Have you just started a legal practice or opened a new law firm? Then this guide to online marketing for practicing lawyers is meant for you. The regular stream of new firms in all practice areas has given rise to fierce competition in the legal industry. It has become harder for attorneys to acquire new and ideal clients. In order to sustain your fledgling practice, you need to explore the opportunities provided by the digital arena. For most attorneys, a digital promotional strategy begins and ends with hiring a Custom Law Firm Website Design company. Your interface is undoubtedly the foundation of your marketing program. However, you need to create a comprehensive plan to successfully build a strong digital presence. This primer on online marketing will help practicing attorneys in formulating an effective strategy.

1. Research Your Target Audience

Effective promotion is all about communicating to the audience how you are ideally suited for resolving their issues. In order to devise a powerful message that will resonate with potential clients, you need to research the target audience. Conduct surveys to know the top subjects related to your practice area in which people need help. Interview a few potential clients to know what are their expectations from an attorney. For example, if you are a startup lawyer then you must know what sort of assistance new entrepreneurs require.

2. Identify Key Metrics For Measuring Your Performance

How will you know whether your efforts are bearing fruit or not? This can be done by measuring your performance on some key metrics. Most legal practitioners feel that if they are getting new clients their plan is working fine. However, this is not enough and you need to know about website traffic, social media engagement, and lead conversion figures. Then only you will get to see the complete picture. Identify key metrics like the number of phone calls, contact form submissions, advert referrals, etc. This will help you know the cost of acquisition and assess if the strategy is profitable or not.

3. Develop A System For Qualifying Leads

It might happen that you receive good website traffic and countless social media likes but new client acquisition remains poor. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to have a system for qualifying leads in place. Once you start receiving inquiries from interested people, you must segment them according to their intent. A person who is strongly considering hiring you would have definitely called your office or submitted the contact form. Nurture such leads by sharing valuable information to gain their trust. Do not stop at the conversion stage when the lead becomes a client. Devise a system for conducting follow-ups and engaging them at regular intervals of time.

4. Align Your Website With Your Audience's Requirements

As mentioned earlier, your website will remain the focal point of your digital promotional strategy. It is essential to align it with your potential clients’ needs so that they find it helpful. One of the most vital tips for online marketing for practicing lawyers is to invest in a fast and responsive interface. The design and the layout must reflect the tastes of your audience rather than your personal preferences. For instance, using bright colors on a corporate law firm’s website is not going to be liked by business owners.

5. Devise A Plan For Content Marketing And SEO

Search engine optimization is necessary to get in front of relevant audiences. It has become second nature for people to search the internet for possible solutions for all kinds of issues. Optimizing the content with relevant keywords, adding schema markup, and adding title and meta descriptions on all pages will be helpful in SEO. Content marketing will help in positioning yourself as a thought leader in your field. Regularly publish content on your blog and share guest posts on other authoritative domains related to your practice area.

6. Build A Strong Social Media Presence

You must have a personal account on one or more social networks. It is now time to build professional profiles on such platforms. While popular channels like Facebook and Twitter must be a part of your plan, the choice of other networks must be dictated by your audience’s preferences. For example, if you are an IP lawyer, then get active on YouTube and Instagram. A strong social media presence will help you get in front of prospective clients and engage existing ones.

7. Be Open To Innovative Ideas Like Podcasts And Visual Content

You must be imaginative and look to explore all kinds of options to promote your practice. Lawyers can be conservative at times in their approach and not think beyond text-based content for marketing. They must also consider other avenues like podcasts to connect with relevant audiences. In case, they find it difficult to create their own, they can appear as guests on other podcasts. Similarly, creating visual content like infographics which can be posted on networks like Pinterest will also be helpful. Attorneys must also create small videos and post them on multiple platforms.

8. Track, Measure, And Fine-tune Your Strategy

In the second point of this guide, we suggested that it is important to measure your performance. Once you have implemented a marketing strategy, it is time to install analytics tools to put that idea into practice. Use these solutions to get insight into your website traffic, social media marketing, and advertising campaigns. This will help you in identifying the tactics that are productive and the ideas that are not so effective. Fine-tune your strategy by making the necessary changes and then repeat the process.

Conclusion

Attorneys must know how to use the internet to expand their reach and communicate with potential clients. This basic primer on online marketing for the law firm lawyers will help them outline an effective promotional strategy.