Wikipedia has a simple definition of marketing:
“Marketing is communicating the value of a product, service or brand to customers, for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service, or brand.”
Lift Legal has a simple formula that every law firm can follow to kick start their marketing.
Marketing = Communication
Very few law firms have the luxury of having too many new files to open on a monthly basis, most firms have to work hard at attracting new clients, nurturing existing clients and encouraging referrals to maintain a steady stream of new file openings in the firm.
Even if your current process for attracting new work, your marketing, is relatively unstructured we can guarantee that it involves some form of communication.
Marketing involves communication at every step in the process, online or offline. Communicating with existing clients, reminding them who you are and what you do, why they should choose you next time they need legal services.
Communicating with referrers like real estate agents, accountants, bankers, financial planners or other lawyers making sure that they remember who you are, what you do and that you want their referral business. After all, you are not the only lawyer they can refer clients to.
The most important aspect of law firm marketing is making sure that you generate communication opportunities and make the most of them when they arise.
How do you do that and maximise their value? You can start by making sure you have the right tools.
So what are these law firm marketing tools?
There are 3 essential elements necessary for successful law firm marketing.
- Website
- Database
- Newsletters
Website
Every firm should have a website. Full stop, end of story.
Your website doesn’t need to be elaborate, however it does need to accurately reflect the image that your law firm wants to project…to the whole world. Your website should also be:
- Fast – Google algorithms use website speed as one of its ranking factors and your visitors don’t want to wait for the page to load;
- Functional – the layout should be user friendly, content should be easy to find;
- Mobile friendly – it looks good on a smartphone or tablet and you don’t need to resize pages; and
- Optimised for search – basic search engine optimisation means telling Google you exist and targeting keywords your prospective clients would type into Google
The content on your website should be helpful and engaging so that it keeps your clients coming back. Focus on the problems that you can solve for your clients and how your legal expertise will help them.
Database
Law firm marketing requires a solid foundation, a basis for ongoing and new communication, somewhere to store client contact data that can then easily be accessed and used for communicating.
In years gone by law firms kept their data well hidden, in the accounting system or the deeds register. Today most of that information is easily accessible through modern practice management systems which, if kept up to date, are an extremely valuable resource for every law firm. Generally, this information can be retrieved quickly and easily so communicating the value of your legal expertise, services or brand to clients for the purpose of promoting or selling that expertise, service, or brand should not be difficult.
Newsletters
Newsletters are the simplest, most effective and traditionally oldest form of mass communication for law firms.
The difference today is that modern tools like email make it easier to send your newsletters and provide the valuable information that your clients, contacts and referrers need.
You can even use your newsletter to drive traffic to your website and you can track how your recipients are engaging with your content providing you with valuable insights that can stimulate demand
Conclusion
If you want to kick start your law firm marketing you need to get all three of these basic elements right. Once you have built the foundation for your marketing expanding the tactics you use to find prospective clients and nurture existing ones will increase the returns you can expect from your overall marketing efforts.
If you need any help getting started with marketing your law firm contact us today.
About the author
Brian Hicks
Brian has more than twenty years’ experience in marketing and management across diverse industries including legal, real estate, tourism and technology. Brian lives in Sydney with his wife and two daughters.
