Like all other industries, law firms have also had to transition to the digital realm for advertising, marketing, lead generation and other business needs in the wake of the pandemic. After all, online marketing is the only reprieve from the cut-throat competition in the industry.
Chief among digital marketing strategies is inbound marketing, a reliable way to attract new clients to your firm.
The social distancing protocols, combined with the remote work model, have compelled people to spend more time online, and your business must follow them to their favorite social media and other online channels to vie for their attention and interest.
This is where inbound marketing shines; it not only gets them to take notice of your offers but also follow your calls to action. It’s an effective way to get your leads and prospects to sign up, get in touch or download your guides, making it an excellent strategy for law firms.
In simple terms, inbound marketing helps grow your brand using a combination of techniques and approaches to increase your law firm’s visibility online. And the reason why inbound marketing is so effective is that it emphasizes attracting leads instead of overwhelming potential customers with advertisements.
Let’s take a look at how your law firm can use inbound marketing.
Inbound Marketing – A Quick Primer
As stated earlier, inbound marketing gives customers the liberty to come to you. To do this, you have to attract, engage, and meet their expectations.
The inbound marketing process begins by attracting customers. In the first phase, brand your services to be as unique as possible, using your experience, expertise, and niche as differentiators. This should get your intended audience to sit up and take notice.
Next, you make sure that your leads are educated, delighted, informed, and catered to with the help of attorney intake software. At this stage, provide them with an enticing offer to compel them to give you their email address and other contact info. Finally, build a database of your prospect’s contact information.
Once you are in touch with them using their information, it’s time to close the deal. Convert them into paying customers and give them stellar services as promised earlier. Let them know what sets your law firm apart from others.
And finally, never let them go. Once a customer, always a customer. Delight and engage them even after they’ve worked with you to ensure that the next time they need an attorney (and most of them will), they come running back to you instead of looking at your competitors.
Benefits Of Inbound Marketing For Law Firms
Inbound marketing is a sustainable, economical, and cost-effective option. So let’s look at some benefits of inbound marketing for law firms.
Improved Client Relationships
By its very definition, inbound marketing lets you reach people who are actively seeking them. Therefore, your brand’s first interaction with the customers is usually a mutual exchange led by the customer’s conversations, questions, and feedback.
The information gathered about the customer is then used to build an effective marketing strategy that best suits their needs.
Economical Option
Inbound marketing is a financially feasible option, as it does not require a large budget. In contrast to digital marketing campaigns, the cost of implementing inbound marketing tactics is relatively affordable.
On the contrary, outbound marketing requires a significant investment, and it still doesn’t always get positive results.
Brand Reputation
Inbound strategies facilitate reputation marketing, which is a proactive approach to establishing your firms’ credibility in the industry.
It helps your website rank higher in the organic search results, exposing it to a larger relevant audience that actively searches for the services you provide. And in most cases, if you have improved rankings and better search results rankings, your firm appears to be an authority in the industry.
Better Quality Leads
The primary purpose of inbound marketing is to get leads that are more likely to convert. So, it lets you create customized strategies that specifically cater to your target demographic. As a result, the traffic to your site is relevant and more likely to pay for your services.
Strategies For Law Firm Inbound Marketing In 2024
Inbound marketing combines different approaches to build brand reputation and authority. Depending on your firm’s needs and target clients, you can use the following tips to create a custom plan for law firm marketing.
Start A Blog
If you want to establish yourself as an authority on a subject matter, starting a blog is the best way to do that. That’s because it can empower your customers to find answers to the common queries or concerns they may have about different legal situations.
Writing a blog on subjects that the customers are searching for online gives you the chance to show your expertise in the industry. A blog can also direct relevant traffic onto your website and guide your clients on the next step they need to take to seek legal guidance.
