Our team hears it all the time, “I don’t have time for marketing.” We get it–taking time to develop a digital marketing strategy is a strenuous task and requires time and energy to determine what fits your needs. However, just because you don’t have the time, doesn’t mean you don’t need it. It’s quite the opposite. Today, we’re going to take a look at why lawyers need legal digital marketing.
#1. You Want Your Firm to Be Successful
This point is obvious, but needs to be said. You want your law firm to be successful. Sure, you could rely on word-of-mouth and traditional marketing methods, but have you considered what you’re missing out on?
According to the American Bar Association, 81% of law firms and independent lawyers say they maintain at least one social media platform. Of those legal professionals using social media as part of their digital strategy, 66% use it for career growth while more than half are utilizing these platforms to gain clients.
So what happens if you aren’t part of the 81% that’s online? You’re missing out on opportunities.
#2. You Need To Grow Your Brand or Refresh It
We consider ourselves very fortunate to have a mix of established firms and new attorneys on the rise. It’s great for us because we get to see these new teams move through the ranks while building their brands. But we also get to work with these law firms that have been in the biz for a while and simply need a refresh on their image.
While the strategies for each differ, they utilize a lot of the same basic processes to ensure that we hit all the key market areas.
For example, for a young firm in New York City, we may be focusing on establishing their presence as knowledgeable, approachable, and affordable legal counsel. We’ll review market data, check out the competition in those particular markets, and build a digital marketing strategy to accommodate. We love this type of work because the options are limitless when we’re starting with them from scratch.
But a refresh to a brand is also exciting. Sure, we have a preexisting status on the interwebs, but we also have an opportunity to showcase the firm’s growth and change. Maybe the practice has taken on new female attorneys who have paved the way for women in law. Or perhaps the cases they used to take on simply don’t bring in the money any more and they need to shift gears.
No matter the reasoning or your firm’s season, digital marketing will be an integral part of rising through the ranks.
#3. You Don’t Want to Be Left Behind
Our last point may seem silly–but trust us, it comes up all the time. You don’t want your law firm to be left behind! We get a lot of new clients via referrals from former or current clients, meaning they aren’t just looking at what their competitors are doing–they want to see what we’re doing for other attorneys.
So whether it’s podcasts or videos, expert commentary or social media engagement, our clients don’t want to be left behind–they want to be the leader of the pack.
You know you need digital marketing. But what do you do now?
The Makings of a Great Legal Digital Marketing Strategy
At ENX2 Marketing, we fancy ourselves the legal marketing pros–and our clients agree! We get them to the top of their industry with four main components which ultimately work hand-in-hand to make a great legal digital marketing strategy.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
We know our country is in an organic, all natural kick when it comes to food and health–but did you know that organic content is also good for the health of your business? SEO works to increase the organized traffic to your law firm’s website. We do this by targeting the questions and topics potential clients are looking for on Google and creating content that matches the user’s intent. Lawyers are in a competitive market as is, so when you can spend little to make a large impact, it really makes all the difference.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing
While SEO and organic content reign supreme, it also takes time to see results. However, PPC marketing gives you a competitive advantage in a shorter period of time. Utilizing a PPC campaign for your target audience/practice area allows you to generate leads quickly without waiting for your SEO strategy to take effect. In addition, while you run these campaigns, you’ll be collecting data for keywords that you can use to improve your PPC ads, and for your overall content marketing strategy.
Social Media Marketing
We spent a lot of time talking about the importance of a social media presence, but it truly is one of the pillars of a successful digital marketing strategy. While we always say you don’t need to be on every platform, you do need to be on the ones your ideal client would be using. Not only should you be active, but you should take advantage of the advertising opportunities you have via those outlets.
Content Marketing
All of the aforementioned components are important, but not nearly as important as the content you produce. Think about it–if you don’t have content, you can’t work towards an SEO strategy, can’t create PPC ads, and certainly won’t have much to say on social media. Content marketing can be a variety of things–from the written word to video, even multimedia components like infographics–all become part of the content strategy.
This is a lot to digest. Grab a Tums, pick up the phone, and call ENX2 Marketing! We can handle your law firm’s digital marketing strategy to make sure you rise to the top!