Law Firm Marketing: 8 Top Tips by Generate UK

Tip 1- Give it The Time it Needs

Being successful in marketing and having activity that brings a sustainable ROI is something that does need time. Whenever you instruct a successful marketeer or any good agency, this should always be the first thing that they should say. Looking to do marketing on a whim, or a few hours here and there at night just won’t work.

The need to service existing clients will always be a factor when marketing any company. But always have in your head, ‘What about those next set of clients’. Once you’ve serviced the 10 clients you have this week, you need to make sure you have clients the week after and the one after that etc.

Particularly in the Law Firm industry, it can be a lot about the ‘brand’. Having 4 social channels that haven’t been posted on for 6 months, will affect the ‘brand’. If you are trying to portray how diligent your law firm is, but you can’t find time to post on your social channels, the brand messaging is not consistent. You need to give your outbound marketing the time it needs, or it could actually end up having a detrimental effect on your business. Next time you’re rushing a social post out at 9.45pm on a Tuesday night, stop and think, is that really going to help your brand?

Tip 2- Simply be Current… With Your Marketing
In this sector there are many external aspects that can and will affect your business – None more so than the ever continuous changes in laws and/or the world that we live in more generally. As an example, if a new law in the UK has recently changed, why not comment on it? Be the first to market with some interesting and educational content around the change. Producing a blog 1 year after the change vote, just won’t cut the mustard. There is a big requirement to be at the forefront of the industry, meaning that you will need to be really reactive with the marketing that you do. This links with our next tip…

Tip 3- Drive Thought Leadership
How can you let potential new customers know you are experts in law, without having to charge them? Or having to say it yourself?  There’s no better way to portray your knowledge as a lawyer, than by showcasing this via content within your marketing portfolio. Blogs, email newsletters and social posts can assist and add to that ‘thought leadership’ tag. If you link tip 2 with tip 3, this will give you a very basic approach and objectives for your marketing strategy. Through continuous thought leadership you will create a buzz around your company and keep users coming back to your site/platforms for further updates. Rather than reading one blog, you want to hook them in to read 3 or 4 blogs. In addition to that, content is king in Google’s eyes (as we all know), so content marketing can improve your website’s overall SEO visibility. You are then covering two bases with one activity.

Tip 4- Fully Integrated Marketing Approach
This approach is often a standard approach for all companies when looking to market their brand. But, particularly if you are marketing your law firm, this can be a great tactic to market. For those of you who don’t know, a fully integrated approach is defined as the following:

According to Marketing Schools– “Integrated marketing is a marketing strategy that stresses the importance of a consistent, seamless, multi-dimensional brand experience for the consumer. This means that each branding effort – across television, radio, print, Internet, and in person – is presented in a similar style that reinforces the brand’s ultimate message”.

It’s about the ideology of carrying across all marketing messaging, ethos, and consistency to every channel that you market on. If on social media you are talking about divorce, but you have no page on your website about divorce, or no print collateral on divorce, you are dropping the ball – It can be as simple as that! There needs to be a consistent flow across all marketing channels providing users with multiple touch points. It’s the old fashioned marketing approach of the ‘7 touch points’. Needing to hit the customer on 7 different channels and occasions before they convert. Furthermore, when a need arises for a customer, there is often a long search phase… Particularly if it concerns a non-habitual product (or service), similar to types of services that a law firm may provide. The customer will go to many different marketing channels of yours to understand a bit more about your company. Therefore, if 1 channel isn’t portraying the same brand messaging as another, this is where it can all fall flat.

Tip 5- Multiple Channels of Communications- Choosing The Right One
This also links with the point above and below tip 6. If you are a Law Firm, 9 times out of 10, you will have multiple areas of law that your cover. From personal injury, through to commercial property. Therefore do not be afraid to have different channels and tweak your messaging to communicate with each different end user. The supermarket analogy is great example to showcase this thought:

“If you go to the shop and are looking for a new range of biscuits in a supermarket (as an example). You have their basics range and on the shelf above that, there is a high end range. These are all marketed and stored in the same aisle, in the same store, but what’s different? It’s mostly the messaging, price and branding that is not the same. Supermarkets are targeting 2 different types of customers, therefore the marketing mix reflects that. Those who want the premium range, are looking for visual clues, so the gold writing, big price tag etc. The theory is, that the branding and messaging appeals to that target market. Although it’s the same type of product as the value range, stocked on the same shelf, in the same store… That brand and messaging is tailored to that market. It’s hitting home the right type of messaging for that end user. You can’t expect to charge high end prices, with low end packaging, or vice versa. So why would you do the same on your law firm website? Why would you brand divorce the same as a shareholders agreement page?”.

