Optimize Client Base in 2022 with these 7 Law Firm Marketing Strategies

Law firms must continually market themselves to attract and optimize client base, but to truly excel, the marketing strategies can’t be just “set it and forget it.”  However, it can be overwhelming to determine where to invest your team’s time and energy for the best marketing return. To attract and optimize a new client base to your law firm can be intimidating, and the competition among firms (especially in high-traffic cities) can be harsh and irrational. You need to adopt tactics to market your firm to help stand out from the pack, but that does not come with risks. To help you get started, here are five basic and actionable tactics your law firm can employ to optimize your client base and upgrade your online marketing strategies for success in the year 2022.. 

1. Law Firm Website Optimization?

Research indicates that 93 percent of all online experiences start with a search engine, and 75 percent of internet users never venture past the first page of Google (or other search engines, such as Bing). Most law firms have a website to market their services, but ensuring new clients find your website requires effort toward search engine optimization (SEO). Simply put, if no one can find your website when they search relevant terms online, you are likely losing potential business to competitors who do appear in top Google search listings.

There are common search terms that legal consumers type into Google and other search engines, often including their own specific location (example: “Florida Elder law firms”) and/or the specific legal practice area or service they are interested in (example “Estate Planning lawyers in Miami”). To point search engines in the right direction and improve your visibility to potential clients, you need to make sure that these terms appear on your website, which is where SEO comes in.

2. Brand Your Law Firm

Many business owners think that branding is simply having a logo, some well defined letterhead, and accessories or goodies with names neatly inscribed on them. This was working well in the past, but there’s more to it in recent times.

Create an image that you want people to visualize when they see your name. What is it that you want to tell them about your law firm?

• What is Your USP (Unique Selling Point)?

• What is it about your law firm that a potential client would find comforting?

3. Build Trust 

You are up against one of the most competitive industries out there, not just inside the courtroom, but online as well. How can you prove in mere seconds why a potential client should trust your law firm with their case?

One of the most important ways to do this is by using your website to tell a story.

• List your awards

• List your reviews

• Most importantly, list results you have achieved for other clients

4. Establish a Marketing Budget

Marketing strategies for your law firm to optimize the client base involves a lot of money, and you have to be realistic about 1) what you can spend and 2) what you can achieve with that spend. Start by identifying your law firm’s marketing goals to determine where to allocate funds.

For example, if your objective is lead generation, your marketing efforts should be geared toward bringing in volume. Your marketing budget should be spent on advertising, social media reach, and promoting your services to a wide array of your potential customer base.

If you’re looking to market your firm to gain high-profile clientele, your marketing budget should be spent on gaining positive testimonials, reviews, and relevant case studies.

Make sure your budget is completely evaluated. There are dozens of “hidden” factors that go into any marketing budget. Be sure to allocate funds for technology (e.g., who’s going to serve and host your website).

5. Content Marketing

Most lawyers are also good writers, and you can put those skills to use to market your law firm through high-quality website content, such as blog posts, guides, and articles. Content marketing is closely tied to SEO and is an excellent way to build your brand and showcase your expertise in a particular legal area. When you provide interesting and helpful answers to potential clients, you can become a topical authority in your practice area, which will help increase their confidence and trust in you and increase the chances that they will decide to retain your services.

If you decide to create a blog on your website, take an educational approach by providing thoughtful, helpful information through evergreen practice-related topics that don’t directly offer legal advice. You can also focus on existing content by providing commentary or occasional updates to demonstrate your continued interest in happenings within the legal industry.

6. Have a Social Media Presence — and Maintain It

Social media is the most immediate advertising available today. Having an effective social media strategy will increase your exposure to optimize client base, and is considerably less expensive than traditional advertising media. In recent times, a majority of law firms and individual lawyers have some sort of presence on social media, with the largest showing on LinkedIn, followed by Facebook.

Social media tips for lawyers by platform

• LinkedIn — Make sure you have a current LinkedIn presence and participate in discussions and user groups as much as possible. This helps build your reputation with peers as well as potential clients.

• Facebook — Hire a social media manager to read reviews, compile positive ones, and respond to negative ones ASAP. Show prospects that your firm handles disputes in a professional, reassuring manner, even when there’s public backlash.

• Twitter — Don’t leave tweeting to just anyone. Make sure your official account is monitored and maintained. Businesses and reputations have been destroyed by just one bad tweet.

• TikTok — Some law firms are using TikTok to advertise their services. Showing a clip and asking “Who’s responsible for this damage?” is one example, with a CTA to contact the firm for more information.

• Instagram – Lawyers have been recently found sharing pictures and video clips. Short reels of their success stories, on Instagram to attract the crowd that wants quick information within a few seconds.

7. Track Firm Marketing Efforts

You have to monitor the ROI of your marketing efforts, or it could be a waste of your resources. When the firm asks, “What did this spend bring us?”, you want to have a clear answer.

One way is to check the progress of your marketing efforts at the 30-, 60-, and 90-day mark. Was your goal to bring in a high volume of new clients and to optimize the client base? Compare what new business was brought in at those three periods and find out if qualified leads were generated.

If the goal was to build authority and reputation, review your social media efforts, check reviews on other sites, and cross-reference them against the 30/60/90-day marks. Look for changes like increased numbers of testimonials or positive reviews that can be tied back to your efforts.

Summary —

Over the past few years, some law firms have struggled to keep up with the needs of their current clients without giving much thought to finding new ones, while others have adapted quickly to discover new ways to find and retain those in need of legal services. A key to this success is in actually measuring the return on the marketing investments your firm makes.

With so much competition in the legal field, getting your name out there is tough but not impossible. The best way to achieve what you want for your firm’s business and reputation is to market your practice using the tools above.

LawKPIs helps you to achieve your ROI with a robust automated reporting solution fully integrated with Clio, which lets you gain more visibility, enhance and increase your client base and marketing efforts.

Login to more such details at LawKPIs and schedule a demo today!