When you are starting a blog, it is essential to cover two different types of topics. You can create posts about the industry trends, news, and updates that apply to a particular time, or you can choose to write on topics that remain relevant for several years. However, writing a blog post on its own is not enough. Instead, you must ensure that the content integrates relevant keywords or key phrases that the audience is searching for. Adding relevant keywords invites traffic to your content. You can find the right keywords for your blog by conducting keyword research.
Your blog post should also be attractive to the reader. Therefore, it is vital to write in clear, simple language that any individual can easily understand. To do this, write short and precise paragraphs, which are broken down using visuals. Additionally, using high-quality images on your website urges visitors to stay on your page longer.
Create An SEO Strategy
Working on your SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the most critical components of inbound marketing. An effective SEO strategy puts your law firm on the map in digital work. Moreover, you can work with an agency that specializes in law firm SEO to build a long-term SEO plan for your company.
A well-constructed SEO strategy includes keyword research for both blogs and on-page content added to the website. Your website content must include legal key terms and phrases that clients frequently search for to direct relevant traffic to your page. Also, using high-density keywords can help you improve your rankings on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
SEO is not just about keywords. Instead, several factors influence your law firm’s SEO. One of the most influential factors is your company’s website. In terms of SEO, law firm website optimization can improve website speed, create a user-friendly design, add functional elements, and feature readable, insightful, and well-written content.
For law firms, creating a local SEO strategy can reap several rewards. For example, the Find Law U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014 revealed that 74% of individuals seeking legal services require a local attorney. This is why local SEO targets those individuals who search for law firm services in your specific region.
So, set up a Google My Business page using location-specific keywords to ensure your firm appears on top when someone makes a search query about attorneys or law firms.
Additionally, an effective SEO strategy also takes care of your firm’s off-page SEO. This includes link-building with dependable and relevant sources. Backlinking is crucial for good SEO, as it adds credibility to your website. This means the more authoritative links you build to other quality websites; the higher your firm will rank on the search engine results page.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing
Inbound marketing does not overwhelm clients with advertisements, but it does advertise your services to users who search for them. This is where PPC strategists come in. PPC ads enable you to target a wider audience. While organic SEO strategies can provide sustainable, long-term ranking solutions, PPC advertisements make you visible to individuals who search for law attorneys or law firms for limited periods.
However, if you are using PPC, designing an ad campaign that makes you stand apart is imperative. To differentiate your ads from the thousands of legal ads running every day, you may want to work with a PPC strategist who specializes in running ad campaigns for law firms.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a necessity for all businesses. A majority of individuals seeking legal services use social media platforms to find law firms in their area. Therefore, it is imperative to create social media channels for your firm on relevant platforms.
For legal services, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are the most relevant. While Facebook introduces you to a larger audience, Twitter allows you to show your authority on the subject. Similarly, LinkedIn helps you build stronger relationships with other businesses that may require corporate legal services.
For effective social media marketing, it is crucial to create a content strategy and post a calendar ahead of time. Your posts should be informative, engaging, and shareable. For instance, adding video content has proven to be the most successful strategy, as videos improve conversions, information retention, and brand credibility. Conversely, if you solely focus on creating promotional content, your clients will lose interest fairly quickly.
Your social media marketing strategy should also include hashtag research. For example, whenever you submit a post, make sure to add relevant and trending hashtags. The proper tags can improve your visibility and bring more followers to your profile.
If you are running short on ideas about the type of content you need to post on social media, follow other attorneys and law firms. This way, you can study their SMM strategy and identify the gaps in the market that your social media pages can fill.
Additionally, social media marketing is all about building connections. Therefore, it is essential to join as many legal groups as you can. First, however, you have to be active in the groups to bring relevant followers to your page.
Wrapping Up
Inbound marketing is an affordable, cost-effective method to build your law firm’s digital reputation. The best inbound marketing practices include blogging, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and pay-per-click ad campaigns.
If you want to apply different approaches for inbound marketing, it is recommended to choose an agency that provides complete online marketing services for law firms. This way, you can run a cohesive strategy to build your brand.