Therefore don’t be afraid to do adopt the same approach when marketing your Law Firm. This process and philosophy doesn’t just appeal to supermarkets – All industries adopt this approach in one way or another. It’s segmenting out your business and each individual end user. Those who have injured themselves at work, want a different type of service to those who want a shareholders agreement. Don’t be afraid to optimise the branding/messaging depending on the area of law it concerns. Like the supermarket example, you’ll still have the same logo and it will be stored on the same website URL etc. But the terminology, the colours, the dialogue, the graphics may all be different, depending on the target market. Marketing your law firm (if you are full-service) is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach – it’s understanding your different customer segments first and then developing a strategy accordingly.

Tip 6- Be Willing to Evolve
In the marketing world there is a strong requirement to continuously evolve your offering. Each year there are many changes in the industry that you will need to consider:

• Lots of new entrants/competitors joining the market
• Marketing industry changes- With Google in particular
• New technologies- Devices or online capabilities
• Changes in user habits

If you want your Law Firm to be at the forefront and an ‘early adopter’, it is important that you keep on top of the aspects identified above. One other tip here, is to set up Google alerts and receive latest news direct to your inbox. Not only will it save you time, but it may even help grow your ROI.

Tip 7- Be Clever and Strategic With Your Marketing.
Don’t just do marketing for the sake of it…..

Research- Understand your customers, understand your competitors, understand new technologies. Rather than doing some email marketing ‘because it’s something to do’. Think about why you are doing it? What messaging should you use? What is the next action you want your potential customer to take? With marketing in the professional services area, always take a step back and think “Will this result in a lead for my business?”. Thinking that you should just ‘get something out there’ will end up costing you more money and you will have little to no ROI.

Also make sure that you have the means to measure the success or failure of your marketing. Set-up tracking in Google Analytics, have bespoke telephone numbers for each campaign and so forth. You cannot be strategic with your marketing without research (up-front) and without performance measurement. Get the fundamentals in place first before expanding your marketing offering – Again this will allow you to maximise your return from marketing.

Tip 8- Be Professional… But also add Brand Personality.
When marketing a Law Firm, this is a common consideration and often something that is not done correctly. Although your company is within the professional services industry and thus the messaging needs to be kept at that professional level. Your customers are crying out for the human touch, as well a bit of personality. Gone are the days of hiding behind the brand and towing the professional/commercial line – it’s all about brand/employee personality and having this in your marketing portfolio. The increase and rise of social media, has been the stepping stone to this approach. It provides a platform to showcase a lot of in-house activity that previously would have gone un-seen.

As an example, see one of our recent posts:

A few pictures from our team day out at @NewburyRacing for the @mencap_charity pic.twitter.com/2G3xTnJMaM

— Generate UK (@GenerateUK) March 7, 2016

It doesn’t mention the fact that we are a marketing agency, it doesn’t say we are the best at SEO (as an example). It allows potential customers to get a feel for the type of company we are. It’s all about getting that right balance but still being professional. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not best practice to show a photo on a company channel from a kebab shop at 3am on a Friday night. It’s about getting that balance between personality and professionality. As well as showing the right things.

Don’t be afraid to add personality to your brand, after all, people do buy people!

Summary

Marketing any Law Firm can, and will be a difficult process. The wide ranging product offerings and the competitive market make it a difficult proposition. But, the potential rewards and value proposition of the services offered by Law Firms, make it completely financially viable. If you get your marketing right, you can really be successful in what you do. At the end of the day, it’s all about portraying and showcasing why the end user should pick your Law Firm, over the one down the road. If you can be ‘there’ when the need arises i.e. Google search, social media, email marketing and also pick up traction over a longer period of time through blog pieces, infographics, videos (the thought leadership process) you will be on the road to success.

If you want to discuss these tips with one of our experts, and find out how we can help you market your Law Firm. Then get in contact with us today on 01635 887711