Let’s face it, most people don’t really think about attorneys or the intricacies of the law until they get into legal trouble. Unfortunately, this can cause potential clients to ignore legal marketing or deem it unnecessary to their daily lives. In today’s rapidly changing business climate attorneys have to shift their marketing strategies to make themselves more exciting and relevant on a day to day basis.
When it comes to social media, purely legal posts do little to attract attention or connect with the community at large. Instead, attorneys should learn to market themselves and their personal brand, rather than simply their services. This can involve highlighting your own unique persona, and the aspects of your personality or interests that others can find common ground in. Not only does this make your content more exciting, but it makes you more relevant, relatable, and approachable. In turn, when the time comes and your followers need an attorney, their choice in who represents them becomes essentially automatic.
Two of the most compelling ways to market yourself and educate your audience are videography and photography. Both mediums immediately capture attention, and visual-based messaging has a stronger impact on how people think, react, and feel than written words. In today’s world, people are constantly bombarded with information, and those who can get their ideas across in more efficient and engaging ways are the ones who get more back as a result. Video and photo simplify and bolster your messaging, and broaden your potential audience in the process.
Another huge consideration is your website. Having a website with a clean, professional design for you or your firm is obviously paramount, but it doesn’t stop there. For one, your website is a key component when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The more information you have on your site, and the more frequently you update it, the more it will appear in the search engine results of potential clients looking for your services. Another intelligent way of improving your SEO is to create multiple websites, each with marketable URL names specific to the services you offer. For example, if you’re an estate planning attorney named John Smith, consider what people looking for estate planning services search for, and use a name like “www.fightingforgrandmasland.com” rather than simply “www.johnsmith.com.”
Lastly, business-to-business efforts are a crucial component of marketing that many don’t take proper advantage of. Attorneys specializing in different areas of the law can help each other on cases, and in turn can advertise each other’s services. It’s important to note that business-to-business should not just be attorney-to-attorney though. Think about businesses or groups you can partner with that are related to the areas of law you specialize in, and try to create mutually beneficial marketing relationships to piggyback off each other’s efforts. For instance, if you’re a criminal defense attorney, consider sponsoring a pre-existing event at a condominium where you can educate tenants on legal matters. The condominium and tenants will see this as a perk, and in the process you can potentially become the known attorney in the building.
Hopefully this information has been useful, and you’ve gained a better understanding of the avenues you can take to upgrade your marketing efforts. That being said, this is a basic overview of a multi-faceted process that requires a lot of thought and effort. If you feel this might be too daunting for you to handle, or you simply want the expertise of a professional team that represents numerous attorneys and has been doing marketing and consulting work for years, please contact VESS Consulting Group at connect@vessconsultinggroup.com or 512-368-4707. We are proud to be an Austin-based company that supports local businesses at affordable rates, and would love to set up a meeting over coffee or lunch, our treat.
