Our world has become increasingly interconnected, thanks to the internet. Consumers have responded in kind, and the legal profession has not been left behind. In my experience managing accounts for a variety of legal clients, there are several key aspects of a digital marketing campaign that should be emphasized for success.
Organic Results
Organic results mean that the people searching do not type in names of specific legal professionals or firms. Instead, they use more general terms, such as “advice about wills” or “divorce lawyer.” In other words, these users will be willing to click and engage with the site that appears to provide them with the best advice.
For a law firm to gain attention from these searches online, the firm needs to build a digital presence. It will need high-ranking spots on the search engine results page (SERP).
To gain these top positions, you need to carefully create content that your prospective clients want to read. You need to understand what interests them and create material that will answer their questions and concerns. You can then start to build trust with your clients.
To speak to those interests and earn the trust of an audience, first consider why someone might visit an attorney’s website. They might want to learn more about a recent topic in the news and see an attorney’s perspective. Using this perspective to craft content can create interest.
Perhaps the most important part of creating engaging content is addressing the legal concerns of an audience. Readers of law marketing content might be involved in or have a potential interest in a legal matter that they want to learn more about.
By nature, law marketing content tends to provide perspective as opposed to specific answers. For example, a law marketer can’t tell a reader how long it will take to resolve their case, simply because every case is different. However, you can inform an audience about a state’s statute of limitations on a given issue or tell them what they might generally expect when taking a legal action.
How do you know what topics might be of interest to a firm’s potential audience? People are constantly seeking legal advice from attorneys, whether formally in an office or informally at a social gathering. In other words, attorneys are in a unique position to know exactly what interests people regarding their profession. That expertise can be leveraged to determine what interests an audience. Marketers should talk to attorneys to find out what questions they’re frequently asked and how that relates to their practice.
PPC
You will also need to use pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. With Google Ads, you can create paid ads that Google displays throughout its network as well as on the SERP itself. Other important PPC opportunities exist through various social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Like organic marketing, to be successful with PPC, you need to know what people in your target group search for and what they want to see in return. You can use PPC to help your firm get the attention it needs while you wait for your organic efforts to perform. There will also likely be keywords that have immense popularity in your field. This can make it very competitive to try to earn the top positions on the SERP. PPC can help you attract attention with these competitive keywords to ensure that your firm still has a voice.
To determine which keywords are most effective, you’ll rely on your own testing and experience. One of the many ways to do this is to establish a practice of analyzing the effectiveness and popularity of the terms and wording you use in a campaign. Refine your approach based on your click-through rates and conversions.
In a PPC campaign, remember that your space is limited, and the efficiency of your message is key. Trim away unnecessary wording, and make sure you provide the essentials. Include the city you practice in and the service you provide.
Social Media
Finally, social media will be an important part of your digital strategy. These social platforms provide a space for developing personal relationships with clients. Regularly posting content that will interest them, engaging with followers in conversation, and answering questions promptly and professionally can help you build more trust.
Just as your content and PPC campaigns will be refined by analytics, so too will your social media strategy. Share your website’s content online and figure out what types of posts are most effective. What posts tend to be popular with your audience? Which messages did your audience respond to? Social media platforms offer businesses analytics that will help you shape a strategy to optimize the time you spend on a platform.
Social media also offers a great opportunity to present the personality of your law firm. If there is an office party, take pictures and share them with your audience. If you work with a local charity or support a local cause, use your platform to amplify those organizations.
Digital marketing now impacts nearly every business field, including law firms. With clients turning to the internet to find their answers, firms must willingly turn to digital marketing. When the facets of a digital marketing campaign work together, it can build an online presence that will drive traffic to your site and help you uncover new leads and clients.