What is the difference between a marketing plan and a strategy?
Law firms should use marketing strategies to help them reach out to potential clients. Marketing plans are more detailed than marketing strategies.
Defining a Law firm marketing strategy
Marketing strategies should explain why you do what you do. You must also define who your target market and audience is.
Your marketing strategy should capture your firm’s marketing goals and it should analyze your competition and help shape your core message.
Don’t execute any marketing tactics until you’ve created a solid marketing strategy.
Once you’ve determined your overall marketing strategy, you can then use that as guidance for your firm’s marketing plan, which outlines the specific actions you will be taken to execute your strategy and reach your marketing goals. You should also define the type of marketing you will be using for your firm, including social media marketing, pay-per-click, email marketing, content marketing, or SEO.
Successful marketing plans will also include measurable KPI’s so you can track your overall progress towards your goals.
How to Create a Law Firm Marketing Strategy
There are many elements to consider when developing a law firm’s marketing strategy. At Juris Digital, the heart of this usually lies in automation and making sure that no lead goes forgotten and ignored. Here are the steps you should consider when creating a law firm marketing strategy:
Start with a Competitive analysis
A good marketing plan helps you get clients your law firm needs by standing out from your competitors. You must understand how and what your competitors are doing.
You must also know what type of clientele they want. You should be aware of their market share. You must know how they try to differentiate themselves. Your marketing plan should include these things.
Have a Core message that resonates with your potential clients
This is the key message you need to tell your target audience about your law firm. You should focus on the problems you’re solving for your potential customers. You should explain what makes you different than every other firm out there. What truly sets you apart and makes your firm unique?
How to Create a Law Firm Marketing Plan
Start by defining your marketing goals for your law firm.
Next, choose a target audience that you want to get in front of.
Now it’s time to figure out how you are going to get in front of these clients and what your investment should be to reach those goals. Don’t get started with a marketing plan until you have a way to check your progress.
Components of a Marketing Plan
When it comes to putting your marketing plan to paper, you’ll need to keep it concise. Keep in mind that you’ll most likely have more success if your plan includes the following general sections:
- Overview: A brief overview or your marketing plan
- Objectives: The measurable objectives of your marketing plan. (Examples: 30 new qualified leads, 10 new cases a month).
- Strategies: What strategies you will use to meet your marketing objectives.
- Tactics: What explicit tactics will you use to meet your goals?
- Expected Results: What results will these efforts yield?
Here are some examples of the WHY:
I’m going to market my firm because I want to increase my client base. I want to be successful. I want to make money. I want to get rich. I want to become famous. I want to be recognized as an expert. I want to be well known. I want to be respected. I want to be admired. I want to be liked. I want to be popular. I want to be wealthy. I want to be powerful. I want to be influential. I want to be important. I want to be indispensable. I want to be loved. I want to be appreciated. I want to be envied. I want to be wanted. I want to be needed. I want to be desired. I want to be chosen.
Execution
Marketing plans should include roles and responsibilities. Project managers are needed when assigning tasks to individuals. Roles and responsibilities are important when making decisions about how projects will be handled.
Law firm marketing Tactics
Today, there are so many different ways to market your law practice. You need to make sure that your marketing plan includes the right tactics to help you reach your goals. Choose marketing tactics that you can implement in your plan.
SEO Tactics
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to make sure it ranks high in search engines. When you optimize your site, you’re making sure that when someone types in a keyword or phrase into Google, your site comes up first. You want to be the top result for that particular keyword or phrase.
SEO tactics can improve your law firm’s website’s position in search engines to drive more traffic to your site. Your firm will be easier to find by potential clients if you create high-quality content for your site. You should also make sure you have a large number of visitors who view your content.
Local SEO Tactics
Set up a Google My Business Page. To show up local search results, establish a Google My Business page must be your first step. You need to provide contact information, images, and a link to the law firm website. Make sure your website includes local keywords geared towards your local market so potential client’s know they’re working with a local firm.
