the Google review screen in client satisfaction surveys.
Google reviews matter. I’m sure you have searched for a service provider such as a mortgage broker, an insurance agent, or even a new hairdresser. If you see one broker or agent has stellar reviews, you are more inclined to call them. The same holds true for clients searching for a family law attorney, so make securing Google reviews a priority in your practice.
Concluding Thoughts
With these smart and fun ideas, you can now pull your legal marketing strategies to new heights. You will then be able to thrive on social media, implement SEO strategies, create converting content and witness the power of online marketing!
All these ideas are nurtured only with consistency and patience. Nothing happens overnight, and thus, you must have realistic expectations of the time required for your marketing efforts to pay off.
Remember: you will be successful only when you consistently implement your marketing activities over time.
FAQs about Creative Marketing for Family Lawyers
Is Social Media an Important Aspect of My Marketing Plan?
Being present on social media is always an important part of any marketing plan. You want to be where your customers are! Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram will help you connect with and stay in contact with your potential and present customers.
Nothing builds trust in your firm better than an online presence. Being present on social media gives you the opportunity to show how ethical you are, how genuine you are, and how much knowledge you have about the practice of family law.
Why do I Need to Make Sure My Website is Optimized for Search Engines?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial if you wish your website to be found during a search engine search. If a potential client is searching for a “divorce attorney in Chicago” and your site isn’t optimized for those keywords, that is a potential client you’ve missed out on because your website is not going to come up in that search result.
If your website is properly optimized it gets you in front of people who are using the internet to find a local divorce attorney.
Are Videos Important When Marketing My Firm?
Are they ever!! Which attorney would you want to work with? One that had short videos on his website explaining different aspects of his firm’s business or one who had nothing but words?
For one thing, video gives a potential client an opportunity to see who you are, whether they like your demeanor and the message you convey. You can grab their attention on your website and explain how you handle the divorce process. Or, you can share with them on social media your knowledge and successful experiences.
Your face and the face of your firm will be etched in the mind of a potential client!
Should My Website Have a Blog?
Yes! Blogging about certain aspects of the divorce process or certain inside industry tips you reach a wider target audience via search engines.
Not only can blogging bring in potential clients from search engines but you can share those blog posts on social media and take them and turn them into video content. There are many reasons blogging is important in marketing. Blogging raises your professional profile, it turns you into a thought leader and nothing is more attractive to potential clients!
How Can I Use Email in My Marketing Plan?
There is no better way to keep in touch with clients and those who sign up for your email list than a weekly newsletter, questionnaire, or other follow-up communication. Mailchimp and Constant Contact are great platforms to use to store prospects’ email addresses, design and send weekly emails and newsletters from.
Terrie S. Wheeler, MBC, is the founder and president of Professional Services Marketing, LLC. For nearly 30 years, Terrie has provided outsource marketing services and worked with individual lawyers to help them hone their personal networking and relationship-building skills. www.psm-marketing.com
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