Marketing for Attorneys – Attorneys have one of the most competitive fields when it comes to marketing. Talk with any agency and they can tell you that getting ranked on page one of search engines can bring in millions of dollars of business for law firms, and that’s just with one marketing strategy.
Hearing that the marketing field is so aggressive is understandable. After all, stories of how lawyers would aggressively go after clients for years have been turned into jokes. Anyone who has ever gotten a ticket knows how aggressive these firms can be to get new clients. So, it’s understandable and easy to see why things have not changed.
Why The Field Is So Unique
Imagine you need to have a contract looked over to ensure that the information in it is reliable and that you are fully aware of what you are signing. You’ve never had to hire a lawyer, so you go to google with zero knowledge of what to look for. You search for attorneys near me, and you click on the first ad you see. This service may cost hundreds, or thousands of dollars and you just made the decision off of the first ad you could click on. That’s why this field is so unique.
Marketing for Attorneys
The crazy reality is that you must invest in several areas of marketing. You cannot simply pick one and see how it does. The reason is because you may miss out on the initial process of gathering information or an initial introduction. Here’s where you need to focus your budget each month:
- PPC: The first and easiest way to get traffic is to focus on pay per click. However, in the legal field the cost per click can be extremely high, especially if you are in a major city. If you have the budget, utilize this service to get traffic in.
- SEO: The first thing you have to understand about SEO is that it is a long play. You cannot expect results within weeks or even the first months. You have to give this time to develop but if you give it time and get those rankings, you are paying pennies on the dollar for quality leads.
- Google my business: A free service offered by google allows you to list your business with local directories and show up in maps when local searches are made. Clients can see reviews and get your contact information and the service sends you reports to see if you got any traffic from the listing and ways to utilize the service more.
- Social media marketing: A surprising addition to the list is social media. However, these platforms are starting to produce affordable leads much like radio and television commercials might.
You have to track the success of each campaign but also understand that they can work together as well. For example, someone googles attorneys in their area, and they visit your site. Re-targeting kicks in and they see your ad on Facebook days later. They see this and it reminds them to contact you. Which platform generated the lead? That’s why using everything together is such a strong strategy.
Challenges Of Marketing
Every industry has marketing challenges, otherwise we would all want to be in that business. The fact is that if you want to build a strong presence you have to understand what you are working against. There’s a reason attorneys try so many different methods. Few usually generate immediate results because of:
- Competition: If page one of google has 15 spots in total and there are 25 layers within 20 miles of the person looking for legal help, how are they all going to be on page one? It’s simple, they can’t and that’s why the fight to get to page one is so competitive.
- Cost: Another issue you will confront is the cost per lead and even the cost per click. If you want to advertise just for a single service, the costs could be high, but you will also not see reliable results. You have to spread the wealth and remember there is always someone willing to spend more.
- Inexperienced audience: One problem that often comes up is the actual activity of the person seeking legal help. They are unaware of how to hire an attorney and therefore may take an action or overlook you despite the information you provide.
- Areas of focus: What area of the law do you practice in? Are you working with people who immediately need assistance or who have time to shop around? This can be a factor as well. Think of a plumber or air conditioning repair person. If you are at the top of page one, no one will care what you charge as long as you answer the phone. If you offer help with services that are this important, that should tell you how to target your audience.
As you go through all this information you may be wondering where the actual sales come in. That again is the challenge because depending on your area of service, you may not get that immediate interest. For example, someone who specializes in traffic law is going to benefit from being on page one and at the top. However, if someone is looking for an attorney, there’s a good chance that they will be more patient and focus on things like your reviews, success rate and more to determine who is the best person to help them.
This is not a common need for people so when they start their search they may be going from minimal information. Consider that when you are creating content as well as you do not want to try and be over the top.
Being selective with your marketing may be economical but it may eliminate potential business you could bring in. If you can spread your resources, you will have a better opportunity to reach potential clients with your content and introduce yourself. This is an effective strategy that may need time to work, but when it does it can keep the phone ringing consistently and give you the opportunity to grow your business.