Add local keywords to your website to improve your law firm’s web site rankings in local searches. For example, if your law firm is located in Los Angeles, California, you would want to include terms like “Los Angeles criminal lawyer” in your law firm website.
Be consistent with your NAP! Your NAP (Name, Address, Phone data), should be consistently formatted anywhere you appear online (like your website or Facebook page).
Backlinks from other websites with authority can enhance your law firms’ search rankings by building up its authority online.
Client reviews are important to building your law firm’s reputation. You should use them to market your services.
Pay Per Click Tactics
Pay per click is a type of internet advertising strategy. You can set up an online advertisement campaign where you pay a fixed amount each time someone clicks on your ad. Advertisers use this method to get more people to see their ads.
Google advertising is a great way to drive traffic to a law firm website. A pay per click google ads campaign could be an effective strategy for driving traffic to your law firm website depending on your practice area. Your law firm website should be a powerful marketing tool in its own right.
Start an email marketing campaign
Email campaigns are an important part of any law firm marketing strategy. They are used as a tool to promote promotions, new services, and available appointments. You need to figure out what to include in your emails, how often to mail them, and how to adjust them to your target audience.
B12 is an email service provider that helps you create and manage your email campaigns. It also provides some tips and tricks about how to use email marketing effectively.
Marketing Pillar 1: Make, Retain & Grow Relationships
Clients are happy with the services provided by your law firm. You should conduct client satisfaction surveys to ensure your clients’ satisfaction.
Client service is important. Lawyers should make sure their clients know about all of the services offered by the law firm. Clients should be aware of all of the services available.
Referrals are important because they help you grow your practice. You should make sure you are always giving out referral information when asked. This is how you can get more clients.
Make sure to ask happy clients for a review 🙂
Marketing Pillar II: Develop New Business
Most lawyers acknowledge the importance of developing a strategic plan to grow their business. Lawyers who rely on existing clients and new matters generated by them will likely see a decrease over time. Developing business for lawyers is about identifying potential clients and referral sources you’d like to work with and put strategies in place to build relationships and attract new business.
Networking is very important if you want to build a law practice. You need to continue building your relationship with people who know other lawyers. Introverts should not worry about being shy when networking. You can do it one-on-one!
Targeted business development is a great way to get new clients. You should use LinkedIn to find potential clients.
Lawyers don’t use proposals. But some lawyers do. And they work. Don’t read too much about the word proposal. Think more about how to write a proposal. Use this heading: My Understanding of Your Needs. Then explain what you understand about your clients needs. Next, explain what approach you’ll take to working with them. Finally, tell them who you are and why you’re qualified to help them.
Market research is important for any legal practice. Do your homework before meeting someone. Find out about them online. Ask intelligent questions.
Lawyers should remember that the best way to attract new clients is to hang around where they already are. If you want to make money as a lawyer, then you need to be involved in trade associations. If you work for a manufacturer, then you need to join your local manufacturing association, etc.
Pillar III Increase Law Firm Name Recognition.
Become the “only” choice in your market.
There are many law firms in the state offering similar services as yours. Your firm needs to stand out by having targeted law firm marketing strategies.
Those include advertising, advertising in a membership directory, advertising at your children’s sports events, or advertising on social media sites like Facebook. Most advertising through sites like FindLaw, Avvo and Marindale might be lackluster. You are throwing a lot of money into a pool of your competition.
Lawyers should be aware that clients hire them as individuals, not as a firm or corporation. Clients choose lawyers based on their individual qualities and skills. A lawyer’s branding should reflect this individuality. Clients will judge a lawyer by how well he/she presents him/herself. Clients must be impressed by a lawyer’s branding.
Public relations is about pitching story ideas to journalists who are willing to write about your client. You need to be in touch to know what’s happening in the industry you service. Call reporters if you see another side to an issue that hasn’t been covered.
